Are you earning money from your writing? Do you need help with tax deductions and record keeping?
If you answered YES, then this MWW Ongoing course is for you!
Author and CPA Carol Topp claims she can explain federal income tax, self-employment tax and sales tax in clear English. Let’s hear her try! She will explain tax deductions and record keeping tips to make your life easier. This course is not as dull as it sounds and loaded with examples!
In this course you will learn:
Know what tax forms you (or your tax preparer need to file)
Have the IRS tax forms explained in plain English
See a sample tax return for an author
Know what tax deductions are typical for writers
Tax tips from a CPA and author
Understand what forms you need to send to subcontractors
Know when you need to charge sales tax and when you don’t!
Be alert to IRS red flags that could trigger and audit
This course is for writers who are earning money from their writing or have expenses related to writing and wonder what they can deduct on their tax return. This is professional advice from a CPA and author at a great rate!
Format: Two instructional videos (about 45 minutes each) that you can watch on your own time, at your own convenience. Once you have registered, the entire course will be available to you until April 15, 2019, to access at any time you wish. Plus, downloadable pdfs of handouts of the PowerPoint slides.
Students will have instant access to the videos (until April 15, 2019) once they register, as well as to a private Facebook group (MWW + Taxes for Writers) or Facebook live session to ask questions of the presenter.
About the Instructor
Carol Topp, CPA is an author and Certified Public Accountant. Carol’s fourteen books have been both self-published and traditionally published. She advises writers on starting a business and running it successfully. She is the author of Business Tips and Taxes for Writers and contributing author to Writers Market and the Writer’s Digest Guide to Indie Publishing. Her website is TaxesForWriters.com
If you answered YES, then this MWW Ongoing course is for you!
Writers are word people who usually hate numbers and bookkeeping, but regular bookkeeping is a guarantee of business success (Carol shows you the study to prove it). Author and accountant Carol Topp will share with you tips and tools to make record keeping easier. You don’t need complicated expensive software or a bookkeeper to be a successful writer. Carol will show you how real authors keep their records that are easy to maintain and delight their accountants.
In this course you will learn:
Bookkeeping hacks and tips
Free spreadsheets for easy record keeping
When to use software
What software choices are best for you
Specific challenges that face authors in their business record keeping (inventory, sales tax, etc.)
How to manage sales tax
This course is for writers who have started earning money from their work or book sales and need to learn how to keep their business records simply and easily so they can get back to writing! This is professional advice from a CPA and author at a great rate!
Format: Two instructional videos (about 30-45 minutes each) that you can watch on your own time, at your own convenience. Once you have registered, the entire course will be available to you until December 31, 2018, to access at any time you wish. Plus, downloadable pdfs of handouts of the PowerPoint slides.
Part One:
How good records leads to business success
What information to record
Explanation of inventory tracking, tax deductions, bookkeeping hacks and tips
What software choices are best for you.
Part Two:
Specific challenges that face authors in their business record keeping
Inventory, sales, mileage, paying others
How to manage sales tax.
Students will have instant access to the videos (until December 31, 2018) once they register, as well as to a private Facebook group (MWW + Bookkeeping for Writers) or Facebook live session to ask questions of the presenter.
About the Instructor
Carol Topp, CPA is an author and Certified Public Accountant. Carol’s fourteen books have been both self-published and traditionally published. She advises writers on starting a business and running it successfully. She is the author of Business Tips and Taxes for Writers and contributing author to Writers Market and the Writer’s Digest Guide to Indie Publishing. Her website is TaxesForWriters.com
Midwest Writers just experienced a successful Super Mini-conference, July 27-28, and while we’re planning our next events, we’re also continuing our mission to help writers improve their writing with our online courses.
MWW Ongoing is a series of courses taught by award-winning writing instructors, and everything happens online. From the convenience of your computer, on your own time schedule, you can participate in classes to take your writing to the next level.
