It's nearly November

I've hardly noticed October - been so busy sorting out my next day job. Actually I've ben so busy that I've put writing on hold completely. But now, since I've got a new job (some call it promotion), went through the mill of a Very Important Assessment, sent my application to yet-another-uni-course in and awaiting results, and the spring is finally in the air it's time to go back to writing.

It's November - NaNoWriMo month again and I'm definetely taking part again this year. I'm also going to do SoYouThinkYouCanWrite2 with Harlequin again as I enjoyed SYTYCW1 last year.
I'm writing another medical romance - since the target length of 50-55,000 is ideal for Nano. I also hope I will be able to submit it at the end of SYTYCW2.

I have been neglecting my blog lately and unfortunately this is likely to continue in November because of Nano, but after that I should have more time for writing.
In the meantime, for those of you who are looking for an interesting writing workshop in November - have a look at a fellow romance writer Lacey Devlin's blog for inspiration.
I'm off to get prepared for NaNo - I've got heaps of stuff to do.

Nano preparation checklist for plotters:
1. Story premise - check
2. Title - check
3. Heroine's goals, motivations and conflict - check
4. Heroine's arc - needs some work
5. Hero's goals,  motivations, and conflict - check
6. Hero's arc - needs some work
7. Plot outline - very patchy, several plot holes - needs fixing
8. Minor characters - haven't been conceived yet.
9. Happily Ever After - check!
10. A week off day job - request not submitted yet!
11. Put a new word counting widget on my blog - not done yet!

I haven't included a supply of chocolate as I have to lose weight I've put on during all that work-related stress in October but will have to find something to fuel my during those long early morning hours.


Who else is doing Nano this year? Are you a plotter or a pantser? How are you preparing?

Online writing workshops in September

A selection of writing online workshops that may be of interest to romance writers

Colorado Romance Writers:
5- 30 Sept:  Corsets, goggles, airships - Researching and writing steampunk by Beth Daniels
5- 30 Sept: Body talk - Loving, lying, and the real language of the body by Kit Frazier

Yosemite Romance Writers:
5-30 Sept: Whose story is it? The nuts and bolts of POV by Susan Palmquist
5-30 Sept: A cop's life from A to Z by Kathy Bennett

Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal chapter of RWA
5 Sept - 3 Oct: It's showtime! Show, don't tell by Flo Fitzpatrick

5 - 30 Sept: Creating your hero fatal flow by Laurie Schnebly Campbell

5 - 30 Sept: Microsoft for writers by Catherine Chant

6 Sept - 3 Oct: The purpose driven scene by Lynn Kerstan

6 -13 Sept: Conflict - How to build it, sustain it, resolve it by Jaye Roycraft

6 Sept - 2 Oct: Conflicts of myth - using classical myths to deepen your contemporary novel by Susan Sipal

6 Sept - 3 Oct: Advance dialogue class by Devon Ellington

12 Sept - 3 Oct: Secrets to writing (and pitching) The Big Hook, High Concept, Same but Different Novel by Virna DePaul


Again, I have problems choosing from such a wide range of interesting workshops, but I think I'm going to take the course on writing high concept novel and/or the purpose driven scene (as I have problems writing scenes).

Are you interested in any of these classes? Any recommendations?

Online courses and workshops for romance writers (August 2011)

I've been keeping an eye on online writing courses for a while now and it seems this has become a very popular way of learning craft and boosting inspiration for writers. I didn't realise there is such an aboundance of workshops out there! I suscribe to only a couple of mailing lists, and it's still hard to keep up, let alone choose.
Onlike courses are cheep, convenient and can be informative if you do it properly.

Here is a list of a few August workshops I think may be of interest to fellow romance writers.

1 - 31 August The Book Factory: Producing Multiple Novels in One Year with Kerri Nelson
to enrol go to Red River Romance Writers
I'm doing this one!

