Shhh.. Your Character Has a Secret!

I have lots happening in the writing part of my world at the moment and I'm hoping to have some good news to share but at the moment, it's a secret.

And as it happens, I'm also starting a Savvy Authors writing course today, entitled ''Shhh... Your Character Has a Secret.''

I love books about secrets - they give that touch of mystery that I love to read in a romance - and I have sketchy ideas for my next two books about characters with secrets, so can't wait to get started in this course.

I haven't done a Savvy Authors course before but have heard only good.

Here's the spiel for the one I'm about to start:

Sshhh… Your Character Has A Secret
Instructor: Sue Viders and Becky Martinez. Secrets are a staple in fiction. Just about any great leading character has some sort of secret he/she does not want the world to know. How can you come up with a secret for your hero or heroine and how can you use that secret to build conflict? Join two published authors and teachers for a week-long class who will introduce you to the power of secrets—from big to small—from old to new—and who will show you how using secrets can build tension, provide conflict and make your character much more believable.

So what about you? Have you done a fabulous writing course lately that you'd recommend to other writers?

Defeating Self-Defeating Behaviours

January 2nd and so far I'm pretty happy with how I'm going with my goals. Have exercised ever day this year - lol - and also devoted at least an hour to my writing dream. I didn't actually mention but I do have ONE resolution this year and that is to write for at least ONE hour EVERY day!

In an aim to kick-start these habits, I've signed up for a Margie Lawson online class to try and help me beat some of the demons that are stopping me achieving my writing goals.

I'd say my two biggest demons are:

1) Self-doubt

2) Procrastination

Self-doubt stops me finishing my Single Title because I worry I don't have a BIG enough story. Self-doubt makes me fuss too much over first drafts when I should just worry about finishing the damn book.

Procrastination means I waste valuable time online when I could be writing.

Hopefully Margie's course will give me some ammunition to deal with these demons and others I may not yet have recognized as being a problem.

I'll keep you updated as I participate in the course. Is anyone else taking this class?

PS. Don't forget to read my last posts about books read in 2010 cos I'd love to know which was YOUR best book!?

Another course!

Last day of July and I must say I'm glad to see the back of it, cos August is RWA Oz Conference and I absoluely completely CANNOT wait. Catching up with good writing buddies, talking writing ALL weekend, learning heaps, hanging out in a swish hotel, having the odd wine... can't think of much better! Hopefully I'll remember to actually USE my camera this year and take lots of pics.

August is also a course month for me. Yep, I've enrolled in yet another online course. This one is with the fabulous Shirley Jump and its entitled ''Take Your Book From Good To Sold.'' I thought that as I seem to have relative success with M&B eds, I needed something to take me over the line. Hopefully Shirley's course will be another step in the right direction. And I'm doing it with my good writing friend Becca J Heath, so at least I'll be in good company!

Anyone else coming to Oz or taken any good courses lately?

The trouble with MY heroes...

Is that they'd only be able to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the Oscars and let's face it, we want our heroes to hog centre stage!

Have I confused anyone yet?

I've just started Laurie Schnebly's Masterclass: From Plot To Finish. The aim is to plot an entire book in two weeks using the resources, ideas, etc that we got together in the previous course.

I'm planning a Superromance - didn't want to do a Modern Heat for fear I'd get confused between the course book and the wip - about a runaway bride who returns to a small country town ten years after she left their golden boy at the alter.

Her goal is clear - she returns to help her godmother recover from an accident and also do another thing, which I shall keep secret at this point :)

His goal was to make her life miserable so that she leaves town again. While this goal is okay, I've learnt that he needs a goal that would still be there if I removed the heroine from the equation. And I'm stumped. Every goal I think of for him comes back to the heroine and the worst thing is I've noticed a pattern.

I wrote a list of all my 'current' and 'recent' wips and realised that my heroine's usually have quite strong, tangible goals but my heroes? Not so much.

So it's back to the drawing board for cattleman Tom! And if anyone has any brilliant ideas, please feel free to jump up and down with them - or just leave them in the comment box :)

Here's a little bit about Tom to get your creativity flowing...

Having asked his high school sweetheart to marry him, he was devastated when she left him at the alter. He's a wealthy, land-owning cattleman who is the town's golden boy (or man now). He's a success in everything except love. He has a teenage girl in his care (not sure exactly who she is yet). Now his runaway bride has returned to town and turned his world upside down.

Horses for Courses...

Whatever that means!

Anyway just thought I'd post about an online writing course I'm starting tomorrow. It was recommended to me by the lovely Nicola Marsh who couldn't say enough good stuff about the course and presenter Laurie Schnebly.

The course itself is run by WriterUniv and is called 'Plotting via Motivation.'

I recall writers and editors saying that you can let your characters do almost ANYTHING as long as you motivate them well, so I'm really looking forward to learning more about this crucial part of writing. Hoping it'll enhance my current wip and get me started on ideas for the next one.

The best part? I'm doing the course with my delightful friend and CP Becca J Heath!

So... what about you? Have you taken any useful writing courses lately? Planning to?