Welcome to Carolina Romance Writers!

Mark your calendar!  

Join us Saturday, September 11th, 2010, at Hickory Tavern on Harris Blvd across from Northlake Mall. Click here for directions. Program: Sparks into Flames—Conflict that Works, presented by Ellis Vidler

Greeting and Socializing : 11:00am - 11:30pm

Morning Craft Session: 11:30am - 12:30pm

Sparks into Flames—Conflict that Works

Does your story fizzle in the middle? Do you run out of reasons to keep the hero and heroine apart? Creating believable conflict is much more difficult than developing interesting characters or planning a twisty plot. Strong conflict is seldom achieved by accident.

Peter de Vries, novelist and satirist, said, "Every novel should have a beginning, a muddle, and an end." This program is about the muddle—the conflict. It’s what makes a story more than a mere sequence of events.

Ellis will discuss the difference between internal and external conflict, why misunderstandings aren’t sustainable, and how conflict creates suspense. She’ll explain how to create strong motivation and conflict; the stronger the conflict, the greater the tugs at the characters’ heartstrings. And the reader’s. Even though romance readers expect a happily ever after, the conflict has to keep them biting their nails until the final scene.

Mind you, all this is easier said than done

Speaker Bio: Ellis Vidler is an author and editor. In college she studied art and English. During her career, she has worked as an editor, a technical writer, and an illustrator. One of her favorite jobs was teaching creative writing. After winning the SC Writers Workshop Literary Award for Short Fiction, she completed her first romantic suspense, Haunting Refrain, which was published by Silver Dagger Mysteries. Since then she’s finaled in several RWA contests. Her new suspense novel, The Peeper, was co-authored with Jim Christopher, a retired law enforcement officer. Ellis is a member of Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America. Her website is www.ellisvidler.com.

Lunch: 12:30pm - 1:15pm

Chapter Meeting: 1:15pm - 2:30pm

Afternoon Craft Session: 2:30pm - 3:30pm

Meet CRW's 2010 Board Members
 

September Online Workshop

September 6th - September 19th, 2010 Mini Workshop
WORKSHOP: Fat-Free Writing or How to Eliminate Wordiness in the Editing Stage
INSTRUCTOR: Annie Oortman and  Darlene Buchholz


WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
Do ever-shrinking word counts and dwindling editor reading time have you thinking you need to put your prose on a diet? Wordy sentences and unnecessary phrases clutter writing, turning an otherwise good manuscript into an overweight tome. Cut the fat and enhance your chances of garnering an editor's attention.

The Grammar Divas (an English teacher and a professional copywriter) demonstrate techniques to identify and correct common author mistakes. Discover how to identify which words add meaning to a sentence and which just take up space. Learn alternatives to wordy, verbose, overstated, or pompous phrases. Devise strategies to help you write precisely what you mean every time.

INSTRUCTOR BIO:
Grammar wasn't Annie Oortman's first love (actually, it was a cute boy in her second-grade class named Henry Talley) or even her second (avoiding barn work). However, after getting an A for content but an F for readability on a third-grade book report, she learned having great ideas was one thing, communicating them well on paper another. Annie became a disciple of the church of Proper Grammar and card-carrying member of The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (www.spogg.org). Nowadays, she diagrams sentences for fun (yes, for fun), corrects her children when they say "I did good on the test" (I did well.), and argues with fellow grammar devotees on the acceptability of ending a sentence with a preposition (don't do it).

BTW, Annie is hoping to see her name on the cover of a fiction novel soon... very soon. (And, if you’re wondering, Henry Talley never even noticed Annie as he had a mad crush on blonde-haired, blue-eyed Libby Boxler.)

Darlene Buchholz fell in love in the first grade with a boy named Neil. He shared his crackers and milk at recess after someone took her snack and never got caught. She’s loved romance and intrigue ever since. By the third grade, she discovered Nancy Drew mysteries and developed a great passion for perky heroines who drove convertibles (proof they were in charge of their own lives). She wrote her own one-hundred-page mysteries, giving the heroine a much better hero than wimpy Ned Nickerson, who seemed more fashion accessory than hero. What woman wouldn’t prefer a cowboy or a cop named…well, Neil, of course?

Darlene never thought of grammar as a challenge. It was, instead, a tool to help her express the ideas she felt passionate about. She served as a peer mentor in junior high and high school. Becoming a high school English teacher was a natural for Darlene. She loved sharing ideas expressed in great literature and exposition.

Now, family raised, Darlene has decided to write stories again. She writes romantic suspense, and sometimes her heroines drive trucks rather than convertibles. Her heroes are still cowboys and cops. She hopes to publish soon.

BTW… Darlene disagrees with Annie about the acceptability of ending a sentence with a preposition. Yes, you can! No one, absolutely no one, including Annie, says: On what did you step? Not in casual conversation and not in situations where you’d like to impress the committee in charge of awarding you a grant or a fellowship. We all say: What did you step on?

Regular, (Month-long) classes, consisting of at least 2 lessons per week for CRW and HCRW members is $15, all others $25.  Mini, (2 week) classes, consisting of 2-3 lessons per week for CRW and HCRW members is $10, all others $15.

*Please Note: If paying by Paypal, please send money to workshops@carolinaromancewriters.com.

For more information, email Carole at: workshops@carolinaromancewriters.com

Registration Deadline: Aug 25th             Register Now!