Join us on Saturday, March 9th for our Writing Workshop and Breakfast
The Four Foundational Pillars of Novel Construction
featuring C.S. Lakin
A great novel needs a solid foundation!
- Concept with a Kicker: Novelists need to understand the difference between idea, premise, and concept. A great idea does not make a novel. Ideas have to be taken to a higher level; they have to have a kicker.
- Conflict with High Stakes: Too many novels have minimal conflict—internal and external. Conflict needs to involve high stakes—both personal and public—for the story to propel forward with the necessary tension.
- Protagonist with a Goal: All too often protagonists of novels are aimless, just reacting to events as they happen without having a specific plot goal. But a novel needs a clear objective for its hero.
- Theme with a Heart: The way the theme is presented throughout the story should show the “heart” that underlies the plot.
C. S. Lakin is the author of twenty novels and ten writing craft books (The Writer’s Toolbox Series).
She works professionally as a copyeditor and writing coach for authors, agents, and publishers in six continents and critiques more than two hundred manuscripts a year. She also guest blogs on the top writing blogs and offers online video courses for writers and editors at Writing for Life Workshops.
Lakin is the fiction track director of the San Francisco Writers’ Conference and teaches workshops around the country, including plotting and scene-structure boot camps.
Her award-winning blog Live Write Thrive provides year-long instruction for writers. Contact her at cslakin@gmail.com, and check out her books on her Amazon author page.
Registration Details:
You can register online using the form below.
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- Sign-in: 8:30-9:00 a.m.
- Breakfast: 9:00-9:30 a.m.
- Workshop 9:30 a.m.—12:30 p.m.
- Zio Fraedo’s Restaurant, 611 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill, CA
- Cost: Members $45/Guests $55: cash and check on site, or use the PayPal section in the form below to pay with credit card or your PayPal account.
- To attend: REGISTER ONLINE (see form below) Reservation deadline: Wed., February 6th, 2019 at noon.*
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*In accordance with our contractual agreement with Zio Fraedo’s Restaurant, the club is charged for every reservation confirmed on the day before the meeting. If you are not able to attend this meeting and do not cancel your reservation prior to noon on the Friday before the meeting, you will be asked to remit the relevant fee as a no-show payment for the event.
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