Three of many interesting workshops organised by Low Country RWA
5 - 26 August Writing Regency Set Novels with Shannon Donnelly
5 - 26 August What Does Nora Roberts Know That You Don’t? with Carol Hughes
5 - 26 August Body Talk: Lying, Loving and the Real Language of the Body with Kit Fraizer
To enrol go to Low Country RWA website
1 - 28 August Ebook and digital publishing - is it for me? with Suzanne Rock

15 - 28 August Creating better heroes with Sasha Illyvich

15 - 29 August From Slow Burn to Fast Sizzle: Making Sexual Tension Work For You with Kira Sinclair and Lynn Raye Harris

Two of the many interesting workshops at Savvy Authors
1 - 6 August Patchworking the perfect plot (even when you're a pantser) with Suzanne Johnson
1 - 28 August - Dirty little secrets of character development with Keena Kincaid


My main sources of info about online workshops are Savvy Authors website and RWA Newsletters.
What are yours? Where do you find information about interesting workshops? Share your tips below.


photo credit: Photostock at www.freedigitalphotos.net.

How to make the most of e-writing courses

E-writing courses are getting more and more popular these days. They are easy accessible for anyone with a computer and Internet access. They are cheap, can be run irrespective of geographical location, time zone, and day schedules. You don't have to take a day off to attend one - you can just do it in the comfort of your own home at any time that suits you. They also much cheaper - a typical e-course would cost around 10-30 USD, and you don't have to travel to the place, there is no hotel to book, no snacks to buy etc.
Perfect?
Not quite.
Having tried a number of e-courses recently (4 to be precise) I must admit I struggle with this format. I don't really want to say that I haven't learnt much form the ones I've 'attended', but I can't say I've learnt much either.
With this reflection in mind I hesitated over enrolling to yet another one recently, but I know I really need to learn how to pitch like a pro, since I've decided to attend a pitching session at RWNZ conference in August. So I've enrolled but then sat down to brainstorm ideas how to make the best of e-learning writing courses.

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1. Familiarise yourself with the format. If you're joining an online group/loop or forum, have a look around the forum - how the posts are displayed; are they grouped or displayed chronologically? Can you change the setting to have it displayed the way that suits you? The courses I've done were all based on Yahoo Groups - a format I'm familiar, but not necessarily happy with. For a reason unknown to me, even when I have 'group by topic' on, I keep getting messages all over the place.
The main upside of reading the posts on the forum is that you can group messages by topic and see how a topic progresses
If you prefer to read the messages in a digest - I'd suggest you opt for a daily one (see point 2). On one hand digests are good because they remind you about the course and prompt to read every day. But on the other hand there is no way you can group messages, and since it brings only what's new today, you may not remember what was written/discussed before. Often the replies would have the original post at the bottom, which is good for refreshing your memory, but I find it the most annoying aspect of e-learning courses: scrolling down the kilometers of old messages, displayed in the most annoying format with all these "<"  and   ">", which make it much harder to scan.
If you find this as frustrating as I do, see point 3 for some suggestions.

2. Make a commitment to read posts every day. This will not only allow you to stay up to date with what's on the group and keep up to speed with new information provided, but also take part in exercises, try out new skills or put the newly acquired knowledge into practice, which reinforces the learning process!

3. Make your own notes. I have tried to copy&paste relevant bits and pieces of posts into a Word document, but realised I've been missing the possibility of scribbling all over pages. I am a rather non-linear thinker and learner, so tools focused on linear approaches don't work for me. I suspect many writers are non-linear, so I would suggest you make your own written notes - not only this will reinforce the learning process but also allow you to make notes in whatever way you find beneficial, and go back to add stuff as you go along.

4. Participate in tasks/homework. Get your stuff out there, don't be scared or shy to get feedback on your writing. Practice the skills taught and get feedback on your progress. Also read what other participants have done and the feedback they've got - learn from other people's experience. The whole point of taking the course is to learn.

5. Don't undermine the power of community that builds around the course. On these rare instances I took part in homework tasks I got great feedback and helpful tips not only from the tutor but also from other participants. One of the most amazing things was that many writes were happy to chip in and brainstorm ideas for my (your, hers, his) book or story - completely free! Great bunch of people!

6. Enjoy :)


You can find interesting writing and publishing related e-courses here and here or here or here and in many other places.



Have you taken any e-courses? What is you experience? Did you enjoy this way of learning, or did you find it challenging? How do you make sure you make the most of this experience?