“It is impossible to sell animal stories in the U.S.A.”
Animal Farm by George Orwell

“Older children wouldn’t like it because its language is too difficult.”
Watership Down by Richard Adams

“The girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the ‘curiosity’ level.”
The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank

“It does not seem to us that you have been wholly successful in working out an admittedly promising idea.”
Lord of the Flies by William Golding

“For your own good do not publish this book.”
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence

“A long, dull novel about an artist.”
Lust for Life by Irving Stone

“You have buried your novel underneath a heap of details which are well done but utterly superfluous.”
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

“Neither long enough for a serial, nor short enough for a single story.”
A Study in Scarlet (short story) by Arthur Conan Doyle

“It contains unpleasant elements.”
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

“A very bad book.”
The Bridge Over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle

“If you insist on rewriting this, get rid of the Indian stuff.”
The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman

‘I’m sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don’t know how to use the English language.”
Unspecified manuscript by Rudyard Kipling

“…overwhelmingly nauseating, even to an enlightened Freudian…the whole thing is an unsure cross between hideous reality and improbable fantasy. It often becomes a wild, neurotic daydream. I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand years.”
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

“I do not see anything in this to convince me you can write either narrative or fiction.”
one of Zane Grey’s early novels

“We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.”
Carrie by Stephen King

So what’s the secret to rejection?

Don’t let rejections stop you from writing. And submitting.

I’m pleased to announced the launch of Novelocity.net. This new site highlights easy-to-use Internet promotion strategies for writers. Learn how to boost your name recognition, find readers and sell more books using the popularity and inexpensive nature of the Internet.

The traditional publishing world is struggling with the increasing popularity of electronic books. Their profit margins are shrinking. That means less money for the promotion of mid-list and first-time author books. Without promotion, book sales will be dismal and the writer’s career as an author, short-lived.

To survive and thrive as a writer these days, you need to do your own promotion to get your books noticed and increase sales.

Enter the Internet – the world-wide information net that is now the go-to location when you want to find out anything.

Like what book you should read next.

Writers can take advantage of the Internet’s far reach:

• to locate readers that may never walk into a bookstore
• to find readers for great books that maybe didn’t get a huge publicity campaign from the publisher
• to find fans who will buy, love and rave about their books to other readers

And using the Internet for promotion is super inexpensive compared to other forms of advertising. That’s good news for writers who don’t have a lot of money to spend on promotion.

At Novelocity you’ll:

• get tips on using your website effectively to impress editors and readers
• learn how to use social media to find and build relationships with readers
• discover the secrets of successful strategies that other authors have used to increase their readership and sell a lot more books
• learn how to put together a marketing plan that fits you and your book

There are 1,733,993,741 people on the Internet (as of September 2009 – probably lots more now).

That’s a lot of potential readers.

Let’s go find them.

I’m getting this list out early as some classes close registration before the end of the preceding month. Another great list of classes available at low-cost prices. Sign up early if you’re interested.

Action Sequences: Writing Heart-Pounding Fight Scenes, Chases and Climaxes with Angela Knight – Learn how to create heroes and villains who are a good match for each other, how to choreograph fight scenes, and how to build a plotline that rises to a climax that makes readers eager for your next book. $15/CRW and HCRW members, $25/non-members

Scene CPR: Breathing Life into an Ailing Scene with Laurin Wittig – Discover a simple but powerful way to turn your ailing scene into a robust part of your story along with the power of the four stage sequel and how to combine it with your scenes to create a story that keeps your readers turning the pages long into the night. $10/CRW and HCRW members, $15/non-members

Goal Hunters: Revealing The Real Story Stakes And Motives with Raquel Rodriguez – Hook your reader by creating page-turning conflicts based in realism with a believable GMC, viable stakes, and a firm plot foundation. $15/Savvy Author members, $25/non-members

Foreshadowing with June Diehl – Explore the purpose of this technique and how to effectively use it in fiction. Free/Savvy Author members, $5/non-members

How, When and Why to Change Point Of View Mid-Scene with Laurie Saunders – Explore the many situations when changing viewpoint mid-scene is exactly what you need to do. Free/Savvy Author members, $5/non-members

Before Copy Editing with Claudia Suzanne – Discover how to Chart & restructure nonfiction, Map & characterize plots, Convert passive voice & static phrasing to active prose, Convert tell into show. Free/Savvy Author members, Free/non-members

