Introducing LEVEL UP: NOVEL WRITING INTENSIVE with Bree Despain

Edit: Postponed! Due to overwhelming feedback from interested parties, we've determine that this fall is not going to work for most people. We've decided to postpone the class for now and revisit the idea in the spring or summer. Look for updates then.


Are you a writer? Do you want to be a published novelist? Do you feel like many conferences offer the same-old-same-old beginner information you've heard half a dozen times? Are you looking to take your writing to the next level?

Are you tired of reading this thing that sounds like a cheesy infomercial?

Then one last question . . . Do you live in (or near) Utah?

If so, then I am pleased to tell you that I am offering an in-person, four session writing intensive for intermediate to advanced writers--taught by yours truly! I've learned quite a bit about writing in the last fourteen years and now I want to pass that information on to you.

LEVEL UP: NOVEL WRITING INTENSIVE

Go beyond the basics and jumpstart your writing to the next level. This course is designed for intermediate to advanced writers who want to dive deep into techniques for characterization, plotting, and connecting readers with your story. Level up with these fun and informative presentations and workshops. PLUS - get a personal critique of your first chapter from your current work in progress!

Details:

• 4 two hour sessions, one night a week (Thursdays @ 7pm)
• Personal first chapter critique by Bree Despain included (up to 15 pages)
• Located at the Daybreak Community Center
  • 4563 Kestrel Ridge Rd, South Jordan, UT 84095
  • Conference Room A
• Runs October 30th through November 20th, 2014 
• Cost is only $250!
   

Want to win free tuition? Refer a friend! For every friend who puts you down as a reference when they register, you will earn an entry into a drawing for a tuition reimbursement scholarship. ***

Who is this course ideal for? All ages are welcome, but please be aware that this is intended for intermediate to advanced writers so a basic understanding of writing and story mechanics will be assumed. LEVEL UP is ideal for writers who have been writing for a few years and have finished at least one manuscript (or have one well underway) but have found that their writing isn't quite ready for publication yet. I hope to help you push your writing to that next level.

Seats are limited so click HERE to register today! 
{Edit: link has been removed because the class has been postponed. See note at the top of the post.} 

About the instructor:  Bree Despain is the award winning author of both the Dark Divine trilogy and the Into the Dark trilogy. Her books have been traditionally published in over seventeen countries and have earned both critical and fan acclaim. Bree has taught in workshops and on panels about writing in conferences all over the United States. She currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband, two young sons, and her beloved TiVo.

***Only one tuition reimbursement scholarship will be awarded per course. You must refer a friend to enter and they must record you as their reference in the indicated spot when registering. Your friend must register and attend the course in order for your entry to be eligible. You may refer as many friends as you want but space is limited so don't delay.  

The blog post I almost didn't publish . . .

So normally I like this blog to be a place of positive thought and energy. There's just so much negativity out there that I strive to mostly talk about the good things in life, or at least about overcoming the bad, rather than wallowing in it or getting in a mud fight. But lately, there have been some things that have me feeling, well, GRRRRRRR!!! And I need to get a few things off my chest so I can move on and get back to working on my writing. I've debated publishing this post, but ultimately decided it needed to be said.

Every Wednesday, one of my fave radio programs creates a list of "things that must go" in order to vent about stuff they are currently finding irksome. Occasionally, they include "things that must go" contributed by their listeners.

I know it's Friday and not Wednesday, nor am I on the radio, but I decided to compile my own such list here.

(Side note: You may find this list more entertaining if you imagine it being explained in the voice of Jeffery Donovan - a.k.a. Michael Weston from BURN NOTICE. For an example of this, click here.)

MY LIST OF THINGS THAT MUST GO:

1. Authors who insist on mocking or belittling pretty much every book or genre that is not their own. We get it; you think you're the most awesome author on the face of the planet. NOW GET OVER YOURSELF.

2. Authors who find it necessary to belittle every other book in their own genre (similar to above, but still different enough to warrant its own number). We get it; your book is different and therefore better than every other book in your genre--making you the most awesome author on the planet. Again--GET OVER YOURSELF.

3. Authors who say definitively that if a story has X,Y, or Z in it, then that book is weak, or an example of bad writing.

Just because you might not care for dystopian or paranormal books (or whatever genre) does not mean that authors who like to write in these genres are weak writers, doing a disservice to YA fiction, nor does it make them bad people in general.

Just because you might not be a fan of love triangles, does not mean that a story with a love triangle in it is a sign of weak plotting or bad writing. Many readers and authors happen to have an affinity for love triangles. I, personally, happen to be a sucker for unrequited love--therefore often making me a sucker for a well-done love triangle (which sometimes actually looks more like a love "V"--but I digress). You guys know how much I love THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (TV show) and there is no way on earth you're going to convince me that show is an example of bad writing because it has a love triangle.

Just because something doesn't float your boat, doesn't mean it's weak writing, poor plotting, or bad. It's just not what you personally like. There are a few plot elements and writing styles out there that I am not a fan of-- but I'm not going to call every author who uses those things a bad writer. Everyone is welcome to their own opinion--and to each his/her own.

4. Authors (or people in general) who use cuteness and/or humor as a way to thinly veil rudeness when mocking or belittling everyone around them.

