Thought for June 28

Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very;" your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.  ~Mark Twain

Workshop Booklets

Don’t forget that workshop booklets “Plotting the Organic Way” and “Riding the Emotional Roller-Coaster” are available for purchase any time at Dancing on Coals Online Workshops.

Thought for June 26

 

"What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers."

~Logan Pearsall Smith, "All Trivia," Afterthoughts, 1931

Thought for the Day

"The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean."

Robert Louis Stevenson

Registration Open for October's Online Critique Group

We're trying something new in October -- a month-long online critique group. If it's successful, we'll do it again. Space is limited and registration is open now. Don't miss your chance to be part of the group! For more information or to register, go to http://www.dancingoncoals.com

Registration open for Avoiding Author Intrusion in August

THERE'S NOT ROOM ENOUGH FOR THE TWO OF US: Back by popular demand! Author intrusion is one of fiction's deadliest diseases. it jars readers, slows the pace of your work, and puts a barrier between your story and the reader. Learn how to avoid contrived or impossible situations, and how to keep yourself off the pages of your novel.

In this workshop you'll also learn to identify and avoid:

* Ineffective point of view;
* The information dump;
* The elusive spy syndrome;
* Smoke and mirrors;
* Characters who can read minds, and much more.

This is one workshop you won't want to miss.

Don't Miss Our July Workshop

 Yesterday at 7:47pm | Edit Note | Delete

In July, Sherry will be conducting her very popular workshop, IN AND OUT—PUTTING CHARACTERS IN CONFLICT, at WritersOnlineClasses.com. This workshop focuses on the art and craft of creating realistic, believable conflict for your character(s), both internal and external, and on weaving those conflicts together in ways that are fresh, exciting, and powerful enough to catch an editor’s eye. We’ll focus on:

Understanding how a character’s core beliefs create conflict
How internal and external conflicts work together
When to hang onto a character’s past and when to let it go
Keeping conflicts realistic
Creating layers of conflict
Why urgency matters in conflict
Applying conflict to each scene you write
Avoiding anticipated and remembered conflict

Instructor Bio: Sherry Lewis is an award-winning career writer with more than 30 published books to her credit. Writing as Sherry Lewis and Sammi Carter, her books include traditional mystery, contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and time travel romance. A long-time member of Romance Writers of America and a member of Sisters in Crime, Sherry is a frequent judge on the contest circuit and has taught writing classes both on-line and in person for more than fifteen years. Her focus is an honest, sympathetic approach toward producing a manuscript that will be marketable in today’s changing publishing world. Writing as Jacklyn Brady, she’s currently at work on a new mystery series set in New Orleans and the world of cake decorating.