Freedom and Framework: Story Planning for Pantsers
February 18, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Online Classes tagged as A2PSRWA, Aged to Perfection, Catherine Chant, Online Class, Online Classes, pantsers
Presented by: Catherine Chant
Date: March 1 – 31, 2021
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $15
Non-A2P Member fee: $30
About the Workshop:
Flying by the seat of your pants to write the first draft for your book feels so freeing. It’s a time to play, to experiment, to try out new ideas. What fun!
But diving into a project as big as a novel without any plan at all often means a lot of extra work after the draft is completed as you scramble to revise hundreds of pages that might have no cohesion, inconsistent characters, or a wandering plot.
One way to lessen that extra work is to go into the rough draft phase of your book with a better idea of where the story’s headed. That doesn’t mean knowing everything about your story (how boring would that be?), but it does mean knowing something to give your story direction. “Outline” is a scary word for most pantsers. It sounds restrictive, it sounds tedious, it sounds boring. So, there will be no “outlines” here. Nope. None. Instead, you’re going to build yourself a “framework” for your story that’s open and flexible, with plenty of room for playing, experimenting, and checking out new ideas off the beaten path whenever the inspiration strikes you.
Story Planning for Pantsers: Keep your freedom, but keep on track, too.
About the Presenter:
Award-winning author Catherine Chant is a Romance Writers of America (RWA) Golden Heart® finalist. She writes rock ‘n’ roll romantic fiction and stories with paranormal twists for young adults as well as books on creative writing topics.
Catherine worked for 15 years as an IT computing & communication consultant at her alma mater Boston College before becoming a full-time writer. She teaches several online workshops for writers throughout the year and provides instructional articles on computing, gaming and crafts to different websites.
You can find out more about Catherine at her website.
Making Rejection Work for You
February 18, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Online Classes tagged as A2P, A2PSRWA, Aged to Perfection Chapter, Online Class, Online Classes
Presented by: Laurie Schnebly Campbell
Date: March 13, 2021, 9AM PT
Pricing: A2P Member fee: FREE
Non-A2P Member fee: $10
About the Workshop:
Whether it’s the first setback or the fiftieth, for a beginner or a New York Times bestselling veteran, rejection is a part of EVERY writer’s life.
This workshop offers practical and psychological techniques for dealing with the the “No, Nope and No Way” messages that authors face regularly.
Discover what works for you when it’s time to deal with rejection…and how planning your response to ANY setback leaves you more in control of not only your writing life, but also your personal life.
About the Presenter:
Laurie Schnebly Campbell lived through second- and fifth-book syndrome between winning “Best Special Edition of the Year” over Nora Roberts and having her Rejection workshop featured in an NYT article about romance. She combines a background in counseling with teaching, and her bookshelf currently has 49 first-sale novels by authors from her classes — she’s still hoping for #50!
Tips and Tricks for Shining Online An Aged 2 Perfection Online Workshop
January 18, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Online Classes tagged as Aged to Perfection, Brenda Clotildes, Online Class, Zoom
Tips and Tricks for Shining Online
Presented by: Brenda Clotildes
Date: February 6 – 19, 2021 – includes 2 live sessions!
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $10
Non-A2P Member fee: $20
Registration: Aged to Perfection Workshop
About the Workshop:
We’re all spending more time on screen these days. Whether it’s a Zoom meeting, Instagram interview or Facebook launch party, we all want to look our best. This workshop will provide a checklist of things to do—and NOT to do—to help you be prepared, no matter where you’re virtually appearing. No special equipment necessary!
About the Presenter:
Brenda Clotildes spent more than thirty years as a television writer/producer. She’s helped everyone from mechanics to politicians look natural yet professional on camera. As Brenda Margriet, she writes savvy, slow burn, contemporary romances with ordinarily amazing characters. Readers have called her stories “poignant,” “explicit and steamy,” “interesting, intriguing and entertaining,” and “unlike any romance you’ve read before” (she assumes the latter was meant in a good way).
Help! I’ve Lost My Muse! An Aged 2 Perfection Online Class
January 18, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Online Classes tagged as Aged to Perfection, Online Class
Presented by: Lois Winston
Date: February 1 – 28, 2021
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $15
Non-A2P Member fee: $30
Registration: Aged 2 Perfection Workshops
About the Workshop:
What do you do when Maizy Muse takes off for parts unknown and leaves you staring at a blank computer screen? In this workshop, Lois Winston, a USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author and retired literary agent, will offer some unorthodox tips for recapturing that AWOL muse, banishing writer’s block and stimulating creativity. The workshop will employ everything from Madison Avenue advertising to Dear Abby, from Bruce Springsteen to standing in line at the supermarket checkout counter, and more. Attendees will be encouraged to participate in the various assignments (sometimes bizarre, always fun) that accompany each lesson. The workshop will end with the “Help, I’ve Lost My Muse Challenge” which, if completed, will result in the creation of captivating characters and a dynamic plot for your next manuscript.
About the Presenter:
USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.
Website: www.loiswinston.com
Newsletter sign-up: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z1z1u5
Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/anasleuth
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/722763.Lois_Winston
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lois-winston
Make Your Writing Shine through Self-Editing with Linda Carroll Bradd #onlineclass #self-editing
May 23, 2019 by Linda McLaughlin in category Online Classes tagged as Linda Carroll Bradd, OCC/RWA, Online Class, Self-editing
About the Class:
• Learn how to identify shallow POV and make it deeper.
• Learn how to change your writing from Telling to Showing.
• Want to perk up the pace of your prose?
• Need help pinpointing weak spots in your writing style?
This workshop will provide tips to help you tighten your sentence and paragraph structure to make your writing shine! Through the use of checklists, topical lectures and structured writing/revision exercises for each lesson, I supply tangible examples of what to look for and how to fix it. You’ll get interactive assistance from freelance editor and award-winning author, Linda Carroll-Bradd.
Linda Carroll-Bradd
The years Linda Carroll-Bradd spent working in secretarial positions paid off when she ventured into writing fiction. Along her writer journey, she put her skills with spelling, grammar, and punctuation to use and edited other authors’ manuscripts—first with just friends and then friends of friends. In 2012, she formalized the process and Lustre Editing was created. Linda has a clientele that includes USA Today and NY Times bestselling authors and has worked on all subgenres of romance, plus narrative nonfiction, memoir, middle grade fiction, and police procedural novels.
Married with four adult children, she now lives in the southern California mountains with two beloved dogs. In addition to working as a freelance editor, she is the author of more than 50 contemporary and historical stories that range from heartwarming to erotic (written under pen name Layla Chase).
Enrollment Information:
This is a 2-week online course that uses email and Groups.io. The class is open to anyone wishing to participate. The cost is $15.00 per person or, if you are a member of OCCRWA, $10.00 per person.To sign up or for more information, go to the class page at the OCC/RWA website: http://occrwa.org/classes/online-class-two/
Linda McLaughlin
OCC/RWA Online Class Coordinator
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