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Classic Workshops
And Two December Specials!!! All seven of the new classic workshops are now up and available. Classic workshops are workshops that have been moved from regular workshops to make more room and are half the original price ($150). But you do not turn in the assignments, just do them for yourself at your own pace. We now have 29 Classic Workshops available. And seven of them are newly in Classic status. So, for only the month of December, we put all seven in a bundle and reduced the price. You can still buy them one-at-a-time on Teachable for $150 each. But you can also get all seven in a bundle,…
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December Workshops
Starting In One Week… First off, those of you got the special How to Write a Holiday Story workshop will be getting a letter from me later this week with the ability to pick which of the two sessions (December or January) you want to take and a code for both. So hold on for that. December session will start on Tuesday. The regular December workshops also start on Tuesday and here is the list. Class #51… Dec 3rd … Endings Class #52… Dec 3rd … Attitude Class #54… Dec 3rd … Speed Class #55… Dec 3rd … Teams in Fiction Class #56… Dec 4th … Depth in Writing Class #59… Dec 4th… Information Flow…
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New Videos In Shared World Class
Plus the First Assignment… There will be numbers of assignments and stories to write over the months of this Shared World class. Going to be great fun, so any of you in the class, make sure you find time in the next few days to take a look. The assignment isn’t due until the 15th, but it will take some time to do correctly. And for those of you thinking about taking the class, I will shut it down on the 8th of December. Held it open longer than I had planned because a few people asked. So if interested, don’t delay and miss it. I will have new videos…
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Reviews and the Art of Avoiding Them
My Advice: Never Read A Review… I should stop right there. But I had a person yesterday ask me a couple of questions on how to get restarted once the critical voice took over. Good questions and I was willing to help. So I asked a couple questions in return about what had stopped the writing and the fun in the first place. Seems the writer had a new book out, the writer was writing the next book in the series, and turns out reviews were consumed by this writer. Consumed is the word that describes what the writer said. I asked what kind of reviews. Great reviews. Oh, no….…
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Wow, Am I Behind
With Just About Everything… But I am now back and focused. However, I did spend the day doing a lot of recovery from the run yesterday. Two naps, some groaning while standing up, no real walking any distance. I walked/ran 17.4 miles yesterday by my Fitbit calculations. Upped my weekly average some. (grin) So those of you who have stories in that I have not read, expect them to come pouring your way this week. And through the weekend. I can only read so much at one sitting on a computer because of my eye. And I will be also getting the December workshops up and available. And the code…
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If You Want To Watch My Talk
It Seems It Has Been Posted to YouTube… Kris’s talk is not there yet that we could find, but a friend sent me the link to my 45 minute talk for the 20Books Conference. Seems being under the bright lights had a reason. So if you want to actually spend 45 minutes watching or listening to it, here it is. It is about attitude and those nine points I posted yesterday. Start at the beginning. For some reason this link starts in the middle.
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A Book I Am Very Proud Of
The Idanha Hotel: A Thunder Mountain Novel Here is the blurb: 1902: Boise, Idaho. Megan Taber loves her job baking at the Idanha Hotel. Widowed young, she knows the rest of her life revolves around her baking. Carol Kogan, a doctor and researcher from the future, eats breakfast every morning at the Idanha Hotel just for Megan’s fresh breads. Until one fine May morning in 1902, when Carol meets Megan outside the hotel. Before they finish their conversation, Megan collapses from a massive heart attack. Carol knows saving Megan with 1902 medicine would prove impossible. But saving her with future medicine might prove even more dangerous—for both of them. A…
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Interesting Summary
A Writer Sent Me This Today… This writer was putting together a business plan and a way of approaching the writing business. And, of course, I liked it, since it is almost exactly what I teach, scattered across a lot of workshops and lectures. He said that he had boiled it down from an erotic writer’s nonfiction book very nicely. So I thought I would put his checklist here because I agree with it and add to it for clarity. — Learn and study basic story structure, then write into the dark. Understanding basic story structure is all the outline you need. — Don’t rewrite; do the best you can…
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Have Fun!
That Is What I Am Always Telling Writers… Having fun with the writing experience and publishing experience is the secret to being a long-term fiction writer. It really is that simple. But what is fun? So many writers think that when I say that, they have to be happy, smiling, laughing while they write. Well, some are. I am seldom that way, unless writing comedy, and then I am laughing at how silly and stupid what I am writing is. But mostly the fun I have is with the challenge of writing a story. And there is nothing consistent or straight-line about writing stories, especially if you write into the…
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How I Count Years…
Resetting and Focusing Ahead… I actually have three times in a year I really reset and focus. First of the year, of course. July 1st (halfway), of course. And around my birthday. Now I am not sure why I use three, since my birthday is in early November (don’t ask) and I just sort of use it for starting challenges and other things over the years. Or if nothing else, spend the two months before the end of the year to get ready for the new year. In January 2018, Kris was so sick, I was only thinking of that. In July of 2018 I was still in the middle…