Gear Up for Fall

by Marcia Peterson

Summer distractions probably caused you to place some of your writing projects on the back burner. However, back-to-school time can offer a fresh start for writers. It’s a great opportunity to “reboot” your writing life.

If you’re unsure about how to get going again, a few strategies can help you gear up for the approaching fall months. Here are three ways to dive back in, create momentum and get excited about your writing.

Challenge Yourself

First, freelancers can build an active writing schedule with a self-created query challenge. Make a commitment to send out a certain amount of queries or submissions per week, starting now. This will get you in a writing frame of mind and, as you send more and more out, you’ll generate new assignments to work on.

To bolster your commitment to this endeavor, be sure to seek outside support. Sometimes you can participate in group query challenges that various writing sites offer. Alternatively, you can share your submission goals with fellow writers, then check in occasionally with progress reports to keep yourself on track.

Fiction writers can set up a daily word count challenge, or resolve to complete one short story per month. Like the freelancers, you can make your goals public with writing friends for accountability. At this time of year, you might also consider NaNoWriMo, which occurs every November. If you decide to participate, spend the next month or so planning your project and preparing your life for a successful novel challenge experience.

Take a class

Another way to ignite your writing life is to copy the kids and go back to school. Classes offer the ideal way to create structure in your writing world, which really helps when you’re getting back into production mode. The assignments make you focus on your writing, and working on new things gives you a boost.

Now is the best time to research your available options, in order to sign up for popular fall classes. Look through local and online class offerings for something that piques your interest—maybe a class in a new area of writing, or something related to your usual genre for renewed passion and continued improvement.

Enter Contests

Contests provide two of the most important things an off-track writer needs: a prompt (or theme) and a deadline. Winning is a great, but you can be proud of entering a quality piece regardless of the outcome. Just by crafting an entry, you’ve added something new to your body of work.

Spend some time now researching upcoming contests that may suit you. The idea is to pick at least one that you will enter very soon, and get that date on your calendar. You can take it further by making a plan to enter several contests by the end of the year. Contests are a great motivator, and lots of fun too.

* * *

Check out WOW! Women on Writing’s upcoming classes and contest deadlines. Happy fall writing!

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1 comment fall, Marcia Peterson, online writing classes, reboot, writer inspiration, writing challenge, writing contest, writing goals

Isn’t It About Time YOU Graduated, Writer?

It’s that time of year when graduates are marching forth, ready to show off their hard-earned knowledge and take on the world. Whether they’re leaving kindergarten or college, it’s the same. Excitement bounces on the breeze, just like all those colorful “Congratulations, Graduate!” balloons.

Don’t you wish writers could graduate? That we had a special day when we marched forth, all excited to take on the writing world?

You know what? We have something better. Because writers can graduate any and every day. All a writer has to do is find the right class and sign up.

Take WOW!Women on Writing. If you’re a faithful WOW! follower, you know there’s a plethora (See how I used a big writing word? Don’t you feel smarter already?) of writing classes offered here. Of course, I’m a little biased when it comes to our writing classes because I know how wonderful and responsive the instructors are.

But maybe you’re looking for a class that we don’t offer. Maybe your budget or time is stretched thin right now. There are many writing classes available—and honestly, it’s as simple as typing “writing classes” into your favorite search engine. From authors who supplement their income by offering weekend retreats to publishing giants who serve up a smorgasbord of webinars and boutique services, you can find a course that will fit both your pocketbook and time constraints.

But writer beware. Taking online classes requires homework before you pay your tuition.

Do a little research on your instructor. You want a teacher who’s published and qualified in the writing field she/he is teaching. (Seems like a no-brainer, I know. But I recently noticed a critique service where an author was assigned to give feedback in a field she wasn’t published in. It may not matter if your instructor is published in fantasy YA and you write science fiction YA. But if you’re signed up for a picture book class and the teacher is published in adult fiction, you might want to keep looking.)

Check about refund policies before you send in that check. Life happens, and if your life happens to take a crazy turn before a class starts, you want to be able to get your money back.

