Browsing Tag

Fiction Writing

creativity-jumpstart-at-lonestar-ink

Creativity Jumpstart at Lonestar Ink

I will be presenting my Creativity Jumpstart interactive program at Lonestar Ink this year.  I’m speaking on Thursday night, but the conference runs all weekend. Are you stuck on your WIP? Or trying to find a starting point for a new project? Try out a few hands-on…

Presentation: Seamless World Building at the Writer’s Guild of Texas

Building a convincing world is important no matter what genre you write in.  It is easy to give either too little detail, resulting in a world that seems poorly thought out, or too much detail, leaving the reader overwhelmed.  We will discuss how the principle of Hemingway’s Iceberg, the…

5-session-class-novel-writing-level-6-start-date

5 Session Class: Novel Writing: Level 6 (Start Date)

Are you ready to take your novel writing skills to the next level?  Wish your writing had a little more polish?  In this course, you will learn the difference between substantive editing and line editing, what it really means to show not tell, how to recognize purple prose, why word…

novel-writing-level-3-3

5 Session Class: Novel Writing: Level 3 (Start Date)

Are you ready to take your novel writing skills to the next level? In this course, you will learn how to handle four different types of scenes: action scenes, relationship scenes, humorous scenes and “twister” scenes. We will cap the course with a session on troubleshooting your plot, editing your…

online-8-week-planning-out-a-novel-or-series-start-date

ONLINE 8-Week Planning Out a Novel or Series (Start Date)

This is a workshop in fiction writing for beginners with no experience and intermediate students who want to streamline their writing process. Led by Amber Royer, whose debut novel Free Chocolate has been named one of the Barnes & Noble SFF Blog’s 25 Debuts to Watch for in 2018…

8-week-after-school-fiction-writing-for-teens-start-date

8-Week After School Fiction Writing for Teens (Start Date)

This 8-week workshop-style class in fiction writing is designed to provide a peer environment for teenage writers (Grades 9-12). Led by Amber Royer, whose debut novel Free Chocolate has been named one of Barnes & Noble’s 25 Debuts to Watch for in 2018, the class is…

i-gotta-be-me
Literary Terms, Writing Tips

I Gotta Be Me!

Character agency refers to a character’s ability to make decisions that affect the outcome of a story.  But it also refers to a character’s freedom to be themselves in the story world.  They’re going to want to walk their own path, wherever that leads them.It’s…

whos-your-protag
Literary Terms, Writing Tips

Who’s Your Protag?

If you’re writing a book with multiple viewpoints, sometimes it can be confusing to figure out who’s story this is.  You may have a character that’s fun to write, or one that feels like they should be the protagonist based on genre conventions.  But are they really…

chocolate-demo-at-writers-in-the-field

Chocolate Demo at Writer’s In The Field

I’ll be partnering with representatives from DallasChocolate.org to talk chocolate in a hands-on presentation at the second annual Writer’s in the Field.The event is intended to help local writers take their research to the next level, to improve their fiction.  They’ll have experts in…

5-session-class-novel-writing-level-5-start-date

5 Session Class: Novel Writing: Level 5 (Start Date)

Are you ready to take your novel writing skills to the next level?  How do you go from having a series of scenes to something that makes sense as a novel?  In this course, you will delve into structure and discover if your story has enough (or too much complexity…

5-session-class-novel-writing-level-2-start-date-2

5 Session Class: Novel Writing: Level 2 (Start Date)

Are you ready to build your novel writing skills? Or are you confident in your writing, but mystified by terms like character agency, pathos, and subtext? In this course, you will learn how to craft realistic dialogue, create characters who do indeed have agency, understand narrative structure, and connect readers…

creative-writing-beginners-fiction

5 Session Class: Creative Writing: Beginner’s Fiction (Start Date)

If you love to read and have always wanted to write, bring a pen or your laptop to this class. Students will learn how to create fiction that will resonate with readers and will take their first steps towards developing their own unique literary voice. Topics include: narration, characterization, dialogue…

seminar-managing-the-passage-of-time-on-the-page

Seminar: Managing the Passage of Time on the Page

Some stories take place in a matter of days, or even hours.  Others are multi-generational epics.  And yet, both need to fit into the number of pages you get for a book manuscript or screenplay.  So how do you manage the progression of time?  We will focus on utilizing…

5-session-class-novel-writing-level-1-start-date

5 Session Class: Novel Writing: Level 1 (Start Date)

Have you always wanted to write a novel and don’t know where to start? Or do you have a work in progress that needs help becoming a finished draft? This class starts with the basics — character, plot, setting and theme to ensure that you are building a sound structure…

seminar-writing-vivid-side-characters

Seminar: Writing Vivid Side Characters

You know you need a spectacular protagonist, facing off against an equally strong antagonist.  But what about all your spear carriers, love interests, sidekicks, mentors and henchmen?  They don’t always get much page space, so how can you use what you do give them to make them memorable?  We…

seminar-achieving-catharsis

Seminar: Achieving Catharsis

Catharsis is defined as a cleansing of emotions.  As a writing theory, it goes as far back as Aristotle’s Poetics.  But it’s actually simple to understand.   You know how sometimes you close the cover of a book or walk out of the theater, and you’ve laughed, you…

new-advanced-novel-writing-classes
News

New Advanced Novel Writing Classes

Are you ready for a new writing adventure and some new writing challenges?So excited about the new series of classes I’m doing for UTA Continuing Education this fall.  There was such an overwhelming positive response to the Novel 1-2-3 classes that they’ve decided to test…

permission-to-laugh
Writing Tips

Permission to Laugh

I know they said not to take selfies with bears . . . One of the hardest things about humor writing is giving your reader permission to laugh.  After all, you’re putting your protagonist in embarrassing, and sometimes physically painful, situations.  The last think your audience is going to want is to…

well-i-wasnt-expecting-that
Literary Terms, Writing Tips

Well, I wasn’t expecting THAT!

This whole month, I want to talk about the relationship between writing and reading.  I’ve talked to so many writers who say they don’t read inside their own genre because they’re afraid of copying someone else’s idea.  (More on this later – I’m planning an entire…

novel-writing-level-3-2

5 Session Class: Novel Writing: Level 3 (Start Date)

Are you ready to take your novel writing skills to the next level? In this course, you will learn how to handle four different types of scenes: action scenes, relationship scenes, humorous scenes and “twister” scenes. We will cap the course with a session on troubleshooting your plot, editing your…

focus-on-genre-writing-humor

5 Session Class: Focus on Genre: Writing Humor (Start Date)

Humorous writing can be hard to master. However, it can get easier if you understand the techniques comedians use to get a laugh. Whether you are pulling anecdotes from real life, are writing a funny character in fictional situations, or want to blend humor with other genres, there’s something…

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