Join Me at the Muse Online Writers Conference 10/7/2013

The Muse Writer's Conference starts on Monday. It's online, filled with great teachers (myself included) AND best of all it's free. So, if you've ever wanted to write, now is the time to see if this career is the right one for you.

If you're a reader, come and join us. Discover how we make your favorite characters come to life. (I think I stole Maer Wilson's class title here.) I was a reader before I became a writer. I read everything I could get my hands on. Ask my friends. One friend in particular would get frantic when we neared a bookstore.  She was sure she'd lose me forever.

At the Muse you can choose from mini-workshops on a variety of issues. From creating a presentable manuscript, polishing your skills, adding suspense, and just about everything else you can think of. Well, perhaps not, but we'll let that go for now.

If you haven't registered, click here. If you have, check out my Muse Online page (located on this website) for more information on my class, The Emotive Writer. It's where you get the handouts, too. Below I've listed the classes and presenters from Crescent Moon Press.

Crescent Moon Press Workshops

            Creating a Character with Maer Wilson - Monday, Oct 7

• Bringing a character to life and making him or her someone the reading audience connects with can be exciting and fun. This workshop will cover various techniques used to create a character and give them the layers, depth and complexity needed to make that reader connection.
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• The Emotive Writer with Louann Carroll - Monday Oct 7
  We’ve all heard it. Use descriptive language, show, don’t tell, and dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. But, what does it mean? Join The Emotive Writer and learn how to bring color, texture, and emotion into your novel by tapping into your deepest reservoir—your life
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• Marketing Off the Grid with Marlene Castricato - Tuesday, Oct 8
  You may be launching your first book or looking at a shelf of published titles, you will still take away valuable information from this workshop. Marketing your book is a necessary building block in your career. Learn how to work smart and promote off the grid. There are untapped markets waiting your book. I will show you how to shart a customed plan for your book. Bring a highlighter, your sense of humor and a chocolate bar.
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• Research To Strengthen Your Story with Loni Lynne - Tuesday, Oct 8
  Don't hate research! Use it to add sights, sounds and smells to your work of fiction. It's not just about getting the details right. It can help you develop ideas and flesh out descriptions
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• Conversation vs Dialog (or I'm Fine, Thanks, but Hey, Where Are You Going?) with Wendy Russo - Wednesday, Oct 9
  Ever since early man first acknowledged each other through grunts and gestures, there has been a need to make small talk. It's social obligation, and it has a list of purposes. It's polite. It fills uncomfortable silences. It breaks ice. And it's boring. This workshop will draw the line between dialog that can give your story momentum and conversation that can kill it.
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• Plotting a Series with Constance Phillips - Wednesday, Oct 9
  Undertaking a series is a daunting task. Especially if you are considering a multi-volume fantasy series which follows the same characters over one overarching plot thread to a grand resolution. You may be a plotter or a pantster or something in between, but what are the issues that will arise as you navigate your books? Join me as we discuss mapping your world, creating characters that will last over the volumes, maintaining internal consistency in the world building, maintaining your pacing, and making it to the finish line.
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• Creating Unique Voices For Your Characters With Rebecca Belliston - Thursday, Oct 10
  Creating unique voices for your characters is a challenge. Every character has personality, experiences, and quirks that affect their speech – or at least they should. Explore how to add depth to your characters through strong, personality-driven dialogue, allowing you to show — rather than tell — your readers who they are.
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• Witches VS Wiccans The Difference Between The Two And How To Apply To Your Writing with Elizabeth Cheryl - Thursday, Oct 10
  In a world where Witchcraft is growing in every which way, we are beginning to see terms such as Wicca, Witchcraft, and Paganism being used as universal & interchangeable terms. More and more authors and new practitioners of these traditions are coming to use the terms Witchcraft and Wicca as if they are to mean the same thing when, in fact, they are two very different practices. Before comparing and contrasting the differences let's get the basic definitions.
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• Come Enter My World. Tips and Tricks for Worldbuilding by L.V. Pires - Friday, Oct 11
  Learn to create imaginary worlds that strengthen the believability of your prose. Used extensively by science fiction and fantasy writers, worldbuilding is an essential tool that helps readers buy-in to your alternate universe. Tips such as the top-down and bottom-up approach to worldbuilding will be discussed as well as methods of constructing context and consistency in your setting details.
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• 'No, your editor doesn't hate you!' Ways to keep your spirits (and word count) up while navigating the editing process. with Christy Trujillo and Katherine Stevens - Friday, Oct 11
  The feelings that course through your body when you sign your first publishing contract are indescribable. Cloud nine doesn't even begin to cover the euphoric high your body surges into.
  Then comes your first round of edits and a single tear rolls down your cheek as you scroll through pages and pages of notes, all the while convincing yourself that your editor hates you.
  
  I've got some good news for you. They don't hate you! Even better news, if anyone will ever love and believe in your story as much as you do, it's your editor. Come join me as I discuss my own experiences and share some slightly humorous and largely informative (she wanted me to get rid of those adverbs, but I put my foot down) back-and-forth dialogue between myself and my most trusted grammarian confidant, Katherine Stevens.
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• Beat Sheet Workshop with Shawna Romkey - Saturday, Oct 12
  Plotting and story structure according to Blake Snyder's screenwriting book Save the Cat.
  Have a great story idea and characters all ready to go, but don't know how to outline or lay out your story? Blake Snyder's screenwriting book, Save the Cat, is a great way to start. We'll go through the various plot points and help you get your book planned from beginning to end.
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I really hope to see you there. I love hearing from you and enjoy working with new authors. Actually, I'm a pushover if you need help. I've navigated the rough waters of editing, ripped apart and re-wrote entire manuscripts AND I've even lost two very lengthy novels when I didn't back up my computer as I should have. I might mention that both those novels are now in print. 

Have a wonderful weekend and hope to hear from you Monday!

(((hugs)))

Louann

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