Note: These classes are suitable for intermediate, advanced and professional level authors only. They're not recommended for beginners or the faint of heart.  Even if you've never wielded a weapon, you can create fictional fights which leave the reader breathless with excitement. You will understand different types of weapons and how to write about them, and apply the six-part structure of great fight scenes. Decide how much violence your scene needs, how to describe the terrain, how to create reader emotion, how to combine fighting with dialogue, which senses to use when and how. Learn about female fighters, improvised weapons, self-defence moves to get your heroine out of trouble, battle scenes, building suspense, adapting your writing style to the fast pace of the action, and much more. Write a fight scene so entertaining and so realistic that it stays in the reader's mind. If you wish, you may submit a scene for critique at the end of the class. July 2013: Fantasy Futuristic & Paranormal: http://www.romance-ffp.com/workshops.cfm Artwork by Paul Davies. Copyright Rayne Hall.  WRITING SCARY SCENES Are your frightening scenes scary enough? Learn practical tricks to turn up the suspense. Make your readers' hearts hammer with suspense, their breaths quicken with excitement, and their skins tingle with goosebumps of delicious fright. Whether you're working on a ghost story, a thriller, a paranormal romance, an urban fantasy or a romantic suspense, this workshop is perfect for planning or revising your scary scenes. One month, twelve lessons, twelve assignments. If you wish, you may submit a scene for critique at the end of the class. May 2012. Outreach International RWA. OIRW: http://www.oirwa.com/forum/campus/#MAY October/November 2012: http://www.celtichearts.org/workshops.html Artwork by Erica Syverson. Copyright Rayne Hall.  Create believable magicians (good and evil), fictional spells which work, and plot complications when the magic goes wrong. Learn about high and low magic, witches and wizards, circle-casting and power-raising, initiation and training, tools and costumes, conflicts and secrecy, love spells and sex magic, and apply them to your novel. This is a 4-week class with 12 lessons and practical assignments. If you wish, you may submit a scene for critique at the end of the class. April 2013: Fantasy Futuristic & Paranormal: http://www.romance-ffp.com/workshops.cfm Artwork by Kuoke. Copyright Rayne Hall.  Tighten and tone your writing style, and use simple revision tricks to slim your manuscript in four weeks. Shed thousands of words without changing the plot! This class will make your manuscript shorter, your pacing faster, and your individual author's voice stronger. Great for self-editing a manuscript before submission to agents and editors, or before indie-publishing. Students must have a full or partial manuscript of at least 20,000 words to work with for this hands-on workshop. One month, twelve lessons, twelve assignments. November 2012: Lowcountry RWA. http://www.lowcountryrwa.com/online-workshops/ WRITING SUCCESS WITH SWOT SWOT - the management power tool of the corporate world - can propel your writing career forward. Gain insights into the factors which help and hinder your progress, and learn to use them to your advantage. After analysing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats impacting your career and your WiP, you will develop practical strategies and an immediate action plan. This is an eye-opening workshop for writers who want to push through barriers to achieve success. This is a two-week class with seven lessons, seven assignments, and plenty of feedback. January 2013: Fantasy Futuristic & Paranormal: http://www.romance-ffp.com/workshops.cfm |