April Writer U classes

MASTER CLASS: From Plot To Finish
by Laurie Schnebly Campbell
April 1-12, 2013
$65 ($60 by check) at www.WriterUniv.com

Prerequisite: Must have completed Plotting Via Motivation class worksheets at some point

A continuation of the Plotting-Via-Motivation process, this limited-enrollment group gets every member plotting a brand new book (with the 14-point worksheets already on hand) from start to finish. No need to prepare a story idea, character bios or anything else, because you’ll learn how to plot an entire book -- and actually have it ready to type -- by the end of this hands-on workshop. The two-week session will include:

    * Defining the motivation of each main character
    * Recapping your original 14-point worksheet
    * Completing the new Plot Chart from beginning to end
    * Distributing the highlight scenes through each segment
    * Choosing an outline or a free-flowing format
    * Setting up your book’s unique structure for completion

Laurie Schnebly Campbell (www.booklaurie.com) always finishes a Plotting Via Motivation class wishing for the chance to see what happens to the wonderful stories begun there — and wondering how long it’ll take to see the finished books for sale. So she’s excited about speeding the process along, and getting to watch while the plots and characters take on their full shape.

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INDIE TRACK: Building Your Blog
by Ginger Calem
April 1-26, 2013
$40 ($35 by check) at www.WriterUniv.com

So you want to start a blog but you don’t know the difference between a widget and a gravatar. That’s okay! Ginger Calem is living proof that if she can do it, so can you. You will go from “no blog” to “blogger” in 30 days. Through lectures, homework, class discussion, and step-by-step instructions for using WordPress -- the system this class is designed for -- you’ll build  your own blog, customize it, launch it and firmly splash into the blogging waters. (Goggles and floaties are optional.) During the month you’ll learn about:

    * Considering why to blog and whom you want to reach
    * Researching what the “blogs that work” are doing right
    * Choosing your blog’s name and theme so it’s YOU
    * Adding widgets and fun personalization to customize your WordPress blog
    * Management: creating posts, adding images & videos, handling comments
    * Launch: publishing your first blogs, sharing on Facebook & Twitter
    * Tools for moving forward: topics, followers, creating “blog buzz”

Ginger Calem is in hot pursuit of her writing career and has been a presenter at the Surrey International Writers’ Conference. When she’s not cavorting with her fictional characters, she’s hanging out with a plethora of awesome people in the Social Media arena. Ginger discovered blogging was a fun way to keep her writing muscle pumped, her creativity unchecked and the best way to interact with readers and writers. She loves it (really) when people visit her blog atwww.gingercalem.wordpress.com and hang out with her on twitter @GingerCalem.

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MASTER CLASS: Body Language
by Mary Buckham
April 15-26, 2013
$65 ($60 by check) at www.WriterUniv.com

Prerequisite: Must have a manuscript that you are actively working on.

If you think you have a good handle on the intentional body language your characters use on the page but want to create more depth, greater subtext, clearer messages for your readers, then consider EMOTIONAL BODY LANGUAGE. Along with fascinating material like non-verbal greetings and some of the subtle (but oh so fun) differences between the body language of men and that of women, you’ll also learn:

    * The differences between aggressive and defensive body language
    * Dominant and Submissive body signals
    * Negative and positive body messages
    * Open, closed or relaxed positions
    * Power body language and leadership body messages
    * Reading deception through body language

Mary Buckham is the author of WRITING ACTIVE SETTING: Book 1; the best selling book in a three-book series on the craft  of writing and an award-winning romantic suspense author. Currently she presents writing workshops online and nationwide. Mary encourages you to visit her website at www.MaryBuckham.com for more information about her and her current writing projects including her newest releases!

Writer U On-Line Courses for October

The Hero's Journey, For Heroines
by Laurie Schnebly Campbell
October 1-26, 2012
$30 at http://www.writeruniv.com/

What happens when a character's journey is more about relationships, with others and with herself, than about daredevil action? Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler have identified 12 popular steps for a hero who explores the outside world and returns with the elixir. But what about a character whose journey leads to flowering change instead of physical adventure? Her challenges, as described in Kim Hudson's 13 steps, will sometimes contradict, sometimes parallel and sometimes compliment the traditional hero's journey...and for writers whose heroine faces her own less-traveled road to discovery, this class offers a fascinating map.

