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The Writer Workshop Weekly News #1! View this email online
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| | January 13, 2020
Issue #16 |
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Hello Writers!
Having recently moved to Savannah from Las Vegas, I'm not yet used to all the rainy days here in the Low Country. The good thing about rainy days is that they make for excellent writing and reading days.
One of the books I'm reading this month is The Book of the Month selection for January at The Writer Workshop: Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. We'll be talking about the book on January 30th at 7pm. I hope you'll join us for this free event. There are more details about the book below.
The Writer Workshop kicks off our week with our Feedback and Critique Workshop at 7 pm. Bring a few copies of 4-6 pages (double spaced, 12pt Times New Roman, 1 inch margins, line numbers are appreciated) of your work in progress to read and receive feedback and critique. $5 at the door.
Tuesday night at 7pm is Fiction through Prompts. This prompt writing event will stretch and challenge your writing muscles. $10 at the door.
There are two workshops on Wednesday, our afternoon group, meeting at 1pm and our evening dedicated to GLBTQ+ writers at 7pm. All workshops are only $5.
At 7pm on Thursday is our Author Platform Building Group. No matter how you publish, you'll need to do the majority of your own marketing and promotion. Each Author Platform Building Session focuses on one element of finding and reaching an audience. This week, we'll be looking at just what a platform is and why you need one--plus an easy way to get started with tools you already have. $10 at the door.
Join us on Meetup for all the latest offerings and to RSVP for workshops and classes.
As always, I'd love to hear what you think. What types of events are you most interested in attending? What king of help would you like with writing or your road to publication? Reply to this email and let me know.
Enjoy the journey!
Gregory
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Events: January 13-19
Monday, 1/13: 7pm Writer Workshop ($5) Tuesday, 1/14: 7pm Fiction through Prompts ($10) Wednesday, 1/15: 1pm Writer Workshop ($5) Wednesday, 1/15: 7pm LGBTQ+ Writer Workshop ($5) Thursday, 1/16: 7pm Author Platform Building ($10) Friday, 1/17: CLOSED Saturday, 1/18: 12pm Writer Workshop ($5) Sunday, 1/19: 2pm Fiction through Prompts ($10)
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| | Where to Start a Novel
by Gregory A. Kompes
In classic literature, authors would take paragraphs, even chapters to introduce you to the main character and often give a complete family background and history. They'd tell you everything they could. And, readers would dutifully hang in there and read it all. Why? Because there weren't a million other things vying for their attention. In the 19th Century, there weren't TVs, Smartphones, Computers, or Social Media. No, folks who could read sat and read by candlelight through the long dark winters. They memorized passages. They talked with others about the books they'd read. And, because most had few books, they re-read everything many times.
Things are different today. Readers (and everyone else) has been influenced by TV, Movies, and Media in all forms. We have shorter attention spans. We want to be caught up and immersed before we have time to think about anything else.
Writers need to be aware of this, conscious of the desires and needs of readers. There's plenty of time in a novel-length work to share the issues that got the main character into the chase scene or the murder or the moment of change that is setting off the story into motion. Readers expect to be immersed into the story from the very first paragraph.
In writer terms, this is called: in medias res ... narrative that beings in the middle of the plot, in the middle of the action.
By all means, write out the family history and the background of your main character and all the other characters, too. But, in the second or third draft, find a spot where your story kicks into high gear, the moment that changes the protagonists direction in life, the moment just before or as they leap off a cliff. That's the place to begin and capture your reader. Once captured, feel free to tell the reader all about your main character and their parental relationships...say in chapter six. |
| | January Book of the Month at
The Writer Workshop Bookstore
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
by Stephen KingImmensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work. “Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it—fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.
Available at The Writer Workshop Bookstore or on Amazon |
| | Manuscript Formatting
by Gregory A. KompesAt a recent meeting at The Writer Workshop we got to talking about proper formatting. I thought I would share a few basics...
There are some basic formatting rules that the various writing industries expect. For books (fiction and nonfiction), most agents and publishers expect to receive work presented in 12 point, Times New Roman font, double spaced, with the first line of paragraphs indented 1/2 inch, and the page to have 1 inch margins all around.
Similarly, stage plays and screen plays have detailed expectations of how the elements of the script are presented, including acts, scenes, narration, stage direction, character names (and descriptions), dialog, and the spacing of all these elements. For stage plays check out the BBC's Stage Play Formatting and How to Format a Screenplay from First Draft (excellent software for screenplay writing.)
Presenting work that is professionally formatted makes you look like a professional writer. When agents and publishers and producers receive improperly formatted work, they're more likely to reject it because industry experts and professionals want to work with people who take their craft seriously.
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| | Fiction Through Prompts
The popular Fiction through Prompts. Each session includes writing to a “high end” prompt, reading our work, receiving a bit of feedback, and a short lecture on a literary device.
This weekly event allows you to step outside your box, to disrupt your usual thought process by writing to a prompt without advance thought. You hear the prompt, and then write for about 20 minutes. Participants then read their work and receive a bit of light feedback. It's an informative and sometimes transformation process.
Tuesday, January 14 at 7 pm and Sunday, January 19 at 2 pm ($10) |
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