We’ve all slogged through novels with boring, predictable, or chit-chat dialogue. In many genres, dialogue makes up half of the novel, so dialogue can make or break your bond with readers. Writers can learn how to craft purposeful, quotable dialogue by discovering and applying techniques used by screenwriters and playwrights. Learn ten practical lessons to apply to your work in progress.

In this workshop, participants will discover the basics of investigative research and how to layer facts, imagination, and memory to create engaging fiction.

Facts invite the reader to believe the story. Are the story’s characters, culture, language, place, and time period credible or anachronistic? Does the story feel superficial or like an insider’s perspective?

Memory draws the reader in to care about the story. Emotional memory pins down complex emotions, symbolism, and meaning, while sense memory engages the reader to fall into the story.

Imagination plays on the reader’s sense of wonder. It explores the great WHAT IF? for universal truths. Imagination also fine-tunes imagery through figures of speech.

Whether you are writing your first novel or your fiftieth, how you approach the editing stage can make or break your story. This 2-hour workshop teaches a streamlined process to strengthen and deepen your story from its structural bones to the final polishing of sentences. Thriller author Steve Berry said he edits every scene and sentence of his work seventy times before it goes to the publisher. His 27 historical thrillers have been translated into 40 languages. He understands the power of editing.