Imagine that book you’re writing or have always wanted to write sitting on the shelves at Barnes and Noble and being checked out by your neighbors from the Library. Whether you’re just thinking about your first writing project or working on the next chapter of your epic series, the Library’s Writer's Lab will move your story along, break through writer’s block and get you ready to send that book to the editor.
Learning to write a well-crafted novel or short story can take years of practice, but an understanding of the basic techniques of storytelling can quickly flatten the learning curve. Storytelling 101 is for both beginning writers and more advanced pros looking for new insights. Award-winning author Vic DiGenti leads writers in three virtual sessions based on the popular Novel in A Day workshop designed to provide writers with the tools needed to successfully craft their own novel./p>
Florida Writers Association’s Vic DiGenti will lead this three-part virtual workshop on STORYTELLING 101: Understanding Fiction’s Key Elements. The first session: Plot, Structure, and Characterization is on Saturday, August 29 at 10 am. The second session: Dialogue, Setting, and Writing Scenes is on Saturday, September 5. The third session: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings is on Saturday, September 12.
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READ: Check-out Matanzas Bay to get inspired, a novel in Vic DiGenti’s Quint Mitchell series using the pen name Parker Francis. When PI Quint Mitchell volunteered to help with an archaeological survey in St. Augustine, he didn’t count on digging up a murder victim. In the nation’s oldest city, Mitchell discovers links to ancient sins, comes face to face with his own past, and unleashes powerful forces that will do anything to keep their secrets-even it means taking his life.
Or get some words of wisdom from Ann Lamott in Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Ms. Lamott offers tips and tools to help with the writing process while treating the subject of writing with a sense of lightheartedness. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition will continue to spark creative minds for years to come.
WATCH: Writing Great Fiction- Storytelling Tips and Techniques (Kanopy- Great Courses-Subject The Arts>Literature) This Great Courses series offers 24 episodes on everything from Starting the Writing Process(Episode 1), and Turning a Story into a Plot (Episode 9), to Making a Life as a Fiction Writer (Episode 24). A wealth of exercises will get you writing so that you can practice the many techniques you learn. Kanopy is free to use with your library card. Don’t have a card, click here.
EXPLORE: The Library’s collection is full of great books to help you get started as a writer or hone your craft. Check out some of these books.
Rewrite Right! Your Guide to Perfectly Polished Prose by Jan Venolia and Ellen Sasaki
Storytelling by John Leggett
It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences by June Casagrande
Hooked Write Fiction that Grabs Readers at Page one & Never Lets Them Go by Les Edgerton
Get in touch with fellow authors through the Florida Writers Association (FWA). FWA’s mission is to help authors and aspiring writers in Florida and beyond to learn, grow, network, and find resources to cultivate their inner muse, improve their writing, and navigate the publishing industry. Writers Helping Writers is FWA’s motto.
JOIN:Learning to write a well-crafted novel or short story can take years of practice, but an understanding of the basic techniques of storytelling can quickly flatten the learning curve. Whether you can join us for all three sessions or just one, this Writer’s Lab is going to be full of great tips to get you started or to tweak what you are working on. Author Vic DiGenti will lead you through three virtual sessions based on the popular Novel in A Day workshop.
Workshop schedule below. Click on a session to register.