Finally, zip around the web to see if anyone’s talking about the class. That’s the great thing about writers. They write about everything—and dish on the details.

If your budget can’t manage tuition right now, search “free writing classes.” Instruction on the cheap—and in everything from advertising copy to westerns—is just a click away. You may not reap quite the same benefits as you would from a paying class, but you could still complete that free class and feel like you’re ready to take on the writing world.

So ditch the excuses and sign up today. And get your own “Congratulations, Graduate” balloon!

~Cathy C. Hall

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4 comments Cathy C. Hall, free writing classes, online writing classes, WOW Women On Writing, writing classes

Writing Picture Books: Set Yourself a Challenge

By Lynne Garner

A few months ago the lovely ladies at WOW sent me a link for PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month). Children's author Tara Lazar devised the concept. The basic idea is to come up with 30 ideas for picture books over a 30-day period. Thankfully, you're not expected to complete 30 manuscripts in 30 days. Simply come up with at least one new idea per day. This could be a title, a character, an idea based on something you saw or perhaps overheard.

I'll admit the idea was a little scary. I debated for a week or so before I took the plunge and signed up. I've seldom had a problem coming up with ideas but I definitely felt out of my comfort zone during this challenge. Some days I struggled to come up with anything. Other days I had two, sometimes even three, ideas. For example, whilst driving home on day 12 I had three ideas. First, I spotted a For Sale sign that had a large black hen on it. A few days earlier I'd read The Little Red Hen. I now had a friend for her, a big black hen. The story will focus on how these two friends use their size difference to help one another. Secondly, seeing a queue at a bus stop reminded me of a joke where people joined a queue but didn't know what they were queuing for. So this story will focus on what each character hopes is at the front of the queue. Finally, I was stuck behind a very slow moving tractor. Thankfully I had plenty of time, but this made me think about how life seems to put slow things in your way when you are running late. So this story will focus on how my character deals with slow things when he needs to be fast.

Taking part in Picture Book Ideas Month has reinforced my belief that ideas can be hidden around every corner. It has also highlighted to me that in order to improve your writing you have to set yourself the odd challenge or two. This challenge could be anything. Perhaps writing in a story format you've never used, crafting a story in rhyme or telling a story with a limited number of words. It could be joining a local writing group or a national group such as SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writes & Illustrators), writing a story to enter into a competition or, as I did, signing up for Picture Book Ideas Month.

So, go on, give your writing a boost and set yourself a challenge.

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Would you like to try writing a picture book? Sign up now for Lynne Garner's class, How to Write Children’s Picture Books and Get Published, which starts on January 5, 2013.

If you've taken a picture book course before then you can enroll in Lynne's advanced course, 5 Picture Books in 5 Weeks (Advanced Course), which also starts on the same day.

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3 comments Lynne Garner, online writing classes, Picture Book Idea Month, picture books, WOW Classes, WOW instructor, Writing Picture Books

Tuning Out the Self-Sabotage Monster

by Bonnie Hearn Hill

You manage to steal a block of time  to stay home and write. Now that you have the time, the words won’t come. That voice within you says, “Who do you think you are? You know you’ll never do this.”

You write something you love, but by the next morning, you seriously question its quality. You end up hating it so much that you can’t finish.

You want to write more than anything, yet you can’t seem to follow through. Why? Because there’s a monster in your head. Every writer has one. I’ve assigned a gender and an identity to mine—Mrs. Delp, one of my middle school teachers.

What she said was simple enough:  “Bonnie, can’t you ever do anything right?”

I forgot all about her until I began working with writers, but her words left their mark. When I observed my writing students exhibiting the same self-doubt I experienced, I tried to remember the first time I’d felt that hesitation,  the first time I’d heard that voice. Once I figured it out, I shared Mrs. Delp with my class, most of whom were well acquainted with her, under any number of names. One said her Delp was her mother,  who sent back all of her letters from summer camp, corrected in red ink. Another said his Mrs. Delp was a mister. His high school principal suggested he drop out of school and get a job because he wasn’t going to amount to anything.