* Establishing the world of dependence
* Moving from dormancy to risk
* Sampling an unrealized dream in secret
* Balancing the old world with the new
* Embracing change, which results in chaos
* Facing self-doubt and the ultimate choice
* Bringing new light to a different world

Laurie Schnebly Campbell always wondered what was wrong with her, not really GETTING the Hero's Journey, until she discovered its feminine counterpart. Then she got excited -- not only by the premise, but also by the chance to create a brand new class for WriterU. She can't wait to see who else shares her enthusiasm for characters making discoveries within themselves, as well as within the world...no matter what their gender.

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Commit the Perfect Crime
by Stephen D. Rogers
October 1-26, 2012
$30 at http://www.writeruniv.com/

Killing people ain't hard. It's the getting away with it that's murder. Whether your protagonist is the criminal who commits the crime or the sleuth/detective who seeks justice, you need to mastermind a plan that will convince readers to come along for the ride. You need to create a sense that nothing can go wrong, and then -- logically -- make it all come apart. Crime may not pay, but writing about it does. In this class you'll learn how to:

* Motivate the various characters to make their actions seem inevitable
* Cripple the first leg of the investigative tripod: motive
* Cripple the second leg of the investigative tripod: means
* Cripple the third leg of the investigative tripod: opportunity
* Plant the clue or trait that causes things to unravel
* Draw out the suspense until the axe falls

Derringer winner Stephen D. Rogers is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Private Eye Writers of America, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. He judged the Daphne du Maurier (published category) for the Romance Writers of America, Mystery/Suspense Chapter, for four years and has written columns and articles for Dabbling Mum, Writer's Digest, and Writing World. Over five hundred of his stories and poems have appeared in more than two hundred publications.

June Writer U Classes

MASTER CLASS: "The Alpha Female, from Angelina to Zenobia"


by Laurie Schnebly Campbell

June 4-15, 2012

$55 at www.WriterUniv.com

Prerequisite: Must be writing or planning a heroine with some unique internal and/or external strength

While alpha males are easy to define -- they're the big strong leaders -- alpha females are trickier. What makes a woman strong? In the animal world her power comes from mating with the alpha male, but heroines throughout history have drawn power from more than just a top-dog mate. Still, even a real-life woman who rules her world, whether that's a large family or a small empire, can't have all the answers...if she did, she'd be starring in a biography rather than a novel. Discover what readers love about alpha females, with lessons and (always optional) homework on:

* Her hidden weaknesses...and hidden strengths

* Relationships with equals and with her underlings

* Where her power comes from: body, mind, soul

* When and how she should fight to win

* Which challenges we can't let her overcome

* What she'll need for a plausible happy ending

Every time Laurie Schnebly Campbell taught her class on "Alpha Males, from Abe to Zeus," the question came up: What about alpha females? She always regretted not knowing enough about that topic to teach it, but a lot of reading and watching alpha heroines in action has provided new insight into what makes those characters work. So here's the answer!

Bring Your Characters to Life

Arizona's own Laurie Schnebly Campbell can help bring your character to life.

What kind of dialogue makes your characters real? What kind of description works best for your voice? No two writers will use the same techniques for these key elements, but having new tools to choose from can make writing description and dialogue easier as well as more fun…not only for you, but for your readers as well. For each technique, this session will use examples from books by the conference’s best-known guests.

Laurie Schnebly Campbell combines her background in counseling with writing novels like the one that beat out Nora Roberts for “Best Special Edition Of The Year.” Her latest book is a how-to on creating characters, and she’s taught writers online and in person from L.A. to London and New Zealand to New York…recently presenting her 100th live workshop to an RWA group. Besides teaching, she enjoys writing for an advertising agency, narrating for Talking Books, and vacationing with her husband and son in Sedona, the red-rock town named for her great-grandmother. “People ask how I find time to do all that,” Laurie says, “and I tell them it’s easy: I never clean my house!”

Laurie will be speaking at the Desert Dreams Writer's Conference April 27-29, 2012

http://www.desertroserwa.org

Registration closes March 31st. Don't miss this opportunity!

Plotting Via Motivation Writer-U On-line class

Plotting Via Motivation
by Laurie Schnebly Campbell
March 5-30, 2012
$30 at www.WriterUniv.com

Motivation is what drives your story. Any of us could write a book in which the characters set out for a three hour tour and get shipwrecked on an uncharted desert isle. We've seen what seven such characters would do...over and over and over again. But what would YOURS do?

