Fuel for the Fire: Take a Class to Ignite Your Writing

It wasn't writer's block. I wasn't stuck. I wasn't out of ideas. I had just lost the energy to write. Rehashing the same chapters over and over, trying to discover that spark to make them come alive, had sapped the creativity I needed to move forward.

Have you been there?

Since it's my birthday this month, I gave myself the present of taking a writing class. I longed to take a class from Margie Lawson, a trained psychologist who uses her decades of knowledge to teach writers how to pull readers into their stories. 

Lawson's lectures and assignments have lit a fuse that is igniting my passion to not only finish my novel, but to make what I've written far better than it was. Do you need a little inspiration?

From Lawson's website: 

"I am fascinated with the emotive power of words. When a scene grabs me, I analyze it, dissect it, figure out what the author did that worked.

 

How can writers 'up' the emotive power of their work?  By tuning in to the nuances of their characters’ nonverbal communication.  By writing visceral emotion and body language to strengthen subconscious connections with the reader.  By editing deep.  By writing fresh.

Writers work to capture the perfect balance of dialogue, visceral emotion, body language, action, setting, internalizations, and tension for each scene.  The goal is to entrance the reader, lead them into your fictional world, and make them beg to stay."

 Lawson's expertise will have you writing stronger, analyzing for weaknesses, and developing the ability to hook readers with the emotional intensity of your writing.

While Lawson's classes are not free, they are so reasonably priced, you'll be surprised. I'm taking Empowering Character Emotions, a month-long class that will net me over 300 pages of notes from Lawson, including individual critique of my assignments. In the first three days of class, I felt I had already got my $30 worth. For writers who can't invest the time in an online class, Lawson sells the complete lecture packets for any class for $22.

I've been learning from Lawson for years. In her free newsletter, she shares her analysis of current writers, and I learn something every time. Lawson's blog features "how-to" interviews with successful authors. And if you'd like to see the effects of the "deep editing" techniques she teaches, check out her deep editing analyses. Just reading her comments will get you thinking about your own writing.

Would you like to win a one-hour deep-editing consultation with Lawson? You have an opportunity to enter her Dare Devil Dachshund contest each month. The prize includes a pile of goodies and a one-hour Skype chat with Lawson about 15 pages of your manuscript.

I don't receive anything from letting you know about Lawson. I just believe that writers want to know about resources that can make them better writers.

Have you been in a place where you've lost your spark? What helped ignite your desire to write?