Elaine’s first two-day intensive workshop on creating memorable characters was a huge success. As one of the participants, and a writer of many years’ experience, I was dubious that I would learn much new information about developing characters, but I soon found I have much more to learn. I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. 

The sessions were excellently planned and executed with a well-balanced blend of information and practical exercises. I have never enjoyed a writing workshop so much. I will create and describe my characters with a great deal more confidence  now, knowing how to make them leap off the page and grab the attention of the readers.
 
The workshop is now available on-line. Just go to the CREATING MEMORABLE CHARACTERS page to find out how to download the workshop notes. The cost is way too cheap, but Elaine says she wants to make it affordable for all. If you want to improve your writing, download it today. You won’t be sorry. 

The next workshop TURNING AN IDEA INTO A STORY is Saturday April
6th from 10 am to 3 pm, if you are attending in person. It will be on-line from that date as well. 

Happy writing
Ron Day

Our first 2 day workshop starts tomorrow. We are excited by the interest in it. If you're contemplating doing the on-line workshop, below you will find what this workshop contains. 

TOPICS:

KNOW  YOUR CHARACTER AS WELL AS YOU KNOW YOURSELF –
But don’t use just your experiences, morals, and values. We'll look at how to leave them behind and become your character.

STEP  INTO THE CHARACTERS HEAD AND ‘BE’ THEM –
Can you detach yourself from your own personality and become the person you are writing? We'll cover how and why you should do that.

MAKE EACH CHARACTER UNIQUE –
Make sure each of your characters is different from the other. We will be
studying personality types to make sure we know how to do this.

MAKE THEIR ACTIONS AND SPEECH CONSISTENT –
There is nothing worse than getting half way through a book and finding the hero acting in a way that is totally out of character or speaking in a manner that is different. We will look at ways to avoid doing that.

STUDY THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU –
How to combine quirks of behaviour, speech patterns, and mannerisms of the people around you. 

MAKE EACH OF YOUR CHARACTERS ACT DIFFERENTLY IN ANY GIVEN SITUATION - This is true in real life and should be in your story. It is not enough for you to be  able to develop different personalities; you have to ensure you know how they  would react in all situations. We will write a scene from the view-point of
people with different personalities that we study.  

THE PROFILE OF A KILLER – We’ll be looking at the profile of people who commit violent crimes and what motivates them to commit these acts. 
 
DEVELOPING A STORY IDEA – Before we start creating characters, we need to have a story to fit them. There is no good creating a bunch of characters and then finding they don’t fit our story.  We’ll go through some simple steps to create a story. 
 
CREATING YOUR UNIQUE CHARACTERS – Now we get to the fun part – creating the characters to fit our story. 

WRITNG THE FIRST TWO PAGES TO INTRODUCE YOUR CHARACTER TO YOUR
READER – We’ll put to the test what you have learnt. We will write the
first two pages of your story and introduce the character and their situation.
 From this beginning, I want you to write a story or section of your novel, up to 2000 words and send it to me for comment.

There is still time to book. Go to the workshop page to make your booking.