If you nail down any character's motivation, it doesn't matter whether the ship capsizes or lands safely three hours later. Your characters will create a plot from WHATEVER happens, because you've got their motivation built in from the very beginning. Find out how, with a workshop that covers:

* Your biggest question in motivation
* The surprising core that makes it possible
* How deep do you go?
* The Motivation Checklist, with 14 blanks
* Difference between Goal and Motivation
* Using motivation to build your plot

Laurie Schnebly Campbell (www.booklaurie.com) grew up with a marriage-counselor mother, preparing her to write happy endings for her own books -- including one that beat out Nora Roberts for "Best Special Edition of the Year." The only thing she loves more than writing is working with other writers, which is why she now has a dozen novels on her bookshelf with acknowledgments from authors who loved her class!

Writer U August On-Line Course

August 1-26, 2011
Writing Your Synopsis "Mad Men" Style
by Laurie Schnebly Campbell
$30 at www.writeruniv.com

What do successful students say about this advertising-style workshop? American Title winner Marie-Claude Bourque: "That synopsis I sent...got me into the 8 finalists!" NYT bestseller Allison Brennan: "Laurie's classes are fabulous. I'm still not an expert at the synopsis, but I'm head and shoulders better than I was." Brand new Harlequin author Patty Hall: "It taught me a great deal more than I thought I could learn." Four-sales-in-a-row Sally Clements: "This approach has given me all the tools I need to go back and whip my older, non-selling synopses for previous works into shape." Tools include...

* Why synopses are like ads (and what makes them work)

* Choosing your target market/s (and how to reach them)

* Getting to know your product from the buyer's perspective

* Communicating your unique selling points (like all great ads do)

* Brainstorming, strategizing, nuts & bolts, and the big DON'Ts
* Homework assignments (always optional) to exercise your new skills

Laurie Schnebly Campbell credits her day job in advertising with making it easy to write every synopsis she's ever done, but it wasn't until friends commented on her ability that she realized not everyone HAS a Madison Avenue background. So she put together the copywriting techniques that make people want to buy whatever new product they read about, and shows how to use 'em during this hands-on workshop (followed by a master class in October).

From Plot to Finish On-Line Class

April 18-29, 2011
MASTER CLASS: "From Plot to Finish"
by Laurie Schnebly Campbell
$55 at WriterUniv.com

Prerequisite: Must have completed Laurie's "Plotting Via Motivation" workshop.

A continuation of the Plotting-Via-Motivation process, this limited-enrollment group gets every member plotting a brand new book (with the PVM worksheets already on hand) from start to finish. No need to prepare a story idea, character bios or anything else, because you'll learn how to plot an entire book -- and actually have it ready to type -- by the end of this hands-on workshop. The two-week session will include:

* Defining the motivation of each main character
* Recapping your original 14-point worksheet
* Completing the new Plot Chart from beginning to end
* Distributing the highlight scenes through each segment
* Choosing an outline or a free-flowing format
* Setting up your book's unique structure for completion

Laurie always finishes a Plotting Via Motivation class wishing for the chance to see what happens to the wonderful stories begun there -- and wondering how long it'll take to see the finished books for sale. So she's excited about speeding the process along, and getting to watch while the plots and characters take on their full shape.

WriterU On-line Classes for February

"Plotting Via Motivation"

by Laurie Schnebly Campbell

February 1-28, 2011

$30 at www.WriterUniv.com


Motivation is what drives your story. Any of us could write a book in which the characters set out for a three-hour tour and get shipwrecked on an uncharted desert isle. We've seen what seven such characters would do...over and over and over again. But what would YOURS do?

If you nail down any character's motivation, it doesn't matter whether the ship capsizes or lands safely three hours later. Your characters will create a plot from WHATEVER happens, because you've got their motivation built in from the very beginning. Find out how, with a workshop that covers:

* Your biggest question in motivation

* The surprising core that makes it plausible

* How deep do you go?

* The Motivation Checklist, with 14 blanks

* Difference between Goal and Motivation

* Using motivation to build your plot

Laurie Schnebly Campbell grew up in a family that talked "motivation" around the dinner table. While her day job in advertising is responsible for her synopsis skills, her Master's in Counseling works for motivating characters in her novels...including one that beat out Nora Roberts for "Best Special Edition of the Year." Check her out at www.BookLaurie.com.


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MASTER CLASS: "Law Enforcement: Making Your Cop Real"

by Margaret Taylor

February 7-18, 2011

$55 at www.WriterUniv.com


Prerequisite: Minimum of three chapters written about a law enforcement character.