SHOW NOT TELL is our latest MWW Ongoing course taught by one of our popular instructors, New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump. It’s a two-week course with lessons, strategies, and exercises to strengthen and provoke emotion in your writing. Cost: $75.00 — course begins August 20!
SHOW NOT TELL is for people who are struggling to make their writing come alive with powerful characters, emotional storylines and memorable reads. If you are struggling to get readers to connect with your book, this course will help. This course will cover the difference between show and tell, how to find the telling in your manuscript, and the best ways to create more emotion on the page. Showing brings words to life and creates living, breathing characters.
Shirley will cover the basics of show not tell, including the key words to watch for, and the reasons for telling instead of showing in a manuscript. She will talk about pacing and backstory as well, because both are impacted by show not tell, and are integral to a well written book. By the end of this course, you will have the tools you need to create more powerful scenes and more evocative characters.
What This Course Specifically Teaches
Basics of show not tell
Determining where the telling is in your book
Changing telling to Showing
Creating more powerful characters and adding more emotion to key scenes
The course is broken down into two units. Each unit is accompanied by several handouts that build on the one before. You can start using the information immediately for your current work. Questions will be answered within the private Facebook group and in one Facebook live chat.
UNIT ONE: Available Monday, August 20th
Unit One will be about getting the basics down. We will start with discussing the difference between show not tell, how to find the sections of your work that are telling, and the basics of converting telling to showing. Students will be asked to look at their own work and revise to show more (feedback will be given in the private Facebook group).
Show Not Tell
Devil is in the Details
Passive vs Active
Enriching Your Descriptions
Scene Analysis
UNIT TWO: Available Monday, August 27th
Unit Two will take show not tell to a deeper level. We will discuss when to tell instead of show, how show not tell relates to backstory and pacing, and how a few key words can make a huge difference in a scene. Students will again look at their own work and revise to show more, with feedback in the private Facebook group.
Tension vs Conflict
Construct a More Powerful Scene
Scene Analysis
Before and After Backstory
And Join the community in the Facebook Group!
About the Instructor
When she’s not writing books, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump competes in triathlons, mostly because all that training lets her justify mid-day naps and a second slice of chocolate cake. She’s published more than 60 books in 24 languages, although she’s too geographically challenged to find any of those countries on a map. Visit her website at www.ShirleyJump.com for author news and a booklist, and follow her on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/shirleyjump.author for giveaways and deep discussions about important things like chocolate and shoes.
https://www.midwestwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/SHOW-NOT-TELL-blog.jpg200446Midwest Writershttp://www.midwestwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mww-logo.pngMidwest Writers2018-08-08 17:44:182018-08-08 17:44:18New online course! Show Not Tell with Shirley Jump
Online courses provide great opportunities for everyone who wants to learn something. From the comfort of your home, or even the comfort of your jammies, you can learn on your own time schedule and participate in classes that will help take your writing to the next level.
Our newest MWW Ongoing course is Writing from the Heart: Soulful Creativity taught by J. Brent Bill. The course starts March 26 and will be available through July.
Who This Course Will Help
This course is for both unpublished and published authors who wish to write in a way that connects with readers – and themselves – at the deepest levels. Many writers are technically sound and fine thinkers. True connection with readers requires more, however. The secret to making that connection, whether you write fiction or non-fiction, is writing from the heart.
Many of us approach writing by wondering what readers, editors, and publishers want. Instead, this course will focus on what interests us as writers. What things are we most passionate about and do we dare write about them?
This course offers tips and techniques for connecting with your writer’s heart – and discovering themes and concerns that will bring your writing to life.
What This Course Teaches
This four-week course offers practical ways for involving head, heart, and craft in writing – with a particular emphasis on tapping into your heart. Each lesson will include opening thoughts by Brent and then lead into exercises regarding that week’s topic.
The course officially begins on Monday, March 26, when the first full unit will become available to all students. Lessons related to the week’s theme will appear on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Units 2-4 will be available on the following Mondays: April 2, 9, 16.