Most of your efforts to sabotage your writing start with that judgmental voice. It doesn’t matter if it is a parent, a former teacher or ex-spouse. They’re all Mrs. Delp and, ultimately, all you.

Delp talks about responsibilities. “You have to do the laundry tonight.”

She talks about guilt. “You finally have a Friday off, and you’re not spending it watching TV with the kids?”

Most of all, she judges. “That’s no good. What makes you think you can do this?”

Other people can also delp you, intentionally or not.

“You’ve been writing every night. You deserve some time off.”

“Honey, do you know how many people out there are trying to write books?”

“Oh, you’re a writer? What have you published?”

Listen to your Delp long enough, and you’ll find your writing slowing and maybe stopping. You may begin rewriting before you finish the first draft. You might decide that one of the ten story ideas you came up with this morning is better than your work in progress and abandon yet another unfinished story. Worse, you may jump up from the computer realizing you really do want to clean the oven or the toilet right now. (Anything that makes you want to clean the oven or the toilet can’t be good.)

Here are some tips to keep you from delping yourself or letting others do it.

Publish something now, and it doesn’t have to be a bestseller. One of my students’ first sale was for ten dollars. Four years later, she signed a six-figure contract. The first made the second possible because it gave her the confidence she needed to push forward.

Do not show your unpublished work to anyone but a qualified professional.

Don’t show your best friend. Don’t show your parent. Please do not show your spouse.

You don’t need false praise, and you certainly don’t need criticism from someone who doesn’t have the knowledge to help you. Find a class, a mentor, or a critique group you trust.

Cultivate safe writer friends, not the ones who want to impress you with their brilliance, but real friends who also face that blank page every day. Choose helpers, not delpers.

Know that you will probably have to give up something to make room for your writing.

You can’t do everything. You have to make choices. When I worked at the newspaper, I got up every morning an hour early to write. I know other authors who wrote in their cars on their lunch hours. You do have the time, but you have to take it.

Recognize Delp for what she is. What is the message? That you don’t have talent? That you don’t deserve? That there’s no point in trying? When did it originate? Hear and picture that person who made you feel that way. You may want to name your voice after him/her. The next time you find that you’re delping yourself, you’ll be aware, and awareness is the beginning of change.

Write every day, even if for just  for ten minutes a day. You’ll polish your writing skills and will be less likely to believe that message of “You’re no good.”  Write the same time every day, if possible. The Delps of the world shy away from proactive production.

Evil is loudest just before it’s destroyed. Like the last hideous screech of the monster in a horror film, Delp will come in for one last attack just as you begin to reach your goal. You’ll break a leg on your way to a conference. You’ll accidentally crash your computer the night of a deadline. Expect it. And then go to the conference on crutches, if necessary. Borrow a computer. Demonstrate your commitment. No, it’s not easy, but it’s easier than letting Delp destroy your dreams.

Fight back. Although you may not be able to tune out that voice, you can turn down the volume.

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Bonnie Hearn Hill is the author of six international thrillers from MIRA Books, four young adult novels, and with Christopher Allan Poe, coauthored DIGITAL INK: WRITING KILLER FICTION IN THE E-BOOK AGE. A national writing conference speaker and contest judge, she has mentored many published writers and leads online workshops for WOW.

Bonnie's upcoming class, WRITING CONTESTS: THE FOCUSED WAY TO WIN, starts on Wednesday, September 26, 2012.  Join now, early registration is recommended!

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11 comments Bonnie Hearn Hill, doubt, online writing classes, tips for writers, WOW instructor, writer inspiration

The Power of Daily Writing

by Kelly L. Stone

One of the most powerful actions you can take to establish writing as a habit in your life is to carve out time to write every day for at least 30 days, and make a commitment to write every day for that entire 30 days. Even if it’s just 15 minutes a day, if you make the short-term commitment to do this, you will soon have a deep understanding of a very important concept: there is power in daily writing!

Daily writing leads to success, no ifs, ands, or buts. That’s because it forces you to focus like a laser on your work in progress and hone your writing skills whether you feel like writing or not. This in turn influences your subconscious mind to help you start thinking of yourself as a writer (or reinforces that belief) and that in turns affects your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors toward writing. Writing begets writing. Daily writing begets writing success.