Just because you put a ;) [winky-smile] after saying something rude, does not make the rude comment okay or funny or oh-so-cute.

5. The idea that all stay-at-home-moms-turned-authors started writing because they were BORED. I started writing over 12 years ago--long before getting married and having children--and worked deliberately toward the goal of becoming a published author. Admittedly, one of the things that factored into my decision to try to become an author was because it was a career that would allow me to stay home with my future children, but I write because I love it. Boredom has never been a factor. And honestly, I don't remember the last time my brain wasn't whirring with ideas enough for me to be bored.

6. Authors with one book (or maybe even two or three) published who act like they are the authority on everything. I love when aspiring authors and other writers ask me for advice, because I feel like I've learned on a lot on my journey to being published. I love to help where I can. Dispensing advice is rewarding, and often helpful--but I realize that in the grand scheme of things, I'm no Judy Blume or Meg Cabot yet, and I'm relatively new to the game. Acting like the authority on all things writerly (or otherwise) just kind of makes you seem full of yourself--not really the best way to win friends and influence your peers.

7. Authors who write blog posts that are supposed to be "honest" or "heart felt" but are really just whine sessions geared toward manipulation and aggrandizing themselves. Or when their "honesty" is just another attempt to mock or belittle every book/genre that is not their own. (Yeah, the mocking thing has been bugging me a lot lately if you can't tell.)

Meanness, whining, and snobbery should not be confused with being "honest" and "heart felt."

Oh, wait a sec . . . I'm writing an "honest" post in which I'm whining about things that must go. I hope that doesn't fall into this category. Does it? Oh crap . . .

And that leads to my last thing that must go:

8. Hypocrites. ;) ;) -- (double winky-face. BAHM!)

And there you have it. My list of things that must go.

Please forgive my need to vent. I promise a return to positivity very soon. In the meantime, what's on your list of things that must go? Have you been watching BURN NOTICE? (Hubby and I just started season 3.) So . . . do you think you could win in a bar fight?

Writing ain't always easy

People often ask me why I write, and the answer is simple: I love it! Making up stories and sharing them with people is one of my favorite things to do. Writing is fun!!

Being "in the groove" as a writer is one of the most awesome feelings in the world, and if given the choice on one of those groove days, I'd choose getting a chance to write for a few more hours over just about any activity. I mean, even if Taylor Kitsch showed up on my doorstep with a box of chocolates and a motorcycle, I'd totally choose . . . well, to go for a ride with Taylor--but I'd probably talk his ear off about my book the entire time.

But then there are those days, weeks, months, sometimes years, when writing is just plain work. Hard, brain-frying, work that takes over your life. Right now, it's taking over my family room and edging into the dining area.


Yep, that's my plot for the sequel to TDD. It's literally all over the place!

I've tried outlining, I've tried snowflakes methods, I've tried free-writing, but the plot has been eluding me. So that's when I turned to writing on the walls like a crazy person in an asylum. Luckily, hubby found those HUGE post-it notes at Office Max in order to save the paint job on the walls. We spent most of Labor Day weekend and almost all of this last week writing out character sketches and scrawling down every possible plot idea that popped into our heads. It may look like a insane process, but hey, it's working. It's easier to see how the plot pieces fit together when you can see them all at the same time . . . and I'm starting to feel that wonderful elating sensation when I know a really good groove is coming on. My mind keeps flitting to my story at every quiet moment, I can hear the characters talking in my sleep, and my fingers are itching to get to the actual writing part. Come on, groove! It's time to start working.

You hear that, Taylor Kitsch? If the keyboard is a tappin', then don't come a knockin'! Okay, so YOU can come a knockin' but the chocolate had better be dark, and the motorcycle had better be something reminiscent of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. (And yes, I know tappin' and knockin' don't rhyme. :-D)

Why I write

I write because I love to tell stories--a trait that gets me into trouble in real life because I love to make the mundane more fantastic. As a kid, I'd staple folded papers to make my own "novels." As a tween, I wrote stories in my notebook while the girls in my dance class waited for the next page to be finished. My teachers told me I should be a writer. But I thought only "special" people could be writers, so as the years past, I settled into the idea of becoming a lawyer or something else just as ordinary.

I rediscovered my love for stories during college when I spent a summer writing and directing plays for at-risk kids from inner-city Philadelphia. Writing made me happy! When I got back to school, I filled my schedule with as many creative writing classes I could talk my way into, and started my very first real novel. But regular life kicked-in, and a couple of years later I was married with a new baby, working full-time as we struggled to make ends meet, and only had 80 pages of a manuscript. That's when the universe decided to throw a pick-up truck in my path. No, literally--a big, white, pick-up truck crossed the median on a stormy night just before Christmas of 2002 and hit us head-on. My baby and husband were okay (thank goodness!) but I was looking at surgery and months and months of learning how to walk again.

I realized at that moment life was too short to not be doing what you absolutely love. I knew that if I had died, the two things I would have regretted the most were not being with my family, and never becoming a real author. A few days later, my wonderful husband brought a refurbished laptop to my bedside and said, "You'd better start writing." My life hasn't been the same since. I'm now a full-time mom and writer, determined to become an author. And the most satisfying thing in the world is when my now six-year-old son asks, "Mom, can I tell you a story?"