Unit One: Heart and Mind
The first week will explore how we link head and craft with heart. It uses concrete exercises that will tap into what you know – and don’t know you know. We’ll also look at the places where heart and head intersect so that we can produce powerful writing.
Unit Two: Heart and Body
In our second week, we will go deeper in exploring the personal by adding body to heart. We will work with exercises that explore like-heartedness, but not necessarily like-mindedness as a way to connect with readers whose life experiences are different from our own.
Unit Three: Putting it All Together: Heart, Body, and Mind
During week three, you’ll delve into a deep personal experience from the perspective of heart instead of head. You’ll learn how to bring all the senses (physical, emotional, mental) to bear in bringing the story to life.
Unit Four: Going Long and Deep
Week four will pull all the learning from the first three weeks into a longer writing project where you can draw on what you’ve experienced. As with the previous weeks, it will include practical tips and guided exercises.
What This Course Includes
Weekly Assignments for completion at your own pace—designed to help you put what you learn into action.
You’ll also:
Receive suggestions for reading and other resources for you to go deeper in writing from the heart
Be able to chat with Brent in real time (video, audio, and text) during his weekly online office hours (2 separate hour per week)
Have access to a dedicated private Facebook page where you can (if you choose)
ask questions and engage in discussions with Brent and the other course participants. Brent will check the page daily for questions and comments.
share your work based on the exercise and invite feedback from the other course participants
A review (via email) by Brent of up to ten pages of a manuscript in which you’ve put some of the learning from this course into practice.
With more than twenty books and numerous articles and short stories published since the 1980s, Brent has learned a thing or three about writing. His book titles include Life Lessons from a Bad Quaker: A Humble Stumble Toward Simplicity and Grace, Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment; and Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality. He’s a writing coach, editor, photographer, and retreat leader.
One reviewer said of Brent that he’s “… a substantial spiritual guide, but never in a flashy way. Think of – oh, perhaps something like Mister Rogers Meets the Dalai Lama.” Brent is a member of Spirituality & Practice’s Living Spiritual Teachers Project.
A MWW alumnus, Brent lives on Ploughshares Farm – 50 acres of Indiana farmland being reclaimed for native hardwood forests and warm season prairie grasses.
https://www.midwestwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Bill-FB.jpg313778Midwest Writershttp://www.midwestwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mww-logo.pngMidwest Writers2018-03-12 15:33:452018-03-12 15:33:45Writing from the Heart: Soulful Creativity with J. Brent Bill
MWW Ongoing is a series of courses taught by award-winning writing instructors, and everything happens online. From the convenience of your computer, on your own time schedule, you can participate in classes to take your writing to the next level.
Check out our newest online MWW Ongoing course taught by one of our favorite instructors, New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump. Once you register, you can do the exercises at your own pace, take any time online! The first unit is available now and the second on comes open on Monday, February 26. Shirley has great stuff for all those working to improve their novels. And her interactions on the Facebook private group with those who sign up are such a bonus.
Deepening Conflict (available now) is for people who are struggling to increase the conflict and tension in their scenes. If the book is feeling flat, or editors and readers are saying there isn’t enough conflict, this course will help. This online course will cover the difference between conflict and tension, how to create conflicts that aren’t just arguments, and developing conflict from your characters. Conflict is what keeps the engine of the plot moving, and keeps the reader turning the pages.
Shirley will cover the basics of both external and internal conflict. Learning the difference between these, how they interrelate, and how they impact the novel, is vital. You will also get to know your characters better through this process—what their fears are, what their needs are, and what roadblocks are in their way. If you are in the middle of a book and feeling stalled, this course will help you get the novel back on track. By the end of this course, you will have the tools you need to create more powerful scenes.
