Do you want to kick your book’s impact into high gear? Grab your reader’s attention and never let it go? Create a pace for your story that thrills your reader to the end and has them one-clicking the next book? Create great action scenes! This two-week course, applicable to writers at any stage in their […]

Most writers have suffered from some form of writer’s block in their careers. In this two-week class we are going to work through ways to combat writer's block and get ourselves unstuck. Because sometimes getting unstuck requires a little help from your friends! Join us to work through that blockage, one word, one sentence, one […]

Writers have to keep track of so much information! Overflowing inboxes, lost maps, and what color were my hero's eyes anyway? Enter the modern age with digital tools to help organize everything from scraps of paper, future story ideas, world-building details, or the best reviews you've ever received! What we'll cover How to reach Inbox […]

Have you ever thought of writing flash fiction, but didn’t, because you didn’t know where to start? Writing short can be tricky – you have to make every word count to convey a compelling, complete story in 100-1500 words. Laura will teach you how, helping you decide what to write about, how to develop standout […]

Course description coming soon... Tags Level Advanced | Intermediate Topic Business | Craft Duration month Teacher Nancy Warren

Despite ghostwriting’s deep historical roots and thriving modern practice in the publishing industry, ghostwriting is still largely cloaked in secrecy. Writers often weigh the allure of additional income, creative freedom, and a chance to grow their craft in a risk-free environment against what literary purists believe is an exercise in deception. Art may be a […]

Are you looking for guidance and direction for your writing career? Have you written your book, but don’t know what to do next? Not sure how to promote your books with social media? Interested in self-publishing, but aren’t sure where to start or how much it costs? Julie’s Author Mentoring Intensive is for you! This […]

So, you have an idea for a comedy screenplay? Are you in the middle of one? Have you completed several? Make ‘em Laugh is a class for both experienced and beginning writers. If you’d like to learn about nuances of feature-length comedy films and apply them to your own funny ideas, then you’ve found the […]

There is nothing worse than an awkward sex scene. Many authors, who want to write romance feel pressured to include sex scenes in their stories, even if they aren't well suited to write Tab A into Slot B. That's why they should take this class, so they can write on the "sweet side." This class […]

This power-packed class provides writers with hands-on tools for making character descriptions fresh and deep and powerful. We’ll cover: What to avoid What’s smart to include Using Deep Editing techniques Making your characters unforgettable How to be strategic with style and structure Descriptions for main characters and supporting characters Using description to share the POV […]

What you’ll learn: Think of this course as Self-publishing with training wheels! In this course you will learn the ins and outs of the self-publishing world. How to take your book from written to published and all the things in between. And take a guided tour via zoom through the KDP jungle and other publishing […]

Kendrick Lamar said, "If I'm gonna tell a real story, I'm gonna start with a name."  Twenty-first century audiences demand deep, emotional connections with characters. Authors have learned how to use writing techniques to  foster these emotional connections, but authors who randomly name their characters are missing a prime opportunity to create more emotion, more […]

The Future of Novel Writing! Stay ahead of the curve. Join Kathleen Baldwin for a frank discussion about the changing literary marketplace.   ★Streaming video is radically changing storytelling. Even old people are turning to video streaming. How will it impact what they want to read? How does it change what you should be writing and why?    ★Let’s […]

Comic books and graphic novels are nothing new but, in today's publishing world, they've become a fantastic way to get your story out there. In fact, graphic novels have seen phenomenal growth – a sales surge of up to 15% -- in the last four or five years. Even better? You can write a graphic […]

Do you want to engage your target audience (readers, bloggers, book reviewers, authors, clients, and customers)? Do you want them to remember your name and/or brand? Do you want their friends to check out your books and services? Giving quality swag away to these influencers is a proven way to increase word of mouth sales […]

So you have a character you're just dying to kill. Maybe he is a real villain and deserves to die. Or, instead, she is a sweet child and everybody cries when she slips away in the middle of the night. Regardless, there's a right place, time and reason to get rid of that character and […]

The kids are screaming, your spouse reminds you that you need milk, your boss is texting you, you have a big deadline at work tomorrow that makes your head hurt, your friends is having drama, and you have to finish drafting this scene tonight. Sound familiar?  Whether you’re trying to balance a job with writing, […]

Fantasy stories can take you into other worlds where you can fight pirates, soar on the back of a dragon, or go on a quest. There could be magic, adventure, romance, daring deeds, and great beats. Over the course of four weeks, we'll go in-depth on how to build a compelling fantasy story including worldbuilding, magical […]

Toward the end of the twentieth century, the modern Civil Rights era was launched and as Sam Cooke sang, “A Change Gone Come.” The change came and the psychology of Black people in the United States underwent a sea change. As we will see in this class in the first week, there were several reasons […]

At Point Comfort in 1619, more than a dozen enslaved Black men were bought to the shores of Virginia and the history of Blackness in the United States was established. There are three distinct time periods to think about and I will address them, depending upon what you are writing about: 1619-1800, 1800-1865, 1865-1950. 1619-1800—Enslavement […]