8. Workshop #4 - Deify and Defy the Rules of Language (Sheryl Dunn)

• “Words are like wishes from a genie—don’t waste them.” (from Ann-Marie MacDonald's Fall on your Knees.)
• ‘The rules be damned,’ you say.
• Yes, defy all those rules…rules should be tweaked, twisted and torn asunder.
• But shame on you if you’re too lazy to learn the effects of defying the rules.

Learn

• To deify and defy The Watching Syndrome and a host of Writing Tics
• To avoid the ‘She Said Angrily.’
• How not to be Lulled by Ludlum
• To remove all those Basting Stitches and unnecessary words

You'll receive a self-editing checklist and lots of Precious Little Darlings -- easy ways to remember the rules and how to break them wisely.

9. Workshop #5 - Lazarus - Characters That Rise From The Dead (Sheryl Dunn)

• Characters are the heart, muscles and nerves of your novel (that's why all three workshops leaders are giving you advice about character)
• Without moving characters, your novel is ‘in irons’ . . . stagnant
• Without interesting characters, your novel is unmarketable
• ‘But,’ you say, ‘I love my characters. Why don’t you, the reader?

Raise your characters from the dead by

• deepening their conflicts
• giving them goals
• using character arcs instead of Deus Ex Machina
• showing not telling
• intertwining backstory into story…stimulus and response
• making them real, yet larger than life
  

This workshop will spoonfeed you with helpful checklists and give you a process that will help you bring your characters to life.

10. Workshop #6 - CHARACTER - Through the Looking Glass Backwards (Nancy Davis)

Nancy, the journalist, takes reality into fiction through years of observing people (most of them famous) while writing personality profiles.

Yes, you can do it, too.

Apply your camera’s lens to character by

• Reading People
• Stepping out of the box
• Observing the unusual
• Multiplying the techniques you use to describe your characters (mannerisms, hobbies and homes, architecture, tics, facial expressions, clothing, etc., etc., etc.)

11. Workshop #7 - Dialogue That Moves Us (Sheryl Dunn)

• Dialogue is more than the words the character says…it includes interior monologue, body language and setting.
• You’ve been recording dialogue on that flash drive in your brain since birth, yet when you put the character’s words on the page, they’re unnatural, stilted, even boring.
• What’s holding you back? It might be FEAR PARALYSIS.

Get your dialogue . . . and your novel . . . moving:

• Learn the basic do’s and don’t’s and say, “Goodnight” to ‘Good Mornings’ . . . and to your fear.
• Use body language to fill in the ‘Beats,’ increase conflict, and deepen your characters.
• Avoid ‘Cartoon Balloons’ by grounding your dialogue.
• Make your dialogue go somewhere important . . . and go there fast.
• Play ping-pong inside your Characters’ Cubes.
• Learn how people really talk . . . in a novel and in a movie.

12. Final Workshop - Open Season on Hollywood and Writing (Michael, Nancy and Sheryl)

Poor Michael! Nancy and Sheryl suspect that he'll be the one in the hot seat.

• Want to find out the truth about writing for Hollywood?
• Questions regarding genres, agents, managers, studios, indy films -- ask about anything and Michael will do his best to steer you in the right direction
• Questions about writing...the process, the craft, publishing and self-publishing.

Hey! It's open season. Ask us anything you want and we'll answer (as honestly as possible.)

Note: Michael's attorney will be hovering in the background to ensure that his name won't appear in The National Inquirer . . . as the defendant in a defamation lawsuit.

13. Pre-Registration

If you'd like to reserve your place in the workshop, just send an e-mail message to writingmovienovels@gmail.com and we'll put you on the list. Include your name and phone number in your e-mail message.

Then follow the registration procedure to confirm your attendance (Registration Procedure).

14. Registration Procedure

Space is limited.

To reserve your spot for the workshop, payment is required in full by December 1, 2008 (non-refundable after December 1)

We'll accept your check or money order payable to Michael Grais . . . or cash (USD or peso equivalent).

You can drop off your payment at La Conexion, Aldama 3, Box 638 B.

Note: Submission of writing samples for critiquing purposes is entirely optional, but if you'd like a critique, then you can leave your sample at La Conexion, too. For more information on formatting of your writing sample, go to Submissions of Writing Samples or call 154-8032.