What This Course Specifically Teaches
Basics of conflict—what it is and isn’t
Determining internal and external conflict from the characters and plot
Deepening conflict on every page
How to analyze novels and scenes you read to pinpoint the conflict
The course is broken down into two units. The first is available now and the second is available Monday the 26th. Each unit is accompanied by several pdf handouts that build on the one before. You can start using the information immediately for your current work. Shirley is already interacting with students and answering questions within the private Facebook group. (Her recent post: “Today’s discussion topic: Think of a movie you recently saw. What would you say the main character’s external and internal conflicts were?”) The course will be available until May 31, so join any time!
UNIT ONE: Available Now
Unit One will be about getting the basics down. We will start with discussing what conflict is, how to find it in a scene, and what the difference is between internal and external conflict. Students will be asked to look at their own work and determine the main characters’ internal and external conflicts.
Goal Motivation Conflict
GMC Analysis Worksheet
Plotting Basics
Conflict: What It Is and Isn’t
UNIT TWO: Available Monday, February 26th
Unit Two will take conflict to a deeper level. We will go over the difference between tension and conflict, analyze conflict and tension in scenes, and see how well-placed hooks can build in additional tension for the book.
Conflict: The Missing Link
Tension vs. Conflict
Pacing Your Novel
About Shirley Jump
When she’s not writing books, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump competes in triathlons, mostly because all that training lets her justify mid-day naps and a second slice of chocolate cake. She’s published more than 60 books in 24 languages, although she’s too geographically challenged to find any of those countries on a map. Visit her website at www.ShirleyJump.com for author news and a booklist, and follow her on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/shirleyjump.author for giveaways and deep discussions about important things like chocolate and shoes.
http://www.midwestwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mww-logo.png00Midwest Writershttp://www.midwestwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mww-logo.pngMidwest Writers2018-02-16 16:14:022018-02-24 18:53:24Deepening Conflict in Your Novel with Shirley Jump
Back by popular demand, Cathy Day’s MWW Ongoing course, “It’s Time To Start Your Novel,” will be offered in January. If your New Year’s Resolution for 2018 is to start writing, then this course is for you!
The registration for our MWW Ongoing course IT’S TIME TO START YOUR NOVEL begins December 18, 2017 and the course starts Monday, January 8, 2018. REGISTER NOW!
Cathy was also interviewed by John Strauss for Indiana Weekend on Indiana Public Radio. Listen as she discusses what her course offers to those interested in starting a novel.
Students registered for the course become a community through the private Facebook Group (which you can join after you register!). Here are a few comments from the students in last year’s course: (Note the exclamation points.)
This class is like an instruction manual, which I love!
I am loving this class! I’m learning so much!
I’ve loved Cathy’s challenges to choose characters, POV, clocks, etc. because it has forced me to make decisions.
I LOVED this unit!!! I am so excited about this course! I’m learning so much! I have always wanted to write a novel but had no idea how to go about it. Now I actually feel like it is within reach! Thank you so much for teaching this course, Cathy!
I have found Ms. Day’s course to be most excellent. I particularly appreciate her discussions of 1) preparation(s), and 2) character. These are exceedingly helpful.
This course is for everyone who ever thought, “I think I might have a novel inside me.” Understand though: you will not “write a novel” in this course–you will prepare yourself to start (or re-start) one. Think of it as a cooking course in which you spend the first class cleaning the kitchen and prepping the ingredients. Think of it as a marathon-running course in which you spend the first class buying a good pair of shoes. Your chances of drafting an entire novel increase exponentially when you spend some time preparing yourself for the journey ahead.
You’ll learn a great deal about your process without having to fret about the quality of your work. You’ll generate a lot of writing about the novel you want to write, get to know your characters, learn to think in terms of scenes not sentences, and make some crucial early decisions about point of view and structure that will save you a lot of time down the road.
At the end of the course, you’ll be ready and excited and poised to start writing your novel.