How To Promote When You Don’t Know How with Jamieson Wolf – Learn how to promote your novel using new media to get yourself known and to establish a brand! Free/Savvy Author members, Free/non-members

Editing & Book Design: After the Writing Is Done with Jill Ronsley – Get answers to your questions about what happens after your manuscript is done. Free/Savvy Author members, $5/non-members

Crash Revisions with Holly Lisle – Learn how to do an editor’s revision in seven days. And how YOU become the pro who doesn’t blow deadlines. Free/Savvy Author members, $5/non-members

Promoting with Social Media with Theresa Meyers – Learn the ins and outs of how sites such as Twitter, MySpace and Facebook work, how to maximize your followers and use social media as a relationship building method to create your own platform and national audience. Free/Savvy Author members, $5/non-members

The Power Of the Senses; Enhancing Author’s Voice, Characterization, and Conflict with Bill Haggart – Learn which senses you favor in experiencing the world and how that shapes your voice, characters, and conflicts. $9/Elements members, $15/non-members

Critiquing with Camy Tang – Learn common things to look for in your own manuscript, and learn tricks for critiquing others, as well. $10/FF&P members, $20/non-members

The Synopsis Queen Tells All with Kara Lennox – Uncover how to break down the synopsis-writing process into a foolproof formula that will have maximum impact for minimum words. $10/FF&P members, $20/non-members

The Ins and Outs of ePublishing with Dara Edmondson – Discover what to write, how to submit, the inevitable pitfalls to avoid and the resources available. $10/FF&P members, $20/non-members

What a Wicked Web We Weave: A Spider’s Approach to Subplots in Storytelling with Theresa Meyers – Learn how to write big by adding multiple layers to your stories. $10/FF&P members, $20/non-members

Get Grammar with Kat Duncan – Learn simple sentence patterns and how to blend different grammar constructions to make action, emotion and tension come through. $10/FF&P members, $20/non-members

Is that Hollywood Calling? with Cindy Carroll – Learn the differences between writing books and writing scripts. And how writing a screenplay can help improve your novel writing. $16

Beyond Fangs: Creating New and Interesting Paranormal Characters with Deborah Blake – Explore the alternatives to over-used supernatural stereotypes and help you to create your own unique paranormal character. $16

Prose And Contests: Everything You Wanted To Know About Writing Contests But Were Afraid To Ask with Amy Atwell – Get an overview of the contest process, sources for researching contests, help in identifying your motive for entering a contest and tips on preparing your contest entry. $16

12 Stages of the Writer’s Adventure: You are the Hero of Your Book Writing Adventure with Beth Barany – Learn tips and tools for keeping an eye on your inner landscape so you can achieve your goal of writing a book. $16

Pitch Perfect with Kerri Nelson – Learn the secrets to nailing your pitch, how to score a home run with editors, and how not to stop short of getting the results you want. $20/RWA members, $25/non-members

May The Force Be With You (Adding Realistic Law Enforcement & Legal System Elements Into Your Novel) with Kerri Nelson – Learn “cop talk”, criminal evidence procedures, anatomy of a lawsuit, and more! $15/Yellow Rose members, $25/non-members

The Regency Woman with Nancy Mayer – Learn the roles, expectations, rights, and power of a Regency woman, including common myths and mistakes writers make in their stories. $20/OCC members, $30/non-members

Down, Dirty and Quick Plotting Bootcamp with Raquel Rodriguez – Discover this bare bones, no-frills plotting nitty-gritty approach to getting the story outline done takes a different look at how to accomplish the exact same objectives as other plotting courses without the extra details. Free/FTHRW members, $20/non-members

Mastering Point of View with Diane O’Connell – Learn how understanding and mastering point of view can fix an ailing manuscript and turn a decent but lackluster novel into a page-turner. $15/NEORWA members, $20/non-members

Paranormal Forensics with Katherine Ramsland – Explore the factual background of several crimes and their investigations, as well as the reports of paranormal events involved. $15/KOD members, $30/non-members

The 4 C’s: Building Characters and Plot with Sue Viders and Becky Martinez – Discover how the Four C’s help to define a character’s role in a book, even as it assists the writer in beginning to construct a fast-paced plot. $15/KOD members, $30/non-members

No Matter How Busy You Are, You Can Find TIME TO WRITE! with Kelly L. Stone – Discuss finding time to write, seven professional writing schedules, develop your writing action plan and learn how to deal with distractions and resistance to writing. $20/MWV members, $25/non-members

Once More with Feeling: Getting Your Book on Keeper Shelves with Cheryl St. John – Learn how to convey emotion in your stories that will connect so vividly with readers that your books will become favorites. $25

In my newsletter, I do a lot of case studies on writers. I like to study the writing process of other writers. Even though we’re all unique and we have our own unique process for writing, there is sometimes overlap.

