New York Times Bestselling author Michael Stackpole presents his three week program for preparing yourself to write a novel. This set of 21 exercises is broken down to give you everything from characer creation to world building, practical plotting, devices, dialog development, and character voice creation tools. This program is a practical, kick-in-the-pants place to start your career.
Want to explore a way to reach "Eureka!" moments with your writing? Join Linda Baker for a session about brain waves, specifically alpha waves. She'll explore ways to reach an alpha state--a state of relaxation with awareness--which can give your writing a boost of creativity and energy.
All writers make mistakes . . . we'll give you tips on how to avoid some of them. Calling agents and editors every week to check on manuscripts? Paying people a fee to represent you? Using British spelling because you think it looks cool? Mixing fonts to make the manuscript look pretty . . . listen to authors and editors give you advice on what not to do.
New York Times Bestselling author Michael Stackpole walks you through the basics of setting yourelf up for success. From developing good cre habits, working past simple, career killing mistakes, and setting up writer's critiquing groups, to acquiring the physical tools needed to start writing; Mike covers it all. You're about to start on the most difficult and exhilarating journey of your life, and this seminar will show you what to pack.
If the big houses turn you down, consider selling your manuscript to a small press publisher. It might be your best chance to get your foot in that proverbial publisher door. Does the small press give more freedom and assume less control? Authors and editors who have worked with small press publishers discuss the benefits and disadvantages.
How can you send shivers down your readers' spines? What is evil, and how can you portray it? Together, let's discover those things that go bump in the night. You don't have to write in the horror genre to deliver a really good scare.
Creating a level of tension in any genre is important if you want to hold a reader's attention. We'll discuss some of the strategies for putting readers on the edge of their seats and keep them turning the pages.
Characters are king in literature, and New York Times Bestselling author Michael Stackpole brings you a toolbox full of techniques to create compelling and memorable characters. Readers read for and remember characters, and after this course, yours will be unforgettable, which will keep them coming back for more.
Hoi Chummer! Want to walk down the mean streets of America in 2072, with a cyberarm and a magic spell at the ready? Or perhaps you'd rather go to interstellar war in a 40-foot-tall robot? Join the Novel Line Developer for Catalyst Game Labs, along with a couple of the other folks to find out what is in store for these two fictional futures.
Whether your story is set in an imaginary world or in the real one, things that will pop a reader or an editor out of your story is inconsistency in naming conventions, make-believe words, and invented languages. Join us for a discussion on how to maintain consistency in your writing.