The Original Idea — The Heart of Your Story and Key to Selling Your Book: 
Can you say what your book is about in 25 words of less? This is essential to both writing a tight book and then selling it. We’ll discuss ways to find and state your original idea so that you stay on course while writing the book and with which you can excite those you tell it to when trying to sell it.

Plot, Conflict and Outline — The Events and Fuel of Your Story: 
Before you begin writing your book, you should spend some time outlining and developing your story.  We’ll discuss types of outlines along with techniques for efficiently developing the strongest possible story based on your original idea.  The creative process before the actual start of the book will be covered.  From the exciting opening that grabs the reader through the escalating conflict to the climactic scene and ending with the resolution — the entire structure of the novel with be covered with emphasis on hooks, the remote control effect, building suspense, and having satisfying endings.  We will cover the conflict box and see how conflict drives a story.

Point Of View —  The Voice of Your Story:
This goes beyond just first person, third person and omniscient voices.  The point of view you write in is your voice as a writer and often the issue lies deeper than simply a mechanical device.  For example, voice dictates what you can say about your characters and what you can’t.  It also sets you apart from others and makes you distinct.

Characters — The People of Your Story:
The most critical component of a novel is character.  How do you go from flat two-dimensional characters to vibrant three-dimensional ones?  Templates to develop characters and the concept of character arc and change will be discussed.

Setting, Dialogue, Writer’s Block and Re-Writing:
Setting is the where and when of your story.  This is often the twist writers give to ideas that have been done before to make their story unique and stand out.  Dialogue serves multiple purposes and in a novel is much different than that in real life.  Writer’s Block introduces you to way to overcome inertia and regain creativity and tap into the power of the subconscious, often a writer’s greatest ally.  And once the book is done, comes the infamous rewrite.  How to make your book stronger and stronger after the first draft.

Selling & Marketing Your book.  An Introduction To The World of Publishing: 
A writer friendly approach to marketing your book efficiently and then understanding the flow of a query at a publishing house and how decisions are made whether to buy a book.  Cover letters that grab the reader, how to do a one page synopsis, and other practical matters will be covered. Nine out of ten first published novels fail.  Often this is because the author thinks they have ‘succeeded’ simply by being accepted for publication.  We will discuss what you can do to be a success in this business and cover a variety of techniques from book-signings, media outlets, publicists to other innovative ways.

The Current State and Future of the Publishing Business for the Writer: 
Fee-charging agents; sell-through and sales numbers; E-books; print-on-demand; shrinking mid-lists; corporate mergers; self-publishing; what does all this mean to the writer who often feels on the outside?  You hear agents and editors talk about the business but it’s important to understand a writer’s point of view.