As a book coach, Heather constantly sees writers make predictable (and 100% avoidable) mistakes. And, sadly, these mistakes often prevent writers from creating publishable manuscripts. They wind up with a novel that lacks depth, clarity, and oomph. They write 300 or 500 pages—and waste years of their lives—creating a manuscript that goes nowhere.
In Heather's experience, writers have one or more of these core issues in their manuscripts:
They’re not clear on the point they are trying to make with their novel.
They forget to create a character arc for their protagonist (and tie it to the plot).
They lack a clear cause-and-effect trajectory in their novel.
Their characters don’t make meaning of the situations that arise throughout the novel.
These problems generally result in 1) negative feedback from beta readers/editors/publishing houses, and 2) a subsequent fortune spent on developmental editing. All the while, many writers still don’t understand what they did wrong or how to fix the problem before it wrecks their next novel.This often prevents great stories from ever finding their way into the world. Heather's signature Build-A-Book Method breaks writing/editing down into simple, actionable steps that will ensure writers build a solid foundation for their novels.Why? So writers will confidently finish their work and readers will remember, rave about, and recommend their novels.
The Mini Build-A-Book Workshop includes the following 5 topics (with workbooks):
How to find the point of your novel.
How to work backwards from story idea to protagonist character arc.
How to master the simple elements of an engaging character arc.
How to create a flexible blueprint for your novel that ensures a cause-and-effect trajectory in your plot.
How to understand and master the age-old “show don’t tell” story writing advice. (Hint: it’s not what you think!)
There's a world of readers out there that need your nonfiction book.
You may think of nonfiction as being dry or boring, but creative storytelling isn't just for fiction writers.
What do popular nonfiction authors like Brené Brown, Michael Lewis and Malcom Gladwell have in common? They use storytelling to engage their readers and effective communicate their message.
In this workshop, you'll hear about the best strategies to write your nonfiction book that will hook your target audience from start to finish. You'll learn:
Strategies to hook the reader from the first line.
How to effectively write your message compelling enough for your target audience.
The best strategies to polish your manuscript and have it ready for publishing.
Jackie Haley is a nationally recognized, award-winning author, speaker and entrepreneur. She's appeared on CBS, NBC, among many other major media outlets and traveled the country representing her books. Her first novel, Crystal Beach received many powerful endorsements following it's release in 2012, including one from the Des Moines Register, but Jackie didn’t stop there. In 2017, Jackie published her sequel, Truce Island and continued to speak and hold book signing events across the country. Shortly after, was approached by David Schmitz to write his family's truly inspiring story about his late wife that left a gift for him which he received two years after she passed from ovarian cancer. Brenda's Wish was released in 2020 with several excellent endorsements including two national foundations and many incredible reviews. Jackie has a passion for writing, for making a difference and for helping others with similar passions. Jackie launched a new entity Dream to Author to help aspiring writers become published, providing assistance through online training and coaching services. Besides speaking engagements and her writing career, she has over 15 years of experience in nonprofit management and began her own consulting business in 2012 doing strategic planning projects and more for nonprofit organizations.
Just like every movie needs a scene, books need a scene with a few other key ingredients too!
Strengthen Your Story by Learning How to String Together Scenes
Every good story needs a few key ingredients: characters, actions, and descriptions. When writing a book it’s important to take into account individual scenes and how they add up to build plots and storylines. Ines Johnson, an author, screenwriter, and teacher for story development and media history is going to show us how to seamlessly string together stories using her GMC (Goal, Motivation, Conflict) method. Ines has authored over 38 books, and she’s here to tell us some of her secret ingredients!