What This Course Specifically Teaches
intense focus on the writing process and on developing a writing regimen
writing assignments which will help you gather material, develop your plot, and get to know your characters
practice creating an outline or storyboard of your book
analysis of a novel that will serve as a model
The course is broken down into four big-picture units, further described below. Each unit offers a series of mini-lessons (about 5 to 10 minutes each) that build on each other. It will take you about four full hours to go through all of the instruction. You can pause to write when inspired and review the material on your own. Lessons are presented as audio-visual lectures that you can watch on any device (video/screencast).
https://www.midwestwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/MWW-Cathy-Day-course-image-to-share.jpg8751957Midwest Writershttp://www.midwestwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mww-logo.pngMidwest Writers2017-12-15 19:40:592017-12-15 19:40:59Your goal for 2018? | It’s Time to Start Your Novel
MWW announces its the newest MWW Ongoing course, “The Building Blocks of a Great Novel,” taught by the bestselling author Dianne Drake. This 6-unit course also includes a manuscript evaluation. Registration is now available!
Dianne says, “The goal of this course is not to teach you HOW to write your novel, but to help you discover all the key elements common to every great novel — elements that will make your novel great, too!”
Choosing Your Genre
Goal, Motivation & Conflict
Defining Your Point of View
Finding Your Voice
Creating Your Characters
Dialogue, Narrative & Exposition
What the Course Includes
Instructional sections that you can read on your own time, at your own convenience. This Prezi format is not a live presentation, and new lessons will not “drip” at various intervals during the course. Once you have registered, the entire course will be available to you, to access at any time you wish.
Assignments for completion at your own pace–designed to help you put what you learn into action.
Q&A time through a private Facebook forum designed especially for this course, plus discussions and handouts
AND each student will receive A FREE MANUSCRIPT EVALUATION AT THE END OF THE COURSE. Translated to mean 10 pages of a manuscript critique along with one deep editing pass.
CHOOSE YOUR GENRE: a discussion of what genre is; how to find the genre that works best for you, a reader’s expectation of genre, and much more.
GOAL, MOTIVATION & CONFLICT: the backbone of all great novels. What is GMC? How do you use it? Define it? Why developing your GMC will give you a head start on your novel that many writers skip. Also, how to apply GMC in your work for the best results.
DEFINING A POINT OF VIEW. Every book has one, so do most major characters. POV gives you a perspective of your story that no one else has. It also defines you, as writer, in your story.
FINDING YOUR VOICE. It’s unique. It’s you on the page-the way you present your story and yourself. It’s what your readers will relate to more than anything else, and what your editors expect to be so “you” your work will stand out in the pile. And, it’s what brings readers back to you and your books.
CREATING CHARACTERS. Good stories have good characters, great stories have great characters. This lesson will teach you everything you need to know about your characters, from naming them, to giving them the perfect backstory, to scripting them in a manner that your readers want more of them.
DIALOGUE, NARRATIVE & EXPOSITION. In other words, the whole ball of wax. How your story goes down on paper. Word choices. What resonates with readers and what doesn’t. This is the nitty-gritty about your writing and how to make the most of it so your next book contract will come knocking on your door almost before you’ve completed the current WIP (work in progress).
Looking to prepare for NaNoWriMo?
This six-unit series is for you!
The cost: $149 (includes manuscript critique!) Register HERE.
Join the course’s private Facebook community!
When you register for this course, you will be invited to a private Facebook group created for live interactions and questions.
Says Dianne:
I encourage lots and lots of questions and comments, anything you wish to address. I will also drop several handouts into the files — things I like to share with my students that may not necessarily have a proper place in the class. In addition, I will check in on the Facebook group several times a day, to answer questions, participate in discussions or to simply see how it’s going. If Facebook isn’t your thing, or you wish to discuss something privately, I’ll be happy to keep you caught up on my private email.
About the Instructor
There wasn’t a time in her life when Dianne wasn’t writing something. The first real try she remembers came when she was aged 6, with a poem titled, “If I Had a Pony.” It was a lame attempt at getting her parents to buy her a pony, which didn’t work, but in that poem Dianne discovered she loved to write. So, she did…through grade school, high school, college school, music school, nursing school, grad school…It was always there. In Dianne’s life, there was always something to write about. Funny thing was, she wasn’t taking the hint. Not even when articles she was writing for professional medical journals were being published.