Success is predicted by how you think, feel, and behave toward your writing goals. A person who has success-oriented thoughts and who feels confident in her abilities will naturally take daily actions that bring about her desired outcomes. She will feel enthusiastic, motivated, and dedicated to those outcomes because she thinks, feels, and acts her way toward reaching them, and she does the things every day necessary to achieve success.

This is the case with writing. An aspiring author who thinks positive thoughts and believes in herself will touch her craft daily, which will generate the enthusiasm and motivation to set goals. She will then cultivate the dedication required to take steps to reach those goals over a long period of time. She will write every day or take action every day toward her writing dream. She will act in methodical, self-disciplined ways that bring about desire outcomes. She will think, feel, and act in ways that stimulate enthusiasm, motivation, and dedication for achieving success as a writer as she defines it.

You can be that writer. Even if you have gotten off-track with your efforts to become a successful writer, it’s never too late to start again! Through daily writing, you can generate the enthusiasm, motivation, and dedication needed to work toward your long-term writing goals. You can create for yourself what is known in psychology as a positive self-fulfilling prophecy, which is a belief system that sets you up to succeed!

***

Kelly L. Stone (www.AuthorKellyLStone.com) is the author of a women’s fiction novel, GRAVE SECRET (Mundania Press, 2007) which Romantic Times Book Reviews called “powerful” and “well-written.” She is also the author of the TIME TO WRITE series for writers: TIME TO WRITE: No Excuses, No Distractions, No More Blank Pages (Adams Media, 2008), THINKING WRITE: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind (Adams Media, 2009) and LIVING WRITE: The Secret to Bringing Your Craft Into Your Daily Life (Adams Media, 2010). She is a sought after keynote speaker and workshop presenter at writing conferences across the country and offers online classes, critiques, and coaching services to writers. Contact her at Kelly@AuthorKellyLStone.com.

Make your writing a priority and join Kelly in the WOW! Women On Writing Classroom!

EmpowerYour Muse, Empower Your Writing Self starts September 3, 2012.

No MatterHow Busy You Are, You Can Find Time to Write! starts October 8, 2012
 

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4 comments finding time to write, Kelly L. Stone, making time to write, making writing a priority, online writing classes, time, WOW Classes, WOW instructor

How to Manage Freelance Writing Projects

by Nicky LaMarco

Many freelance writers lack organization and this can cause lost income, which no one wants. Learning how to manage your freelance writing projects is vital to your business since you are working on several different writing projects at a time.

Use a Template

Start with inbound client paperwork. Keep it on your desk at all times. When a client calls or emails you with a new project you will be able to ask all of the right questions and get it all on paper. Templates save you time and energy. You can create them for invoices, project outlines, e-mails, interviews, articles, and just about anything. To get an idea of what freelancers use them for, check out these helpful templates for research on WOW! You can get some other helpful templates on Jennifer Mattern's blog, All Freelance Writing.

Coordinate Calendars

You should have a desk calendar, a home calendar, and a daily planner. Keep them updated on a daily basis. Write deadlines and appointments on your desk calendar. If you need to go to a business meeting write that on all of your calendars. Use your daily planner to write out the tasks you will need to complete every day in order to meet your deadlines and make the money you need to every day. Before the start of your work week pull all three calendars together to ensure you have everything written on each one. And if you don't want to lug around printed calendars, you can always create calendars online with Google or get an app for your smartphone.

Use a Schedule

Create your own schedule and stick to it. If you plan to work from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday, then do it. Work when you are scheduled to work and do not work when you are not scheduled to. This will help you manage your freelance writing projects and avoid overworking.

Determine Your Limit

How much can you write every day? What is your limit? Knowing this will help you manage projects because you can immediately accept or decline new freelance writing projects. For example, if you mainly write articles and you can write 10 articles a day, but no more, you will know that you can accept more if you are currently writing 8 articles a day. Use a little math to determine how many you will need to write each day in order to meet the deadline. If you can write 2 articles a day to meet the deadline you can immediately accept the new project. If you can't you will need to have a later deadline or decline the project. Don't be afraid to say, "I am sorry but I am currently booked until March 1st," for example. Overworking yourself on too many freelance writing projects will cause burnout and may end up in broken contracts and projects that do not get finished. This results in lost money and a client that will probably never contact you again.