For example, I prefer to outline my plot before I write. So do a lot of other writers.

But we don’t outline exactly the same and that’s the fun part. What technique or tip can I pick up from another writer that makes my plotting better? I’m always looking for what I can steal and incorporate into my own process.

Here are some interesting variations on plotting.

Robert Crais

Robert starts a book with approximately three months of outlining and general notes. He uses the time to develop the characters and then the story line. “The story requires the most work. I have to live with the story for months. I’m not one of those writers who can just begin typing on paper. I couldn’t keep all the clues straight if I didn’t plan it all out.”

Janet Evanovich

Janet generally creates a brief outline before beginning a new book, with one or two sentences about what will happen in each chapter.

She also uses storyboarding to map out the action in her stories. “I have a huge white dry-erase board that hangs on the wall in my office. I’ve already decided who the villain is going to be; I’ve decided what the crime is, and how the book is going to end. So now I map out in a couple of sentences what the physical action is going to be– that is, the action that is going to promote the crime line of the book. Every now and then, I’ll add what is going to happen in Stephanie’s romantic relationship and sketch in the secondary plot information as well.”

Lois McMaster Bujold

Lois makes a broad section outline, what she calls “the event horizon”, which is how far she can see to write until she has to stop and make up some more. This is usually between one and three chapters. She gets mental pictures of what scenes should go in the next chapter and she pushes them around until they slot into sequence. She then pulls out the next scene and outlines it closely, as a kind of messy first draft. She choreographs dialogue especially carefully.

She takes her notes to the computer and types up the actual scene. She continues this process until she gets to the end of the chapter and her brain is out of ideas. Then it is back to the outlining for the next scene. Each scene she writes has the potential of changing what comes next in the story, so she re-outlines constantly.

It’s All Plotting, But…

Robert outlines meticulously so that every clue and detail is known before he starts writing.

Janet jots down a couple of sentences for each chapter, using a storyboard to track the action.

Lois plots just enough for a couple of chapters at a time.

Three successful writers. Three different variations on outlining and plotting.

Your Turn

Do you outline your novel before you start writing? What’s your process like?

Taking a class and interacting with other writers can be a great way to improve your writing. Take a look at the following online writing classes being offered in February and see if one of them will help you take your writing to the next level.

Working the Muddle Out of Your Middle with Cheryl St. John – Discover the techniques that will carry you across the middle of your book without losing your energy and drive. $25

Druids: The Ancient Priesthood of the Celts with Sharon Gunn – Learn about the religion of the druids, their rituals and beliefs. $15/CHRW members, $20/non-members

Writing Evocative Fiction with Ann Schroeder – Study how basic emotions are expressed and hidden. Learn to probe your character’s motivation in ways that reveal her deepest emotional yearnings. $20/MWV members, $25/non-members

You Stab ‘Em, We Stab ‘Em with John Foxjohn – With the guidance of John Foxjohn, the students will go through all aspects of solving the homicides as if they were the actual homicide detectives. They’ll collect evidence, interview people, search for answers, and stay within legal guidelines.

Deep POV: Myths, Methods, and Madness with Alicia Rasley – Discuss the myths of Deep POV, the methods of getting into character and presenting the story, and the madness you might need to experience to truly get into someone else’s mind and body. $15/KoD members, $30/non-members

Discover How to Grow a Story Spine with Sylvie Kurtz – Learn the basic story arc and discuss why readers expect it, then walk through each of the seven story spines–the set-up, the meet, the first complication, the mid-point, the swivel, the dark moment and the joyful resolution–with examples along the way. $15/NEORWA members, $20/non-members

Fast Draft and Revision Hell with Candace Havens – Learn the secrets of Candace Haven’s step-by-step process to help you finish your work in progress in just two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, you’ll have your first draft. Then move on to Candace’s 2-week system to get you through the revision process and end with a polished manuscript that is ready to sell. $20/OCC members, $30/non-members

