Wednesday, April 28, 2010

May Writer U On-line Classes

May 3-28, 2010

"Show Don't Tell: Say More With Less"

by Kris Kennedy

$30 at www.WriterUniv.com

Every writer knows the importance of "Show, Don't Tell," but what's the best way to achieve that? One of Kris Kennedy's favorite techniques is replacing backstory with implication, because writers don't need to spell everything out. "Trust the reader. She's smart. She'll pick things up." This class provides specific tools for saying more with less, such as focusing on here-and-now vs. there-and-then, specifics vs. generalizations, choosing the right details, and a variety of other techniques to create gripping books with a lively pace, deep characterization and compelling conflict. Concepts include:

* Creating tension on every page

* How conflict and pacing affect bestselling fiction

* Making readers ask questions, and making them worry

* How to imply back-story, viewpoint and more

* Using dialogue (or avoiding a conversation) to increase tension

* Intensifying the external world as a pacing tool

* The power of understatement, denial and emotion in the moment

After winning RWA's Golden Heart Award for Best Historical Novel and landing a two-book contract with Kensington, Kris Kennedy realized that in order to balance her love of craft with publisher deadlines and family, she needed some highly efficient writing techniques to call up the Muse. Some of those strategies include using "implication" to say more with less. Her latest book, The Irish Warrior, releases June 2010, followed by two more from Pocket Books.

May 3-28, 2010

"Deep Editing: The EDITS System, Rhetorical Devices and More"

by Margie Lawson

$30 at www.WriterUniv.com

Counseling psychologist Margie Lawson has developed innovative, psychologically-anchored editing systems and techniques that will show you how to write a page-turner. Deep Editing is not basic editing. It's post-graduate level editing. It's editing to hook the reader viscerally. In DEEP EDITING, participants will:

* Learn the EDITS system and take it deeper

* Learn the 25 rhetorical devices and practice using them

* Develop skills by using worksheets provided in each lecture

* Learn back story management, power lines, throw-away works

* Learn cliché twists, back loading, tautologies, and emotional hits

* Receive deep editing critiques from Margie on class assignments

* Develop a personal editing checklist from the master editing checklist

* Learn how to make your final editing past be your last pass

Psychotherapist, writer and international presenter Margie Lawson applied her psychological expertise to dissect over a thousand novels and analyze how authors write page-turners. A former university professor, Margie focuses her analytical skills on writing craft, developing innovative editing systems and deep editing techniques. Her deep editing tools are used by all writers, from newbie to multi-award winners. For more information, visit www.MargieLawson.com.

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