Author Learning Center Webinars: Book in A Year

At last, I can share the big news I have been sitting on for months!

I'm pleased to announce that I have been hired as a fiction consultant for the exciting new program, Book in A Year, offered by the Author Learning Center. Beginning in March, ALC (and yours truly) will be presenting webinars at least once a month to guide you through the process of writing a draft of your novel in a year. Each webinar is presented live but will be taped so you can review it again at your leisure.

A look at the line-up for March and April, 2018:

March 8, 2018, 1:30 p.m. ET: "Getting Started with Fiction"
Even though you may have a great idea for a story, it can be daunting to transform that idea into a full-length novel. In this first webinar for Book in A Year—Fiction, we will explore what you need to do to prepare for this project. We will look at narrowing your focus and defining your story idea, setting (reasonable) writing goals and how to stay on track. We will also cover tips for researching your story, identifying your primary audience and genre, and mapping out a basic outline or framework.

April 5, 2018, 1:30 ET: “Fleshing Out Your Fictional Narrative”
A novel consists of chapters and scenes, but what do you need in those sections to make your story come alive? How do you hook readers with the first chapter? How do you get readers to turn the page at the end of a chapter? In this webinar, we will analyze the structure of powerful chapters and strong scenes within those chapters. We will also begin “blueprinting your novel” by filling in the details of important plot points. Finally, we will look at the story board and how you can use this method to track your story development.

April 26, 2018: “Solving Common Writing Problems”
After the first fifty pages or so, almost every writer struggles with moving their story forward. There are lots of ways you can stumble, and in this webinar, we will look at some the most common story problems, including the big issue of writer’s block. Other writing problems we will address include: tense, point of view, character development, dialogue, pacing, and maintaining the tension.

To register, go here.