Creating Characters that Walk Off the Page with Karen Sandler – Learn how to talk to your hero and heroine, then be ready to listen for their answers. Use “trigger questions” to spark creativity, and fill-in forms and character interviews will assist you in creating dynamic, likable characters. $15/Yellow Rose members, $25/non-members

The Plotting Wheel: Ten Elements that Move Your Story Forward with Becky Martinez and Sue Viders – Discover a step-by-step method that can help everyone from beginners to published authors develop their ideas into novel form. $20/RWA members, $25/non-members

Fishing In: Hooks that Grab the Reader with Kristin Hardy – Learn how to craft a hook – that irresistible lure that makes an agent, editor and reader want more of your book. $16

Yummy Heroes with Jackie Ivie and Teresa Bodwell – This workshop looks beyond the Alpha/Beta debate to: 1) What makes a hero satisfying for his heroine? and 2) How can the author best portray those heroic traits? $16

Goal, Motivation, Conflict and Disaster with Misa Ramirez – This online course will take you through the process of understanding the elements of a scene and will introduce the concept of sequel. You will use your favorite fiction to identify how authors use Goal, Motivation, Conflict, and Disaster, as well as write your own scene(s) using these crucial 4 elements. $16

Dirty Little Secrets of Character Development with Keena Kinkaid – Use fun, inventive exercises that to root out your characters’ deep, dark secrets and desires, as well as learn how to use these secrets to further plot, conflict and—of course—the romance. $16

Mythic Elements with Marcy Weydemuller – mythic elements can add an extra layer of depth to a novel, whether contemporary, historical, paranormal or fantasy. Examine some metaphoric functions that help build emotional resonance and memory. $15/FFnP members, $25/non-members

The Art of Rewriting with Martha Engber – Learn about adopting the right expectations; estimating the time necessary for completion; understanding the three levels of editing; breaking the job into manageable pieces; and seeking feedback as part of the process. $10/FFnP members, $20/non-members

Writing Action Scenes the WWE Way with Matt and Natalie Duvall – Learn to apply the principles of WWE™-style to any scene that describes physical action. Discuss four of the key components of WWE™ entertainment, along with examples from a variety of fictional works, to show that these concepts can (and have) been used in wildly successful novels. $10/FFnP members, $20/non-members

Discovering Your Author Brand with Theresa Meyers – Uncover the basics of author branding, what it is, why it works and what advantages it offers; the three phases of brand building and the roles of author, publisher, publicist and agent; why brand building and brand awareness are different and how you can shoot your career in the foot if you aren’t careful; what roles producing books, advertising, marketing and publicity play in creating an author brand; what brand equity is and how it works to your advantage; seven steps to building a strong author brand for yourself; and how to use your author brand as a map for your career. $12/Elements members, $20/non-members

When using Third Person point of view, there is another aspect to consider – Subjective (aka Limited), Objective, and Omniscient. This describes whose head you can look into, in essence.

Third Person Limited

In Subjective or Limited point of view, the reader can only see and know the thoughts and inner emotions of the point of view character. The reader is “limited” to the thoughts of just one character. For all other characters in the scene, the reader can only see what they say or do and doesn’t know the other characters’ inner thoughts.

For an example let’s use Little Red Riding Hood again.

Little Red Riding Hood opened the door to Grandma’s room and stepped inside. She sniffed lightly. There was a strange smell in the room that she didn’t like. She squinted at Grandma. Why was the room so dark?

“Hello, my dear. Come closer.” Grandma patted the bedspread beside her.

Grandma’s voice was huskier than normal. Well, she was sick, after all.

Little Red moved closer to the bed until she could see Grandma. What was wrong with Grandma’s eyes?

“What big eyes you have today, Grandma.”

“All the better to see you with, my dear.”

In this scene, the reader gets several inner thoughts from Red Riding Hood – she doesn’t like the smell in the room, she wonders why it is dark and she thinks there is something wrong with Grandma’s eyes. In contrast, you don’t get any of Grandma’s/The Wolf’s thoughts; all you see and hear from Grandma Wolf are the things that he says or does.

In Limited Point of View you only see one character’s thoughts and emotions. For all other characters, you only observe their outer actions and words.

Third Person Objective

Objective point of view means that the reader doesn’t see any character’s inner thoughts and feelings, not even those of the point of view character. Instead, the reader is only witness to outer actions and dialogue. Think of this as using a movie camera to record an event. A camera can’t record the thoughts or feelings of a person, only what they say, do or display with expressions on their face or body language.

