Develop Your Novel in Just One Day

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Just a quick heads up that there are still a few spaces left in my day-long novel workshop at the California Dreamin' Writers' Conference on April 5th. This is a solid day of hard-core brainstorming and development, and I won't lie, I put you to work in this intensive. But past attendees have said it was well worth the hand cramps (grin), and they figured out what they were missing to write their novels.

You do not have to register for the full conference to attend the fiction boot camp intensive. 

California Dreaming' Writers' Conference

Where: Brea, California
When: April 5 (full conference is April 5-7)
Intensive Cost: $75.00 for conference attendees and $99.00 for non-attendees
Full Conference Cost: $350.00 for RWA Members; $400.00 for non-RWA members until March 16, then prices rise to $400 and $450 respectively. Here's the full conference schedule.

My Workshops:

Fiction Boot Camp: Writing a novel can be a daunting process, but a little planning can go a long way to making that process easier. Even pre-determining a few key turning points in the story can keep writers focused, whether they prefer to outline every scene or pick a story direction and write toward it. In this workshop, writers will learn how to create the critical elements of a novel’s plot, how to use goals, conflicts, and stakes to build a story and develop characters, and how to approach a story in a way that will make it easier to write and be more marketable to agents, editors, and readers.

Planning Your Novel in Ten Easy Steps: Writing a novel can be a daunting process, but a little planning can go a long way to making that process easier. Even predetermining a few key turning points in the story can keep writers focused, whether they prefer to outline every scene or pick a story direction and write toward it. In this workshop, writers will learn how to create the critical elements of a novel’s plot, how to use goals, conflicts, and stakes to build a story and develop characters, and how to approach a novel in a way that will make it easier to write and be more marketable to agents, editors, and readers

Writing for Middle Grade and Young Adult Readers: It's a common misconception that writing for kids means "dumbing down" the story, but the opposite is true. Books for today's teens and 'tweens are just as complex as those for adults--with certain differences. In this workshop, writers will learn what's needed to write for younger audiences, how the market differs, and how to adjust to "thinking like a kid." It will focus on the differences in pacing, voice, plotting (and the complexity of those plots), and common pitfalls to avoid. A must for anyone considering writing for this hot-selling market.

Hope to see you there!