Let's MAKE A SCENE!!!
Three-hour Online Writing Workshop
Tuesday, March 12
7-10 PM (EST), via Zoom
$250.00
Ever read a chapter in a novel or story and ask, "What the hell was THAT for?!" Scene construction in prose is a challenge, and that's why we'll be looking at (read: stealing!) the tools top screenwriters and playwrights use to make scenes pop, and how those tools can be applied to constructing chapters in novels. The trick is to treat your characters like actors... if what you're writing would be boring for actors to perform on stage, why should your characters (and your readers!) want to slog through it on the page? Topics include: escalating dramatic stakes; putting tension into your dialogue, and how to best use setting. To enroll, write BluePencilMike@Gmail.com with the subject line "Making a Scene!"
THE HUNGER GAMES: Revitalizing without Retreading!
Online Writing mini-course of three sessions
Thursdays, March 14, March 21, & March 28, 2024
7-10 PM (EST), via Zoom
$500.00
There are, supposedly, only seven plots. If that's the case, how do you make a narrative that's uniquely yours and that appeals to wide audiences, especially in a world in which AI is gobbling up and spitting out almost every book ever written? In this innovative mini-course, we'll examine how Suzanne Collins crafted The Hunger Games, an exciting and instantly iconic YA novel, while using familiar and well-established elements and plot points. In addition to a three-week reading of The Hunger Games, we'll dissect other works with similar themes and premises, and do in-class exercises and collaborative projects. The trick is to revitalize, not retread! We'll strategize exactly how to do just that...! To enroll, write BluePencilMike@Gmail.com with the subject line "Hunger Games."
The Art of the Rewrite!
Online Fiction mini-course of two sessions
Wednesdays, March 20, March 27, 2024
7-10 PM (EST), via Zoom
$400.00
Steinbeck said, "I'm not a good writer. I'm a good re-writer." We'll examine how to add and/or subtract the right elements to a draft by looking at how screenwriters and prose writers tell the same story. Particular attention will be paid to embellishing setting, adding character-defining behaviors not dependent upon dialogue, and how to approach the writing of a second draft as an adaptation of the first draft. To enroll, write BluePencilMike@Gmail.com with the subject line "Art of the Rewrite."
The Art of the Mash-Up! Blending Plots & Sub-Plots
Online Fiction mini-course of three sessions
Tuesdays, March 19, March 26, & April 2, 2024
7-10 PM (EST), via Zoom
$500.00
Learn to create sub-plots that mesh seamlessly with your main story arc, and that don't feel tacked-on. Your main plot, of course, needs resolution, but you owe it to your readers to do that without leaving sub-plots dangling. There's an artistry to weaving plots and sub-plots into an integrated whole. We'll take a detailed look at a classic, multi-award-winning and iconic longer work that was crafted out of four stand-alone short stories. In addition to close readings and examinations of the materials, sessions will entail in-class exercises and collaborative projects. To enroll, write BluePencilMike@Gmail.com with the subject line "Mash-Up!"
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