Beginnings are not magic but they need to bewitch the reader and make them want to enter the world you are creating. How do we do that? Participants will learn very specific techniques (Point of View, Voice, Setting, Character) to make the openings of their stories compelling. A great beginning gives readers enough details so they know where they are but not so many that you kill their curiousity.
In this class, participants will dig in and examine the openings of published writers to see what makes readers lean in. The instructor and class will also look at the openings of some class members’ stories and discuss specific ways to make them irresistible. Any class registrant wanting their opening discussed in the class should email their first page to Program Director Michael Noll (michael@writersleague.org) by January 23, 2019 at 10 a.m.
TAKE THIS CLASS IF
- You are bored by the beginning of your story, and it’s not going anywhere.
- You want to take a risk and get unstuck.
- You want to learn effective tools to make readers keep reading.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THIS CLASS
- “The class provided renewed enthusiasm for my writing.”
- “Lindsey was knowledgeable, open, friendly, and challenged us.”
- “I have a much better idea where my book needs to begin and how to go back and add in the history leading up to the beginning.”
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Lindsey Lane is an award-winning playwright and children’s and young adult author. She earned her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her debut novel Evidence Of Things Not Seen is a “unique, powerful novel,” said Francisco Stork, author of Marcelo and the Real World. Publishers Weekly said that it “offers a gripping and genre-bending mosaic.” Lindsey is also the author of the award-winning picture book and iTunes app Snuggle Mountain, illustrations by Melissa Iwai, which was named Best Children’s Book of 2004 by Bank Street College of Education.
LOCATION
St. Edward’s University, 3001 S. Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704.
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