Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Discovering Story Magic Workshop

This is a workshop being sponsored by my local RWA chapter--and I've been hearing it's EXCELLENT! So if you're a writer and live in Arizona or a nearby state, you really should think seriously about attending this workshop.


Discovering Story Magic

A Three-Step Method for Writing a Book They Can't Refuse


When you are writing:

* Do your characters become three-dimensional and alive?
* Do conflicts escalate within the confines of a tight, interwoven plot?
* Do internal and external conflicts intertwine and become indistinguishable?
* Do you know the bedrock truth underlying your story?


Would you like to learn how to create this kind of MAGIC every time you sit down to write?

If so, join Saguaro Romance Writers at the DISCOVERING STORY MAGIC workshop on Saturday, November 3, in the sunny "Old Pueblo " of Tucson, Arizona!

The Discovering Story Magic (DSM) method will help you create a story organically, from the characters up. DSM works for all genres of popular fiction: romance, horror, fantasy, mystery, suspense... you name it.

This interactive, hands-on workshop will give you tools and skills using a three-step process to make your writing more powerful from the start. You will learn:

* How to build a firm foundation under your characters using the Character Grid.
* How to give your story a backbone by defining its Turning Points, and * How to use the Storyboard to organize scenes so that you track your pacing and place events to make your book as strong as it can possibly be.

We will practice these skills in the morning and then use them in the afternoon when as a group we will brainstorm a book.

You will leave with handouts that you can use again and again.

Multi-published authors, newbies, "plotters" and "pantsters" have all used Discovering Story Magic's flexible tools to produce salable fiction by weaving together character, conflict, plot, realization and turning points from the beginning of the writing process through revision and even the synopsis. All this before even putting a word on page one. Multi-published writers have even changed the way they write after attending this workshop!

Here are just two reviews:

From Roxanne St. Claire, national bestselling author and 2005 RITA finalist:
"I have no doubt that the story and character development techniques I learned through Discovering Story Magic took my writing from passable to publishable. For the first time, I was able to see a clear process of storytelling that gave me a path without forcing the direction of my story and provided a structure without putting me in a box. The day after I took the seminar, I used everything I'd learned to crystallize characters and map out a plot using a story premise that had previously been nothing but a cobweb of ideas. Within a few days, I was able to start writing and within a few months, I'd finished the book that became my first sale, to Pocket Books. One reviewer called that book "breathtaking...a novel from the soul." No ... it was a novel from Discovering Story Magic! Since then, I've sold 14 books to two publishers, within three subgenres under two slightly different names. I've completed ten manuscripts and every single one starts with Story Magic."

From Jasmine Cresswell, USA Today Bestselling author of more than 60 novels:
"As a writer, I feel obligated to provide my readers with a minimum of two things: believable, interesting characters and a coherent plot. STORY MAGIC, used correctly, is a no-fail system for achieving that -- and more. I recommend the system to any writer, new or established, attempting to make a sale in today's high competitive publishing environment."


For more than a decade, Robin Perini and Laura Baker have taught thousands of writers online and at standing-room-only events, conferences and universities across the country. They recently taught at the Romance Writers of America national convention in Dallas. And now they're coming to Tucson!

SEATING AT THIS WORKSHOP IS LIMITED to allow maximum interaction with the instructors. Register NOW!

When: November 3, 2007 , 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
-- Sign-in and coffee at 8:30 a.m.

Where: Sheraton Four Points Hotel, 1900 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson, Arizona

Fees: Registration fee covers all workshop materials and lunch - $75 RWA-Tucson members; $85 members of other RWA chapters; $95 all others

Register: Online at www.tucsonrwa.org to use PayPal or a credit card.

FMI email Linda Reed at lindareed@netscape.com or Marilyn Johnson at mm-wordplay@comcast.net.

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