For more information, click here to complete my SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT SURVEY.

 

Writing-based topics:

 

  • Come Alive and Stay Wild!: Writing is about grabbing the reader’s attention, and telling the story only you can tell. Embrace your personality and experiences, and let them flow into the characters you write. Learn different ways to write (organic v. outline), better self-talk, and how to recognize triggers to writer’s block and other distractions, to turn you into the writer you are supposed to be.

     

  • How to Be a Zebra on Social Media: No two zebras are striped the same. Neither are creative people. They are however, a social group. So are your readers. Your audience seeks something unique, and it’s up to you to provide that for them. Learn to celebrate your individuality, and use it to build your community.  
     

  • A Time to Write: Editing Fiction the Ecclesiastes Way: Are you heavy on conflict without resolution? Do you need to add a little grit? Is there enough on your character’s teeter-totter to keep it in motion?. Using Ecclesiastes as a template, you’ll learn how to make sure your manuscript contains a little bit of everything to keep the story flowing and  your reader  reading.

     

  • Don’t Be an Aspiring Author: Self-talk can limit your achievements. Step outside the confines of your own box to understand how you are already on your way to being a better writer. This topic includes brainstorming ideas for writing, how to maintain a personal schedule to allow time for writing, and ways to keep a positive attitude while moving forward with your writing.

     

  • Equally Yoked Writers: Being on a level playing field doesn’t mean everyone’s on the same level. Teams are constructed with leaders, boosters, players, and managers. This topic discusses individual and community roles for growing into, and helping others become, better writers through social media connections, building a  support circle, maintaining relationships not networks, and being tethered to those we can help, and those who can help us.

     

  • Don’t Be a Blockhead: What is writers block? How does it affect us professionally and personally? When will it be over? We all have different methods of coping with this dark abyss. Let’s work together to recognize triggers, and share ideas and solutions designed for turning on your muse’s light switch. We’ll also practice writing in high pressure moments that contribute to stalled writing.

     

  • Write Where You’re From:Write what you know.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote Sherlock Holmes without ever visiting London. C.S. Lewis took us to Narnia, and L. Frank Baum flew us to Oz. What do these marvelous writers have in common? They knew how to capture, curate, and create settings that the audience never questions. While writing her breakout novel, NOLA, Molly Jo created the “location genre” – where the setting itself is as much a character as any person. This course offers insights and techniques to find that perfect marriage of creativity and authenticity to give your reader an immersive experience they won’t want to leave.

     

  • Creating the Location Mystery Subgenre: Creative writing is, well, creative. This topic shares tips and techniques  used to start the NOLA series,  adding life to location, and quality to character.  
  • Ministry, not Marketing: Too often authors find themselves trapped in the whirlwind of trying to make sales. Writing needs some TLC, and so does the  audience. Whether it’s fiction, Bible studies, or a DIY craft blog, this topic gives guidance to shift focus from individual product to overall project using talents to minister to—not manipulate—the audience.
  • Perfectly Painful: In the world of social media, some people are too afraid to be open and honest, and so consistently present either a Pollyanna world or the depths of despair. This topic is designed to help participants (primarily bloggers and devotional writers, but open to all) understand the difference between sharing their struggles and just venting. It will also direct them to recognize and develop the healthy balance that attracts followers by sharing painful stories with courage and confidence that even if the outcome is bad, our God is always good.

     

  • Doing It Wrong To Get It Write (Breaking Rules of Creative Writing): Designed to explore the rules of the writing world and give participants ideas of what works and what doesn’t in their own writing journeys. There are many rules to writing that should be followed. There are also some that can be broken. As a creative fiction writer, I found my greatest successes through writing outside the lines, and want to encourage others to do so as well. The trick is to write well, and find your market.

     

  • Media Menagerie: Navigating the zoo of social media can be an adventure. From Ant to Zebra, these tips and tricks will help you not only survive the wild, but thrive as King (Or Queen) of the jungle.

 

For more information, click here to complete my SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT SURVEY.

 

Sweeten my tea and share:
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