This workshop helps writers figure out realistic actions, motivations, and responses for their law enforcement characters. Participants will shove up their sleeves, get down in the dirt and participate by posting scenarios to see what works and why. Based on actual experience from her 20+ years in the field, Margaret Taylor presents a clear perspective on developing and shaping fictional cops, making them and their contacts ring true. Along with details on who to contact for more information -- and insider tips on how to get it -- students will learn:

* Basics of everyday police routine, from patrol through investigations
* What's behind most law enforcement characters' motivations
* How your cop’s actions help define his or her character
* Creating realistic goals and responses for people in law enforcement
* What each agency is responsible for; how task forces work
* The difference between innocuous pranks and war
* Why the legendary "gray area" is a cop’s best friend

M.A. Taylor spent more twenty years in law enforcement. After seven years with the California Highway Patrol (CHP), she become a Special Agent for the California Department of Justice (DOJ), spending over a decade in Narcotics...including assignment to a Federal DEA-HIDTA Task Force. Margaret’s areas of expertise range from surveillance to wiretaps to tribal gaming, sexual predators, investigations and more.

October On-Line Class Writer U

October 18-29
MASTER CLASS: "Q Is For Query, A Is For Aaack!"
by Laurie Schnebly Campbell
$55 at www.WriterUniv.com

Prerequisite: Must have a project in mind to query

Why is it so hard to write a query letter? Well, because an author's entire career depends on the response!

Okay, maybe not, but that doesn't make the job any easier when a writer -- who routinely creates compelling prose -- is suddenly forced to create a compelling pitch. Chatting with the editor or agent for two hours in person might be simpler, but since that isn't always possible, it's important to have a sales tool which covers the same material in just 250 words. Find out how to craft a query letter for ANY set of circumstances:

* Approaching an editor/agent who judged your entry in a contest

* Pitching someone you met at a conference way back when

* Meeting 'em (by plan or accident) at a recent conference

* Picking someone at random (and why that's a last resort)

* Switching from non-fiction to fiction writing, or vice versa

* Capitalizing on a recent success with this (or any other) manuscript

Laurie Schnebly Campbell recognizes that most writers aren't the naturally outgoing type, which means their query letter has to work even harder. In this hands-on workshop (which includes full critiques for writers willing to share their work), she brings 25 years of advertising experience to the task of identifying what makes people want to buy a product -- any product -- and how to convince them YOURS is the one they want.

"His Personality Ladder" On-Line Class

August 2-27, 2010

"His Personality Ladder"

by Laurie Schnebly Campbell

$30 at http://www.writeruniv.com/


This hands-on workshop tracks the hero's arc through the seven core steps he'll need to climb during his journey from a not-yet-heroic character to one who's fully earned his victory by the end. Of course, the other main characters have their OWN ladders to climb, often in parallel stages...until the finale, when the "reader favorites" reach their ultimate triumph. There's even a ladder for the villain, although in most cases he never makes it to the top!
With plenty of discussion and (always optional) homework, you'll discover:
* Why your hero doesn't think he needs to change
* How to force him into starting his journey
* What road blocks he'll run into, depending on his type
* Who the hero will become, halfway up the ladder
* Where to reveal what the readers have been waiting for
* When other characters will make things better...or worse
Laurie Schnebly Campbell (booklaurie.com) created the Ladder workshop after people from her Psychology, Fatal Flaws and Enneagram classes requested more information on techniques to build compelling fiction. Her debut class generated so many demands for a longer version that she's introducing this expanded course for WriterU, and looking forward to meeting some great new heroes...as well as some she's enjoyed before!

February On-Line Class at WriterU

Motivation is what drives your story. Any of us could write a book in which the characters set out for a three hour tour and get shipwrecked on an uncharted desert isle. We've seen what seven such characters would do...over and over and over again. But what would YOURS do?

If you nail down any character's motivation, it doesn't matter whether the ship capsizes or lands safely three hours later. Your characters will create a plot from WHATEVER happens, because you've got their motivation built in from the very beginning. Find out how, with a workshop that covers:

* Motivation's Big Question

* The Surprising Core

* How Deep Do You Go?

* Motivation Checklist

* The 14 Blanks

* Goal vs Motivation

* Building Your Plot

"Plotting Via Motivation"

February 1-26, 2010

www.WriterUniv.com

Laurie Schnebly Campbell grew up in a family that talked "motivation" around the dinner table. While her day job in advertising is responsible for her synopsis skills, her Master's in Counseling works for motivating characters in her novels...including one that beat out Nora Roberts for "Best Special Edition of the Year." Check her out at www.BookLaurie.com.