Managing your freelance writing projects will help you become more successful.

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Nicky LaMarco has been a freelance writer since 2001. She specializes in ghostwriting and copywriting. She enjoys helping new writers find success with her website and blog, Writing Pays, as well as with this class.

Nicky is also a WOW! Women on Writing Classroom instructor. Her interactive workshop GET PAID TO WRITE: BECOME A FREELANCE WRITER! YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO FREELANCE WRITING BASICS  starts Monday, June 20th. Click here for more information and to sign up!

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3 comments freelance, Nicky LaMarco, online class, online writing classes, Organizational Tips, templates, WOW Classes, WOW instructor, writing class

My Not-So-Secret Writing Tool for Generating Picture Book Ideas

by Lynne Garner

A friend recently asked me where I got my ideas. "Everywhere," was my reply.  She looked a little confused so I explained about the three picture books I’ve had published. The first A Book For Bramble evolved from my work with a not-for-profit organization that rescues sick, injured and orphaned hedgehogs. I began to wonder what (if any) dreams hedgehogs have whilst they  hibernate. Slowly the story of Bramble the hedgehog and his friend Teasel the mouse evolved.

My second book The Best Jumper grew from a conversation with a friend. We were discussing putting on weight and no longer being able to wear that favourite garment. We agreed at least we had the chance to lose the weight and squeeze back into that garment. Unlike a child who would never be able to squeeze back into their favourite piece of clothing because they’d grown out of it. From that conversation came Spindle and his shrinking jumper.

My last book Dog Did It came from owning a dog. Anyone who lives with a canine friend will know they can sometimes suffer from flatulence. This aromatic problem can sometimes result in a statement along the lines of “the dog did it!”

So my three books have come from:

·         An idle question

·         A conversation

·         A life experience

Now, although I have taught myself to ask questions my secret tool as a writer is my notepad and a pen which I take everywhere with me. In this way, when I see, hear, read or am told something I feel I could use in a story I write it down. Now that small spark of possible inspiration is not lost. So, if you want to be a writer, arm yourself with that secret tool. Pop it into your bag and get into the habit of jotting down all those little things that pass everyone else by.

P.S.

Whilst you are buying one notepad buy yourself a second and place it beside your bed. So next time you wake up with a dream still fresh in your mind you can quickly jot it down before it retreats and is lost forever.

P.P.S

My family and friends have become so accustomed to seeing me reaching for my not-so-secret tool that each birthday and Christmas I receive the most gorgeous notepads, which will one day be full of notes, ready to become part of a new story.

***

 
Lynne Garner has been a freelance writer and author since 1998. Since that time she has written for a large number of magazines both in the UK and the US. She has 21 books published; this includes three picture books, with a fourth to follow shortly. Her first title ‘The Best Jumper’ was recorded for the CBeeBies children’s radio channel (part of the BBC) whilst ‘A Book For Bramble’ has been translated into five languages including Korean and Indonesian.

Lynne is also a WOW! Women on Writing Classroom instructor. Her interactive workshop HOW TO WRITE CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS AND GET PUBLISHED starts Friday, June 24th. Click here for more information and to sign up!

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6 comments children's books, generating new ideas, getting ideas, Lynne Garner, online writing classes, WOW Classes, WOW instructor, writing children's picture book, writing class

Don’t Get Caught Making These POV Violations, Guest Post by Diane O’Connell

Don’t Get Caught Making These POV Violations


We’ve all been there. You’re driving along in your car while listening to music and mentally going over your grocery list on your way to the supermarket. Next thing you know, a siren overpowers the sound of the radio and you find yourself being pulled over. You were speeding, and you weren’t even aware of it. It’s as easy for a writer to make a critical POV mistake as it is for a driver to drift over the speed limit, and these POV errors can compel an editor or agent to reject what may be an otherwise beautifully crafted story. Here is a list of the Top 10 POV-related mistakes to avoid:


1. Writing from the wrong POV

Oftentimes, an author will choose to write a 1st person narrative for a novel that needs the flexibility of 3rd person. The result is a novel that feels claustrophobic.

