September Newsletter
Teresa Bodwell
September 23, 2007
Vol. 1, Issue 1Monthly news from
Athena Critique Services
http://www.athenacrits.comContact:
in...@athenacrits.com
Quote of the Month
". . . Do you know what you will be asked when you die? But let me tell you first what you won't be asked. You won't be asked if you were working on a wonderful, moving piece of writing when you died. You won't be asked if it was long or short, sad or funny, published or unpublished. You won't be asked if you were in good or bad form while you were working on it. You won't even be asked if it was the one piece of writing you would have been working on if you had known your time would be up when it was finished. . . . I'm sure you'll get asked only two questions. Were most of your stars out? Were you busy writing your heart out?"
J.D. Salinger
from "Seymour - an Introduction"Fall Workshops
All classes limited to 25 participants to allow for personalized instruction and critique of individual submissions. $25 for 2 week classes and $40 for 4 week classes. October 15-26: Hook 'em and hold 'em: The crucial opening pages Instructors: Sophia Johnson, Flo Fitzpatrick and Teresa BodwellMost readers (including agents and editors) make their buying decision in the first few pages. Using examples from first sales and bestsellers, participants will learn what makes a great opening hook and ending hook. Writing assignments include the opening paragraph, first page, five pages and the first chapter.
Oct 29-Nov 9: Show, Don't Tell
Instructor: Flo FitzpatrickContest judges love to use this phrase when scoring so it's become somewhat overused - but it's a vital concept to keep your reader turning pages instead of snoozing.
Join Flo Fitzpatrick for this fun workshop, which will rev up your writing by accentuating action over description to help understand your characters' thoughts and feelings. Writing assignments include digging deep into the thesaurus for "action" words and redoing "tell" sentences into showstoppers! "
November 12-23: Putting wings on the back story to keep your novel soaring.
Instructor: Teresa Bodwell
You're at a party with someone you have met for the first time. He decides to tell you his life's story: the uncut version. How long does he keep your attention? Even if his story is an interesting one--climbing Mount Everest, or canoeing across the Atlantic Ocean--your mind will wander as you wait for him to take a breath so that you can excuse yourself to the bathroom, the bar, to call you mother-in-law. Anything to escape. In much the same way, the reader will want to escape your novel if you bore her with backstory. And she doesn't need an excuse to walk away. It is all too easy for her to put the book down and never come back.
How then, can you convey information about your character's past to the reader? This workshop will consider different techniques for keeping your story moving forward while providing the reader with crucial information about the past. We'll look at examples from books and movies and try some hands on writing exercises to practice creating flashbacks as well as weaving backstory into dialogue and internal monologue.
December 3-28: Keep writing through the holidays.
Facilitators: Teresa Bodwell and Flo FitzpatrickNeed help keeping your momentum through the holiday season? This course is geared to keep you writing as you turn in 2500 words of your WIP for comments each week.
Coming in 2008!
Finish Your Novel
Need help getting to The End
?To register for any course, e-mail: in...@athenacrits.com with the course you with to take and your preferred means of payment (check, money order or PayPal)