One day, though, Dianne’s mother died. She was too young. And she also died unfulfilled…full of hopes and dreams she never went after. This was at a time when Dianne was facing a disability that would eventually leave her with some very difficult physical challenges. Still, she didn’t want to end up like her mother, wasting a life of dreams that never had a chance. But, what to do? This is when, what Dianne calls, “The Post Card from God,” arrived. It was an ad for a writing workshop being held in Muncie, Indiana. Midwest Writers Workshop (1993) as it turned out. So, in her hand she had the opportunity to fulfill a dream she’d never really latched on to, but one that had always latched onto her. But, could she write for real? She’d always written, but to be a real writer?
Dianne did go to Muncie that year, totally nervous, but hopeful. And to shorten the story, 6 months later, her first-ever consumer article appeared in Woman’s Day. From there came hundreds more articles, 9 nonfiction books and the true dream of her heart — 57 (soon to be 61) romance novels for Harlequin Books. Yes, her true writing dream was to be a romance writer. Was the journey simple? Never. Was it worth it? Always. “The dream was always there. I just had to wake it up. It makes me sad knowing my mother was contented letting her dreams slip away because she missed a life that might have changed many things for her. But in watching her let her dreams pass her by, I discovered my own dream. I always wanted to write because I always wrote. No matter what happened in my life, I wrote about it. Big things, little things…none of it mattered. What did matter, though, was that my dream was always there with me and I was, and am blessed, to have it every day of my life. I was meant to be a writer. It was my dream, and it was my destiny.”
Dianne’s next two books from Harlequin Mills & Boon Medicals will be released simultaneously in January, 2018. Be on the lookout for Reunited with Her Army Doc and Healing Her Boss’s Heart — two connected stories about the healing powers of love, home and friendship. Also, keep up with Dianne’s new releases and news on her website at www.Dianne-Drake.com and her Facebook page DianneDrakeAuthor.
https://www.midwestwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/DD-BB-banner2-e1508161137621.jpg237750Midwest Writershttp://www.midwestwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mww-logo.pngMidwest Writers2017-10-16 14:01:172017-10-16 14:01:17Building Blocks of a Great Novel with Dianne Drake
It’s hard to believe Midwest Writers Workshop happened about two months ago.
Which means, it’s that time of year when . . .
Some of us on the committee ask this burning question:
What are some ways writers keep themselves motivated in between conferences?
This is an excellent question, and we don’t think we’re alone with it. We consider ourselves very enthusiastic when it comes to writing. But, so many things can happen to take down our enthusiasm. We might have come home from MWW, sent out the requested material, and waited. Maybe we are still waiting.
Or we didn’t get a request at all.
Maybe we got cold feet once we got home, and told ourselves we needed to revise before we sent the requested material–and we’re still revising. Quite possibly, we didn’t end up sending the material at all.
Did you know? A large number of writers don’t send in the material that was requested at conferences at all? Nada. Zip.
And truth be told, some people who do send in their requested material never hear back from the person who requested it at conference.
But shake all of that off.
On a happy note, others may have book contracts by now (waving at Annie Sullivan.) Or they’ve gotten an agent.
The truth is, no matter what has happened–or not happened since conference, our enthusiasm for writing might be lagging a bit.
Probably the biggest reason is that we’re not spending enough time with other writers, like we did when we were in our MWW conference bubble.
So, we’ve created a list of the Top 3 Ways to Keep Yourself Writing
1. Stay engaged with other writerly people in RL (Real Life) any way you can.
Do a search and find out what’s going on around you. Go to that book signing that is an hour away (and put on your extroverted expression and talk to some people). Go to a lecture at a college, because all thoughts on any topic can stimulate your writing. Join a book club, if just for one session. Coordinate a writers lunch get-together, even if the people don’t write in your genre, or are earlier in their journeys than you are (even if you secretly think everything they write is weird). Just do something. You’ll feel better and write with more enthusiasm. We call this being a good literary citizen.