It’s also possible to choose the wrong character’s POV. Sometimes the “main” character isn’t the best person to narrate the story. Think how shallow The Great Gatsby would be if it were told from the POV of Jay Gatsby himself instead of Nick Carraway.

2. Using an omniscient narrator instead of a specific POV

This is the “God-like” POV, in which the narrator let’s us in on the thoughts of nearly every character. This style may have worked for the Victorian novelists, but is rarely used in contemporary literature.

3. Not letting POV color other elements of your story

If you’ve created intriguing characters, let them “tell it like they see it.” When characters put their spin on a scene, they pull the reader into their world the way a great storyteller holds an audience spellbound. Passages that aren’t appropriately filtered through a character’s POV will lay flat on the page.

4. Announcing the character’s thoughts

Real people don’t use “I thought,” when they think something, so don’t let your characters do that. You need to move seamlessly into and out of a character’s thoughts.

5. Relying on POV, and not much else

Having a well-crafted POV is important, but so are structure and plot. Don’t let POV overtake these, or your readers will feel like they are stuck with the narrator against their will.

6. Playing “brain billiards” with characters’ thoughts

That means hopping from one person’s mind to another within a scene. This can get really confusing for readers because they won’t know whose scene it is. It’s kind of like being at a party where everyone is talking over everyone else and you can’t follow the thread of any one conversation. This practice is also disorienting and takes the reader out of the “fictive dream” you’ve created.

7. Giving information the narrator can’t possibly know

When a story is told in first person and that character is sitting in a restaurant, she can’t describe to us what the character sitting behind her looks like. Furthermore, she can’t know another character’s past unless it was revealed to her within the text. So if you need these details to further the plot, let your character discover them.

8. Writing scenes with no POV, or from the POV of “they”

Reading a scene with no specific POV is like mounting a video camera on a tripod, setting it to wide angle, sticking it in the corner of a crowded room and then walking away. You end up with a jumble of activity in which you don’t know who to watch or what you should be focusing on. And worse, the result is just plain boring. Writers will sometimes try to cheat their way out of this by writing “They thought a retirement party would be a great send-off for their boss.” Who’s they? There is no “they,” because characters—and people for that matter—do not all have the same thoughts.
9. Using too many characters’ viewpoints

This not only muddles the plot and gets readers confused, but dilutes the main character’s experience. Ideally, limit your POV characters to the smallest number you can get away with and still tell your story effectively. Remember, POV is a choice made by you, the writer. Know why you think your readers need another POV. And know why you’re making the choice.

10. Mistaking your own voice for the voice of your protagonist
This is especially true if your protagonist’s life has some similarities to yours. You can end up writing a version of yourself that’s far more limiting, and inevitably less interesting, than your main character.

***

Diane O’Connell has been a New York publishing professional for 25 years and has worked as an editor at some of the top publishing houses, including Random House. Since forming Write to Sell Your Book, she has helped dozens of writers become published authors—including a first-time novelist who got a $500,000 two-book contract from Bantam after working with her. Diane is also the author of five traditionally published books, including the groundbreaking, critically acclaimed Divorced Dads: Shattering the Myths, which was the subject of a 20/20 report by John Stossel. Her mission is to help authors develop their talent and improve their skills so they can achieve their dreams of publication.


*** . Diane is also a WOW! Women on Writing Classroom instructor. Sign up for her online course, MASTERING POINT OF VIEW, which starts on Monday, January 10, 2011.  Early registration is recommended, so get your spot now!
 

***  For information on all of our current classes, please visit the WOW! Women On Writing Workshops & Classes page. WOW! classes are an excellent way to further develop your skills, or to try your hand at something completely new!

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2 comments Diane O’Connell, guest post, novel writing, online writing classes, point of view, POV, pov character, WOW Classes, writing class

Classes Starting Next Week!

