Writing a Novel

What the attendees will learn:
The steps and process that will enable you to write a book.

Overview:
Many people want to write a novel, memoir or a history book but they find the effort to be overwhelming but don’t know where to start.  Neither did I and finally decided to take the plunge. It is easy to write a book on “how to write a novel,” but much harder to actually write one that is successful.

Marc has been to expensive workshops and clinics, and can boil down to what he learned to “make your characters interesting” and each passage starts with context, i.e. where the characters are, action – what is happening and then conversation. To be blunt, the workshops were less than helpful. Call it ego or whatever, but after several failed attempts beginning in 1988, a simple, easy to follow six step process evolved which works with both fiction and non-fiction. They are:

1. Creating the book concept;
2. Writing a detailed summary of the plot or story line, the primary characters, timeline and location where the book takes place;
3. Developing a chapter outline;
4. Writing the first draft;
5. Editing and de-constructing the manuscript; and
6. Polishing to make the manuscript publisher ready.

The method is designed to help break the creative process down into easy to finish pieces. As part of the presentation, Marc answers the most often asked questions and provides tips in four areas:
1. How creative process works for him;
2. Time management;
3. Traps to avoid that gets him bogged down; and
4. Insight on writing software packages he tried.