2. Sign up for an online course.
Let’s face it. Some of us live in outlying areas. MWW committee member Cathy Shouse lives in what was literally a cornfield. Some nights, the coyotes are “talking” with her dogs. So she’s learned that a good, interactive online course is just what she needs to keep focused on her writing goals. She likes to be in a virtual class with writers. (Note: MWW has a program called MWW Ongoing that offers exceptional, unique, interactive online courses. See details below).
3. Develop your online presence (which also secretly builds your platform).
Reach out to publishing people on social media. If you read a blog, leave a comment, even if it is as simple as “I enjoyed this. Good job!” Follow authors you like on Facebook. If they ask a question, join in and respond to it. When you have a following on FB, you can ask people questions–and they may actually answer.
BONUS: Renew your writing enthusiasm by watching the MWW17 highlights video below, created by Matt Shouse.
Just over 3 minutes long, use the video to play a game. First, see if you can find yourself.
Next, see if you can find these publishing all-stars in the footage, because it was a Who’s Who of publishing this summer. Some of them are named, but many go by too quickly for that. So whether you can spot them or not, go visit their websites. Check out the free samples of their books. Follow them on Facebook, send out a Tweet, or even drop them a fan letter (“charming note”) email.
The following are some names to look for: Angie Thomas, Becky Albertalli, Annie Sullivan, Jessica Strawser, Amy Reichert, Summer Heacock, Nina Sadowsky, John Gilstrap, Agent/author Eric Smith, and the list goes on, and on.
To see what course we’re currently offering online, here’s the link to MWW Ongoing. (Good News: you can still register and catch up on the lessons!) Email Director Jama at midwestwriters@yahoo.com if you have questions about the classes or if you want to join. AND get ready for October because Dianne Drake’s new course “The Building Blocks of a Great Novel” is coming down the track. Details coming soon.
Now, if this message and material has helped you, would you do us a favor? Please forward this message to a writer friend who might enjoy it. If you feel like it, suggest that they subscribe to our MWW e-newsletter.
And we would love for you to say who you spotted in the video that made you smile. Please tell us on our Facebook page.
If you’ve ever wished for a way to continue growing with your writing all year long, from the comfort of your home, now you can! MWW Ongoing is a series of courses taught by award-winning writing instructors, and everything happens online. From the convenience of your computer, on your own time schedule, you can participate in classes to take your writing to the next level.
Check out our newest MWW Ongoing course taught by New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump.
The Brainmap: A way to create intricate plots and compelling, unforgettable characters
Shirley Jump’s The Brainmap Technique develops fully formed characters before a single word is written, resulting in a stronger, more powerful–and more emotional story. This 4-week course starts Monday, Sept. 4, with each unit available on the following Mondays (Sept 11, 18, 25). Cost: $75.
Who This Course Will Help
This course is for writers who are looking for a way to plot a unique, character-driven novel. This course will cover all the pre-work needed to develop a compelling, layered character with a full history. From that, the plot will develop, thus building an intriguing novel with a strong emotional hook for the reader.
Editors love books that are character driven and have layered plots. The Brainmap Technique develops fully formed characters before a single word is written, resulting in a stronger, more powerful–and more emotional story. If you’re stuck in your writing, needing inspiration or just want to learn more about developing characters and developing a multi-layered plot, you’ll get the boost you need for this class with this technique. By the end of this workshop, participants will have everything they need to write a character-based plot that has emotional depth, character-driven conflict, and memorable page-turning twists.
What you will learn
How to develop a character’s past, family relationships and motivations
Use this to develop a character-based plot
An in-depth analysis of your character’s behavior and choices
A richer, more emotionally based book
The course is broken down into four units. Each unit is accompanied by several handouts that build on the one before. You can start using the information immediately for your current work. But you can start when you are ready. The material will be available to you until October 31. Questions about the material and how it applies to your story will be answered within the private Facebook group.
