Looking for a last-minute gift for yourself? How about taking a class to improve your writing?
Looking for a last-minute gift for your cousin? How about a yummy edible arrangement? (What? Online courses aren't a good gift for everyone.)
Some upcoming online classes that may be of interest:
(Descriptions copied, pasted, and shortened from official class descriptions)
SLEUTH FACTS: REAL PI PROCEDURES FOR YOUR PLOT
INSTRUCTOR: Linnea Sinclair
WHEN: January 2 to January 22
WORKSHOP:
Slink down any interesting back alleys lately? Retired Florida Private Investigator and award winning sci fi author, Linnea Sinclair, invites you to step into the world of private detective work and learn the basic procedures -- and some not so well known tricks of the trade -- that will add a touch of realism to your stories as well as provide plot twists and conflicts. How quickly can a PI locate someone? How easily can things go wrong on surveillance? What happens when a mundane case becomes a murder case? A former news reporter, Sinclair was a licensed private investigator in Florida for ten years and is featured in the nationally distributed instructional video, "PIs". She has also taught investigative methodology for writers at COFFIN (College OF Felony and INtrigue online) and at various RWA and MWA conferences nationwide.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION:
Cost: $20
You do not have to be an RWA member to take this workshop.
Reistration ends Jan. 1.
Title: Hide and Seek: How to Disappear in Today's World
Instructor: Frank M. Ahern
Class Description: The idea of disappearing is appealing and has been used by writers over the years, but the rules of the game have changed. Rapidly evolving technology, social sites and the access of information has become the number one enemy to someone who wants to fade away. To correctly disappear and secure your privacy you need to embrace deception both offline and online.
In this class you learn about
Digital DNA
Digital Genes
Digital Distortion
Creating Fake Digital Identities
Corp-Distort-Delete
Photo Distortion
The Pretext Solution
and many more techniques your character or even you can use to vanish into thin air.
Cost: $30
Registration ends Dec. 27.
Title: The Game is Afoot: Writing the Steampunk Mystery
Instructor: Beth Daniels, aka Beth Henderson, J.B. Dane
Class Description:
Steampunk is a subgenre of a subgenre (Alternative History) of a genre (Fantasy), but it breaks down into even further subgenres of its own. One of those is mystery.
For four weeks – a full month – we’ll not only look at how to build a Steampunk novel, a Steampunk world, but how to make it a Steampunk mystery.
Cost: $30
Registration ends Dec. 27
The Word Loss Diet
Presented by: Rayne Hall
Date: January 1 – 31, 2012
Deadline: December 29, 2011
Fee: $25
Course Description:
Tighten and tone your writing style. Slim your manuscript in four weeks with simple revision tricks. Shed thousands of words without changing the plot!
Creating a Web Presence
Presented by: Casey Dawes
Date: January 1 – 31, 2012
Deadline: December 29, 2011
Fee: $25
Course Description:
This 4-week workshop demonstrates the three steps necessary to creating a web presence: People, Persona and Platform. It covers these topics:
Week One: Identifying your audience (Your People)
Week Two: Defining your brand (Your Persona)
Weeks Three and Four: How to let your people know about your persona (Your Platform) going in-depth on the following platforms
Your website/blog
At the end of this workshop the attendees will have a well-rounded picture of their readers, an idea of the brand they want to project, including what aspects of their personal life they are willing to share and what they won’t, and a plan to join the conversation on the world wide web using website/blog, Facebook, Twitter and more. The workbook will include specific instructions about what’s needed to set up and use these three platforms.
Assignments will be given on Mondays and due on Wednesdays. Answers to comments and questions will be given throughout the course. All attendees will get a free copy of “Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Basics.”
Going Deep: Creating an Unbreakable Connection Between Your Characters and Readers
(Scroll down to the 3rd class listed)
Presented by Toni Andrews
Date: January 1 – 15, 2012
Deadline: December 29, 2011
Fee: $15
Course Description:
We all want to write stories that pull readers in, bond them to characters, and forge relationships that will last to the end of the book. To do that, you must master three basic elements:
Point of View,
Character Voice, and
Showing vs. Telling.
In this workshop, you’ll learn how, handled properly, these three elements can be combined to make your writing more powerful and emotionally rich.
You’ll master simple, easy to understand techniques to identify the issues that are pull the readers out of the story and sever their connection to the characters, and easy ways to eliminate those issues.
Special Workshop Bonus: In addition to being a multi-published author, Toni Andrews is also a professional book doctor. For the first twenty participants to sign up only, Toni will perform a manuscript analysis of their first five pages, a service which normally costs $25 through Book Rx.
The Lessons of Firefly: Learning from the Works of Joss Whedon -- Presented by Jacqui Jacoby
Runs: Jan 2-29
Cost: $30
Although Joss Whedon's television show FIREFLY only aired through the fall months of 2002, it has continued to generate followers through word of mouth, DVD sales and an inexhaustible amount of discussion both at conferences and online in writing loops. FIREFLY, created by the Rod Serling of our generation, was a masterpiece of writing. Each of its thirteen episodes taught character development, dialogue and plotting techniques. Its motion picture sequel, SERENITY, not only touched on these subjects but added relationships, loyalties and loss to it's repertoire. In this workshop, Ms. Jacoby will reveal the lessons of FIREFLY. By using class participation and examples from the episodes, she will translate with words what Mr. Whedon was teaching us on screen. Joss Whedon has reviewed this workshop and has given his permission for it to be offered.
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