Seminar Topics

NOTE

To receive the formal announcement of these seminars, or if your writers’ group would like a presentation, please email me at h_stanbrough@yahoo.com and put WTW in the subject line. For the venues and the current schedule of events, please see Venues & Events next door.

SEMINAR TOPICS

New! Marketing for Writers (daylong seminar)—Learn the details of a marketing system that helps you build your list of fans and sell more books. This seminar covers the essentials of your blog, including what to post and how often. Learn how to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook to build your fan base and send people to your blog and then ultimately sign them up on your mailing list. You’ll also learn how to turn your book into a best-seller on Amazon using techniques from a best-selling launch professional. This will be a hands-on, interactive seminar. Includes a detailed student handout.

New! Writing the Memoir I and II (daylong seminar)—Particpants will learn the history of memoir, why we write memoir, for whom we write and the nuts and bolts of putting parts of your life on paper. Included will be how to get started, how to focus, how to conquer your fears about revealing your past or present and where to dig for the treasure that is yours alone to share. By the time you leave the seminar your memoir will be started, and you will have the tools to continue: memory joggers, how to interview people who knew you when, what part world history and culture played in your story, what to include and what to leave out. Discovering and polishing parts of your life will be rewarding for you and a joy for those who have lived some of the same experiences. You are not alone.

a Writing Realistic Dialogue I—Learn various techniques that enable you to maintain suspension of the reader’s sense of disbelief through the use of realistic, non-linear dialogue and its nuances. Learn to construct the natural give-and-take flow of dialogue.

a Writing Realistic Dialogue II—Learn to convey the emotions of the characters and subliminally manipulate the mood and emotions of the reader through the intimate nuances of the language itself as well as dialogue and punctuation. Includes a limited discussion of narrative, the sounds of letters and words as they relate to conveying emotion, spontaneity, and four in-depth, specific techniques for conveying emotion through punctuation and sentence structure. Includes a student handout.

b Creating Realistic Characters—What causes the reader to immediately recognize and identify with a character type? What makes the individual character stand out from other, even similar characters? Why should “cardboard” or “flat” characters’ dialogue be more colorful than that of more important characters? Here you’ll learn to assign the character traits, quirks, and idiosyncracies that enable your characters to come to life for your reader! Includes a list of character traits. Includes a free ebook, Creating Realistic Characters.

b Writing Dialect—The old wisdom on writing dialect is a paradox: “Until you know how to write it well, don’t write it at all.” In this class you’ll learn to write dialect like a master, which is to say you’ll learn to think your way through it. Includes a comprehensive list of suggested words and spellings to use when writing dialect as well as rationale for and against using phonetic spelling, how much is too much, etc. Includes a free ebook, Writing Dialect.

c Writing Great Beginnings—How can you grab the reader from the first sentence of your story or novel or memoir? We will explore ways to turn a phrase, look into dramatic, emotional, and dramatic-emotional sentence structures, and learn techniques that will not drag the reader into the story, but have him leaping into the story of his own accord. Includes dozens of examples from published and unpublished manuscripts from known and unknown writers. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own opening lines and/or examples they particularly enjoy. Includes a free ebook, Writing Great Beginnings.

c Writing Flash Fiction—Write a complete short story with characters, setting, conflict and resolution in 99 words or fewer. Caution: writing flash fiction can become an addiction. Includes a free ebook, The Art of Writing Flash Fiction.

d Writing Narrative and the Role of the Narrator—Learn to create mental movies; use narrative as an adjunct to dialogue; set scene and tone; the use of action verbs, adjectives and adverbs; using narrative as quasi-dialogue; punctuation for writers; and common snags in writing narrative. Also includes narrative point of view (POV) and narrative voice. A lot of strong narrative tips in this one, including the natural tense for narrative, what other instructors really mean when they say “Show, don’t tell,” and how to immediately recognize (and repair) “passive” constructions. All of this and much more. Includes a free ebook, Narrative in Fiction: Whispers in the Background.

d Self-Editing for Writers—Includes a section on punctuation for writers (how the various marks of punctuation directly affect the reader) and a thorough, in-depth presentation regarding the errors I see most often in manuscripts I edit: includes erroneous use of quotation marks and single quotes, myths about punctuation and passive voice, paragraphing, erroneous word choices, etc. This one seminar will dramatically improve all of your writing. Includes a free ebook, Self-Editing for Writers.

Writing Poetry (Daylong Seminar)—Poetic techniques that are characteristic of all well-written poetry, no matter the sub-genre. The poet’s task is to relate the poem itself and convey the spirit of the poem. Topics include the use of meter or not; the use and purpose of particular line lengths and line breaks; purposeful word choice; stanza use and construction; end and internal rhyme, either, or neither; definitions of free verse, blank verse, and various traditional forms; the use of punctuation in poetry; and the nuances of our beautiful language. Includes a free ebook, The Craft of Poetry: Structure & Sound. Includes a reading for particpants, time allowing.

The Essentials of Digital Publishing (Daylong Seminar)—Manuscript preparation for submission to Smashwords and how to create an attractive ebook cover. Step by step manuscript preparation including screenshots, how to create an interactive table of contents (not with Word’s TOC feature), and several other notes and tips. Cover design section includes step by step instructions for changing the color and texture of your stock cover photo, adding and adjusting stylized text, and using the Print Screen feature on your PC and the Paint program to create your own JPG files. Includes how to size the cover for Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others, how to create a thumbnail image, and more. Also includes a section on marketing, social networks and much more. Includes a free copy of The Essentials of Digital Publishing.

The Art of Observation I and II (Daylong Seminar)—The ability to write intimately is essential to enabling your reader to see what you’re seeing, hear what you’re hearing, feel what you’re feeling (physically and emotionally), etc. Observation, the ability to sense beyond the societal, physical and emotional veils with which we all contend, is essential to that intimacy. The veils identified. Techniques for sensing beyond the veils. Special focus on honing the physical senses. Part II is a continuation of the discussion of the ability to write intimately. Focus on honing the emotional senses. Notes on sensing our connection with what we observe and our place in the grand scheme. Discussion of the states of consciousness and relaxation exercise included. Attendees should expect to have their writing spirit revived. Includes a student handout. Includes a short field trip, time, space and weather permitting.

The Essentials of Digital Publishing (Overview)—A 2-hour overview of the subject. Includes the main points of epublishing and submission. Does not include cover design, etc. Includes a student handout and a dollars-off coupon for the book.

Note: All of the free ebooks and student handouts indicated above will be provided by the instructor a day or two before the seminar in PDF format via email. The attendee may print them out and bring them to class or bring his or her laptop.