BOOK CLUBS

A common misconception about critique groups is they strip away your individual style and voice. It can be circumvented, if you know how. This workshop offers advice on how to find critique partners, work with different genres, and how to blend your unique strengths and weaknesses to form a top-notch group, and avoid discouragement. 

Keeping up with a blog is time consuming for a writer. Other than cloning yourself, group blogging is the best alternative. Founded in 2005, Novel Journey—now Novel Rocket—was the first literary group blog. From our 10 years of experience, learn how to find your audience, find your focus, pull together the right team, and monetize your blog.

• The Lie characters believe about themselves is the key to their motivation. Motivation is the drive, the incentive to reach a goal. It's the foundation to compelling characters and the key to great plots. 

• Make the motivation complex and you'll have memorable characters your readers will follow through anything. Once you know your character's motivation, plotting becomes easier. 

• Starting with the characters backstory, you'll learn the lie they believe about themselves, what incident caused it, the fear developed from it, and dig deep for the core motivation, which is also a great way to find your theme. 

• Plan to bring your work in progress or ideas for a new WIP. Together, we'll ferret out your character's motivation. 

"When Ane Mulligan taught this workshop, I felt like I'd attended a $175 per hour psychiatric visit." ~ Creston Mapes, award-winning suspense author.

• The Wind Up: Writing the pitch is harder than writing your novel, but I'll give you several tips on how to write a good one short enough to memorize. 

• The Pitch: Practicing your pitch with your writing buddies - at all hours.

• Hit or Strike Out: Tips on when and when not to deliver your pitch.

• Pitches/queries that work and those that don't.

• Learn the basics of good writing like Show don't Tell, Use of strong verbs instead of passive, POV, self-editing, etc.

• The Magic Paragraph

• Learning when and how to break them.

• There are several types of Point of View to write in: first person, third person limited. Each offers something different.

• Do I have to stick to one type of POV?

• The difference between POV and Deep POV: I'll give examples to demonstrate the difference. 

"When Ane Mulligan taught a class at our writers conference, the lights went on in my head. She has a way of teaching that makes her students get it." ~ Cindy Pope