Unit One will be about getting the basics down. We will start with the basics of who your character is, based on their dominant impression, then why they are in that career. How their education impacted that choice and where it has brought them to at the start of your novel.
Basics of the Brainmap
Brainmap Center
Brainmap Spoke One
Unit Two will take the Brainmap to a deeper level. We will discuss the multiple layers of family relationships and look at how those have impacted your character. This particular section of the brainmap is vital in shaping your character.
Brainmap Spoke Two
Brainmap Spoke Three
Brainmap Example
Unit Three will explore past relationships and their impact on your character. What type of person they choose, how it impacted their life, and where that has brought them now. For those writing novels with a romance thread, this section will form the basis of the romantic conflict. We will also discuss the last two spokes of the brainmap to create a fully-fleshed out character.
Brainmap Spoke Four
Brainmap Spoke Five and Six
Unit Four will pull all those spokes together, developing a plot based on the character, one that derives from their weaknesses, strengths and greatest nightmare. This will allow the student to write a richer novel at the completion of the course.
Weaknesses and Strengths
Worst Nightmare
About the Instructor
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump spends her days writing romance so she can avoid the towering stack of dirty dishes, eat copious amounts of chocolate and reward herself with trips to the mall. She’s published more than 60 books in 24 countries. Look for her all-new novella in the anthology ASK ME WHY (with Marie Force, Virginia Kantra and Jodi Thomas), as well as her Sweet and Savory Romance series, including the USA Today bestselling book, THE BRIDE WORE CHOCOLATE, and her Fortune’s Island series, starting with AND THEN FOREVER. Visit her website at www.ShirleyJump.com for author news and a booklist, and follow her on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/shirleyjump.author for giveaways and deep discussions about important things like chocolate and shoes.
You spoke. We listened. So many of our MWW16 attendees commented on Liz Whiteacre’s sessions and pleaded for us to offer more opportunities for her brilliant and helpful writing instruction.
Now’s your chance! Word Play is a 4-unit course, starting Monday, May 1st. Registration is now open!
Word Play is a short, low-stakes course designed to help you take a break from bigger projects and take some time to play with language. It presents focused writing exercises that explore diction and figurative language choices, which help us develop voice in our stories, essays, and poems.
Writers of all levels and intentions are encouraged to join these focused word-based exercises, honing language skills and developing new ones that will support the writing they do in any genre. Many prompts may become prewriting for new projects or help you revise projects already in the works.
About the Instructor
Liz Whiteacre has been teaching writing since 2000. She’s worked with writers of all ages and abilities at places like University of Indianapolis, Ball State University, College of DuPage, the Indiana Writers Center, and the Indianapolis Chinese Community Center. In 2015, she won an Excellence in Teaching Award from Ball State University. She was poetry faculty for the Midwest Writers Workshop in 2016. Whiteacre’s poems have appeared in Kaleidoscope, Wordgathering, Disability Studies Quarterly, Disabled World , and other magazines. She is the author of Hit the Ground and co-editor of Monday Coffee & Other Stories of Mothering Children with Special Needs.
What this Course Includes
You will receive weekly video lectures, writing exercises and recommended readings, and access to the private Word Play Facebook community where you might share questions, excerpts of your writing, your responses to reflection questions, etc.
Each week you will receive a new unit with three language-based exercises, so you may tailor your experience to your needs and schedule. Each lesson also offers suggestions for further reading on related topics, which you can chose to do while you work on exercises during the class or chose to save for the future.
And a bonus: You’ll have access to these four units and lessons indefinitely.
We’re so very pleased that MWW Ongoing is offering this opportunity to help you develop your writing muscles and stretch your creativity. At just $50, it’s a bargain.
https://www.midwestwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Word-Play-Unit-1-smaller.jpg412824Midwest Writershttp://www.midwestwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mww-logo.pngMidwest Writers2017-04-26 17:00:222017-04-26 17:00:22MWW Ongoing course | Word Play with Liz Whiteacre
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