We have a few classes starting next week (Monday and Tuesday). There's still some available spots if you'd like to participate. :)

April 5, 2010 (Monday):

PERSONAL BRANDING 101
Instructor: Mary MacRae Warren
Duration: 4 Weeks
This course will explore the importance of branding to authors and help you pull together your brand--whether you're established or just starting out in your writing career. At the end of the class you will have a portfolio and campaign to market your writing.
Visit the classroom for complete details and curriculum

INTRODUCTION TO SCREENWRITING
Instructor: Christina Hamlett
Duration: 6 weeks
This 6-week class provides an overview of the techniques and formatting requirements to develop an original screenplay. The lectures and assignments cover character development, dialogue, genre, structure, pacing, budget, and marketability. All materials submitted are critiqued by a professional screenplay consultant and learners are free to ask as many questions as they'd like about how to turn a story idea into a commercial, pitch-ready script.
Visit the classroom for complete details and curriculum

INTRODUCTION TO PLAYWRITING
Instructor: Christina Hamlett
Duration: 6 weeks
Since the time of the Ancient Greeks, the live theater experience has satisfied an audience's need for entertainment that is immediate, intimate and accessible to all ages and levels of society. Whether performed in an outdoor courtyard, on a vintage stage, in a school auditorium, or above the din of an urban coffeehouse, a play is an ever-evolving and timeless art form that derives its energy from both sides of the footlights. Unlike a novel or film which is financed and produced only once, a theater script undergoes a new transformation with each change of cast and each change of venue. Even the passage of time itself impacts how a theatrical story will resonate with successive generations, giving new definition and perspective to old ideas or providing a yardstick of how far we've come from social mores that were once held as truth.

In this class, you'll be learning what makes a play successful...and how to write one yourself! Each module consists of a lecture and writing assignment, as well as interviews, websites and anecdotes. Ideally, it should only take one week to complete each exercise. The final assignment will be the writing and submission of an original 15-minute one-act play, which will be professionally critiqued for its adherence to all of the principles addressed in class.
Visit the classroom for complete details and curriculum

HOW TO WRITE A NONFICTION BOOK PROPOSAL THAT SELLS
Instructor: Andrea Campbell
Duration: 8 weeks
Let me show you through my intense, 8-week-long workshop how to get a nonfiction book proposal ready for publishers. This is your opportunity to gain a serious business advantage over other writers who will try to wing it. And even if your first book doesn't sell, you will have the skills and the template to apply to other ideas and projects. You may even come up with more ideas for more books as you work through this course.

And my workshop is different. I keep the classes small so you receive a lot of individual attention: class size is limited to 10 students. In addition, you will have e-mail feedback on all assignments. Another thing I do in my workshops is to have weekly chat sessions. Yes, every Thursday night, we will meet online to ask questions, discuss lesson plans, and talk about additional information or details that you might have missed. Chats are an important tool for learning (and camaraderie) and why shouldn't we work together to leverage our knowledge? And to make it worth your while, you will also receive additional materials to help illustrate important points from the lesson plans or that you can use to aid you in staying abreast of what is happening in the publishing industry.

By the end of class, students will have a marketable, nonfiction book proposal package ready to send out to agents, including a query letter, along with the confidence to market his/her product.
Visit the classroom for complete details and curriculum

April 6, 2010 (Tuesday):

SHORT FICTION WRITING
Instructor: Gila Green
Duration: 8 weeks
Through writing exercises and classmate and instructor feedback we will delve into the fundamentals of short fiction with a view to publishable work. We will explore a variety of craft elements including: character, plot, point of view, description, dialogue, setting, pacing, voice and theme.
Visit the classroom for complete details and curriculum

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If you're interested in any of these subjects, consider taking one of these courses taught by our expert instructors! All of the classes are held online and you can work at your own pace and on your own time. You do not need to be present at any particular time (we get that question a lot), and if the instructor has a set time for online chats, you can make arrangements with her to fit your schedule. Visit: http://wow-womenonwriting.com/WOWclasses.html

Happy writing!

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