Using Little Red:

Little Red Riding Hood opened the door to Grandma’s room and stepped inside. She sniffed lightly. She squinted at Grandma.

“Hello, my dear. Come closer.” Grandma patted the bedspread beside her.

Little Red moved closer to the bed. “What big eyes you have today, Grandma.”

“All the better to see you with, my dear.”

In this example, we’ve lost all of Red’s thoughts and observations about the room and her Grandma. We can only see what physically happens and hear what is actually said.

Third Person Omniscient

Omniscient point of view means that the reader is privy to every character’s inner thoughts and feelings.

Back to Little Red:

Little Red Riding Hood opened the door to Grandma’s room and stepped inside. She sniffed lightly. There was a strange smell in the room that she didn’t like. She squinted at Grandma. Why was the room so dark?

“Hello, my dear. Come closer.” The Wolf patted the bedspread beside him. The girl needed to be closer so she couldn’t avoid the attack. The wolf’s mouth watered in anticipation of this juicy snack.

Grandma’s voice was huskier than normal. Well, she was sick, after all.

Little Red moved closer to the bed until she could see Grandma. What was wrong with Grandma’s eyes?

“What big eyes you have today, Grandma.”

Drat, the girl sounded suspicious. He would have to quickly reassure her so she didn’t leave. “All the better to see you with, my dear.”

In Omniscient point of view, the reader gets the thoughts and feelings of both characters in the scene. In addition to Red’s uneasiness about the smell and the darkness, the reader learns about the wolf’s anticipation of the attack and his desire to calm the fears of Little Red so he can attack and eat her.

Omniscient point of view allows the reader to dip in and out of each characters’ thoughts.

Question for You

Do you favor a particular style of Third Person point of view in your writing? Tell us about it in the comments.

Point of View is one of the more difficult elements of writing that some writers face. It seems so complicated. First Person, Second Person, Third Person… what do they mean and how do you get a handle on using them properly?

First Person – I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar

First Person means the reader is inside the character’s skin and experiences everything as though the reader were the character. This mode is easily identified by the use of “I” and “me” when talking about the main character.

Using the story of Red Riding Hood as an example:

I opened the door to Grandma’s room and stepped inside. I squinted at Grandma in the dark room.
“Hello, my dear. Come closer.” She patted the bedspread beside her.
I moved closer to the bed until I could see her better.
“What big eyes you have today, Grandma.”
“All the better to see you with, my dear.”

In this example, we are experiencing the story as if we were Red Riding Hood.

Third Person – She is Woman, Hear Her Roar

Third Person means that the reader is not the character, but experiences the story as an unseen observer. This mode is distinguished by the use of “he”, “she” when talking about the main character.

Back to Little Red:

Little Red Riding Hood opened the door to Grandma’s room and stepped inside. She squinted at Grandma in the dark room.
“Hello, my dear. Come closer.” Grandma patted the bedspread beside her.
Little Red moved closer to the bed until she could see Grandma better.
“What big eyes you have today, Grandma.”
“All the better to see you with, my dear.”

We’ve lost the “I” references that Little Red was using in the first example. We aren’t inside of her any longer. Now we’re watching the action in the room from the corner.

Notice that we had to change some of the person descriptors to make it clear who is doing what. When we switched to referring to Little Red as “she”, we had to change “she” when it referenced Grandma to “Grandma” occasionally, just to make it clear which “she” we were talking about.

You don’t have this problem with first person, unless your main character in first person is talking with two other males or two other females. Then you have a similar situation in needed to be clear which ‘he’ and which ’she’ is talking or acting.

Second Person – You are Woman, Hear You Roar

Second Person is almost never used in fiction. It is awkward for the reader (and the writer) as the character is described as “you” throughout the story. The one big exception to using Second Person in fiction is in the Write Your Own Adventure-type novels. You remember those?

You walk into a room and see two doors before you.
A. You choose the first door. (Flip to page 27)
B. You choose the second door. (Flip to page 35)

When it is used, it is most often combined with Present Tense, “You are”, etc. rather than Past Tense as most fiction is written in. My advice? Leave Second Person alone unless you’re trying experimental forms of literature.

Quick Recap

First Person – you are the character and you are describing your adventures. “I did that. I went there. I thought that.”

