Friday, January 20, 2012

February 2012: The Secret Life of Pansters


The Secret Life of Pantsers—Magic Tricks and Delightful Games
Presented by
Kathleen Baldwin

Pantser: (pant´zər) 1: she who writes by the seat of her pants

Why do you write the way you write?  Are you a frustrated Pantser living in a Plotter’s world? What do your brainwaves have to do with it?  Come explore how your creative mind operates.  Plotters and Pantsers alike will benefit from Kathleen’s tricks, tools and delightful games that make a writer’s life easier.

Did you know Pantsers are hardwired differently than Plotters?  Take the quiz and find out where you fall on the Pantser vs Plotter scale. Learn why you write the way you write and how to take advantage of your incredible creative brainwaves. 

The writer’s mind is fabulously brilliant, but also temperamental. We’ll discuss ways to care for and protect your “muse” and never lose her again.
 
Good News: Pantsers, you really can have your cake and eat it too--you can excel at craft and yet still hold onto the wild adventure of natural spontaneous storytelling.  Put the joy of storytelling to work for you.  Set yourself free by using post-production analysis magic. 

Kathleen will share several of her ultra-fab, super-secret, story analysis tools.  Every writer needs to be familiar with Swain and Bickham’s scene and sequel story analysis.  Kathleen simplifies it for you.  Learn how Pantsers and Plotters use these analysis tools in extremely different ways to create rich satisfying stories.

Join DFW Ready Writers on Saturday, February 11 at 11:00am for lunch, fellowship and our pantsers workshop, at La Hacienda Ranch Restaurant on Highway 121 in Colleyville.  We are the local chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers and meet the second Saturday of each month.  Visitors welcome! We look forward to seeing you there.



Kathleen Baldwin graduated with a BA in Art/Design, and a minor in psychology.  She also accrued enough credits to have graduated in Secondary Education with teaching minors in History and English. This enabled her to work with emotionally disturbed teens using art therapy. Kat loved college and would still be there if it weren’t for the siren call of money. During her college years she participated in groundbreaking studies delving into how the brain functions during the creative process.
Kathleen lives in Texas with her heroic husband of thirty years and their four, mostly grown, children. She is the author of four Regency romantic comedies published by Kensington and is currently writing Young Adult Romance. 

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

January 2012: Taking Settings to the Next Level


What exactly is setting? Why do you need setting details in your novel? How much is too much? How much is too little? Who cares?

For the answers to these and other questions about setting, come to DFW Ready Writers on Saturday, January 14th, 11:00am as multi-published author Lena Nelson Dooley leads this workshop on setting. Be prepared to participate in the presentation, because not only will you learn about setting, you’ll get the chance to practice what you learn. Bring paper and pen or your laptop, netbook, or tablet that is charged and ready to use. And don’t forget your creativity and imagination. We’ll all journey together across the plains of middle America.

Award-winning author Lena Nelson Dooley has more than 690,000 books in print. She is a member of AmericanChristian Fiction Writers and the local chapter, DFW Ready Writers. She’s a member of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas.

Lena loves James, her children, grandchildren, and great grandson. She loves chocolate, cherries, chocolate-covered cherries, and spending time with friends.  

Her 2010 release was Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico, from Summerside Press which recently won the Will Rogers Medallion Award for excellence in publishing Western literature. Lena is currently under two 3-book contracts with Charisma House/Realms. The first book released in October 2011. It’s Maggie’s Journey, book one of her McKenna’s Daughters series.

In addition to her writing, Lena is a frequent speaker at women’s groups, writers groups, and at both regional and national conferences. She has spoken in six states and internationally.

Join DFW Ready Writers at 11:00am for lunch, fellowship and our synopsis workshop, at La Hacienda Ranch Restaurant on Highway 121 in Colleyville.  We are the local chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers and meet the second Saturday of each month.  Visitors welcome!