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What if you didn't write fiction?
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April 27, 2018
Oakland, CA
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| | | What would your life be like if you weren't writing fiction?
I ask myself this question sometimes when the going gets tough... ...when the edits are slow... ...when I'm disappointed by my trickling book sales... ...when I'm stuck figuring out a knotty plot point... ...when my daily to-do's take over my day and my writing falls off the list...
My answer?
I step into a future without being a fiction writer and without all these problems... and get sad.
Even though it's hard, even though I get stuck, I wouldn't exchange this life for any other. I'm happy with my choice.
And maybe one of the reasons I like being a fiction writer is because the challenge is great and the rewards of exercising my creativity and my craft are huge.
Your turn: Ask yourself what your life would be like if you weren't writing? What do you discover about yourself? What do you uncover about how you feel about your writing, your creativity, and your craft?
I'd love to hear what you uncover. Hit reply and let me know.
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| | | Online Class: May 1-31, 2018
We may be wired for story, but do we know how stories are structured?
We may be wired for story, but we often don’t understand its structure or how a story is put together.
The good news is story lives in us unconsciously. The other good news is that we can learn the components of story structure and then apply it to our creative process. Learning story structure is one of the essential building blocks of craft.
Since one of the profound purposes of stories is to allow readers to safely test out possibilities, let’s give them a great ride.
There are lots of story structure models.
In this course, we’ll cover five story models, so that you can:
Have more choice in how you plan your stories.
When you understand the building blocks of story, you can have more flexibility in how plan, craft, and edit your stories.
Decide what happens next in your story with your character and plot.
Stories are told in an organic sequence, organic to story and also to your individual story. Readers may not consciously know what’s missing, but they will know when we’ve forgotten or skipped a step, and that will throw them out of the story.
Surprise the reader.
Readers want the same but different. Agents and editors too!
Gain clarity, purpose, and confidence.
Step outside yourself and your story so that you can plan better (if you plan your stories) and can edit better.
Make a personal story road map.
When you understand story arc, character change, and the external circumstances that spark that change, then you can break story structure on purpose. The old “know the rules so you can break them” adage.
In this course, we’ll cover the building blocks of story from several different perspectives, discuss why each is useful, and brainstorm how they can help you plan or edit your story.
You’ll also have an opportunity to share your story’s structure and look at your stories in a new light. This may help you make improvements or come up with new stories.
The story structures we’ll cover include:
- The Three-Act Structure
- The Hero’s Journey
- The Virgin Archetypal Journey
- The 5-Point Plot Structure
- The Five Commandments of Storytelling
Hope to see you there with your creativity, curiosity, and plenty of ink.
SIGN UP HERE
http://www.oirwa.com/forum/outreach-international-online-workshops-registration-form/
Class listing: http://www.oirwa.com/forum/campus/#MAY
*Scroll past the first course to see this course listing.
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| | | Mastering Deep Point View with Alice Gaines was a big success.
Over 100 people registered and over 40 people attended live from all over the world.
Attendees said:
"Thank you for a great class!"
"This has been fantastic. TY!"
"Really great class. One of the best I've attended!"
"Thank you Alice and Beth. Great class. :)"
"Excellent class. Thank you so much!"
"I’ve read books on POV, but they can’t compare to a live class. TY!"
"Very helpful. Has given me a lot to think about!"
"Brilliant class! Many thanks from Macau!"
"Loved it! The one very valuable take away for me was the confirmation that I’m handling my chapters/POV shifts correctly. That worried me. Now I know. The part about verbs was great." -- Lea Kirk, Science Fiction Romance Novelist
The replay is up now and you can register for the training here:
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| | Here's to your creativity! Happy writing!
Have a fabulous week!
Best,
♥
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| | | You have been reading the Creativity Sparks Newsletter!
Welcome!
You may share this content intact and with no changes with this attribution:
c. 2007-2018 Beth Barany, Creativity Coach for Writers, www.BethBarany.com
Not sure which program or course is right for you?
BTW, I'm a working novelist too, with two series published in two genres, and more on the way. :)
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| ABOUT BETH BARANY
Beth Barany is creativity coach for writers, a teacher, workshop facilitator, and speaker, who helps fiction writers experience clarity, so that they can write and polish their novels, and proudly publish them to the delight of their readers.
Owner of the Barany School of Fiction, an online training hub, Beth takes great interest in how humans learn, create, and grow, and includes all her students’ life experiences, including the ancestors, into the moment.
She's also a novelist and writes magical tales of romance and adventure to empower women and girls to jump into life with both feet and be the heroes in their own lives.
Check out her Henrietta series here (YA Fantasy) and her Touchstone series here (Fantasy/Paranormal Romance).
Support her mission to empower women and girls with her fiction on Patreon here.
Read her latest book for writers, Twitter for Authors, here.
beth@bethbarany.com
Barany School of Fiction
Writer's Fun Zone blog
Photo Credit: by c. 2018 Ezra Barany
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| | | In connection with the operation of this newsletter and business, Creativity Sparks features in the Newsletter affiliate links, including links to Amazon.com (“Affiliate Links”). Barany Consulting earns a commission from the Affiliate Links which commission is based on the number of sales that are made as a result of users of the Newsletter clicking over to the Affiliate Link and purchasing from the Affiliate Link a product and/or service. |
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