Second Person – you are REALLY the character but someone else is narrating your story. “You do this, you go there, you think that”

Third Person – you are observing the character as he or she experiences his or her adventures. “He did that. She went there. He thought that.”

Question For You

Do you use one point of view predominantly when you write or do you mix it up, choosing the point of view that best fits that story? Please share your experiences with point of view in the comments.

Some people are just born to be writers. Or maybe they’ve just worked really, really hard at it. Either way, their skill with words comes through in their blogs. They write entertaining, interesting posts that I can’t wait to read.

Check them out for yourself:

Jason A. Myers – He shares things he’s learned about writing and is entertaining in the process.

How Not to Write by Jamie Grove – Always good for a kick in the motivational-seat-of-your-pants.

Ceiling Flickers by Sharon Pelletier – The graceful flow of her words instill awe in me.

What writers do you know that were born to write? Leave a comment with their website so I can add them to my favorites list.

There’s a saying floating around that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an “expert” at something. If you want to be a concert pianist, 10,000 hours of practice. A primadonna opera singer? 10,000 hours. A pro football player? 10,000 hours of practice.

So why is it that writers assume they can become published after writing just one novel? Oh sure, there are some writers that do strike it lucky on that first novel. But the majority of writers don’t.

For good reason.

Just because we all learn to write in kindergarten, that doesn’t mean that you can automatically turn out a bestseller. In reality, writing a bestseller usually means that you have to learn to balance character motivation and development, rising action, plot events and twists, evocative descriptions, worldbuilding, sentence structure, grammar, point of view, and theme… all while writing a really exciting story.

Writing is easy… writing a novel is not.

If you want to write a bestseller, you need to practice and study the craft of writing.

Read a novel multiple times and analyze how the author motivated their characters, used descriptions, created tension on the page, wrote subtext into the dialogue, and twisted the plot at the climax.

Practice the techniques you found in your daily writing.

Watch a movie and analyze how actors display emotions with expressions, gestures and actions.

Practice showing characters feeling strong emotions without words.

Get a book like Steering the Craft by Ursula K. LeGuin and do all of the exercises in the book. Five times.

Visit a writing prompt site on the Internet (Seventh Sanctum, Creative Writing Prompts) or get a book of writing prompts (A Picture is Worth 1000 Words, The Pocket Muse) and use a prompt every day in your daily writing practice.

Take the last novel you wrote and revise it into the best story you can write. Get help on how to revise from writing books or from a workshop like How to Revise Your Novel.

Write.

Figure out what didn’t work.

Fix it.

Write more.

Your 10,000 hours start today.

The new year is upon us and with it, some fabulous new writing classes. Take a look at these workshops being offered around the web.

Getting Rid of the Junk That Holds You Back by Cheryl St. John – Take an honest, in-depth look at your behaviors, your thought processes and the things that are holding you back on your writing goals.

Edit Your Book In a Month by Eliza Knight – Get information on how to fix the most common mistakes made in manuscripts and learn what editors and judges are looking for in a manuscript.

Personal Brand Express: An Action Plan for Authors by Jenn Stark – Get the tools you need to create and refine an ideal Writing and Industry Brand for you and your work, and learn tips and techniques to effectively showcase these Brands in your marketing, publicity and promotional efforts.

The Truth about Psychic Research: What It Is, Who Does It, and How to Use Psychic Research to Build Your Fictional Worlds and Distract Your Readers with Red Herrings by Mary O’Gara – Learn about astrological research, scientific research organizations, psychic research organizations, special research-in-action projects and magical societies.

Breaking Rules to Break In or Break Out by Allison Brennan – A class for serious writers who want to take their writing to the next level by learning how to shuck the rules that don’t work and focus on strengthening their voice with a special focus on the suspense genres–romantic suspense, thrillers, mysteries, and paranormal suspense.

New Year, New You by Laurie Schnebly Campbell – Learn practical and psychological techniques for dealing with rejection, writer’s block, frustration, motivation, and other issues that keep writers from loving their craft.

Anatomy of a Hook by Natalie J. Damschroder – Learn how to craft The Hook, the importance of continually barbed pacing, the anatomy of a hook, and how to pay it off, all with the goal of making the reader never want to put that book down.

Purpose Driven Scene by Lynn Kerstan – This workshop focuses on how to develop a scene that is chock-full of character development, conflict, emotion, and—for the reader—a vivid sense of “being there.”

Do you know of any other low-cost online writing classes being held in January? Please give details in the comments!