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Connie Flynn
Basic Track
February 10 to March 9
  • 4B Sizzling Conflict
    March 23 to April 20
  • 5B Sparkling Dialogue
    May 4 to June 1
  • 7B Punch Up Your Prose
    June 1 to June 29
  • Mystery Spotlight
            To Be Announced
    June 30 to August 1
    SUMMER BREAK
    August 3 to August 31
  • 1B Creating Characters
    September 7 to October 5
  • 2B Dynamic Plotting
    October 12 to November 9
  • 3B Scene Sculpting
    November 16 to December 14
  • 4B Sizzling Conflict




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    CONNIE'S BOOTCAMPS
    & CLINICS
    Check out Connie's programs, too.
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    TO ENROLL IN A BOOTCAMP NOW!
    1-B CREATING CHARACTER
    Beginners often want to push their characters around, which can result in inconsistent character behavior. This course provides the fundamentals necessary for replacing stick figures with living, breathing people.
    1. Goal/Motivation/Conflict
    2. Character Integration
    3. Point of View
    4. Making Characters Unique

    2-B DYNAMIC PLOTTING
    Some people believe that stories come from a magical realm and simply float down to some lucky writers. But could it be possible that given a character with a goal who faces conflict that you can give them situations that make your story sing? This course shows you how.
    1. The Story Question
    2. Four Act Structure
    3. Eight Major Plot Points
    4. Making It a Page Turner

    3-B SCENE SCULPTING
    Structuring scenes for maximum impact is the third pillar of story structure. You'll leave this course knowing where and when to place a scene and how to connect each scene for ease of flow and maximum impact.
    1. The Principles of Cause and Effect
    2. Control Actions Scenes, Control the Reader
    3. Reaction Must Be Given Its Due
    4. Transitioning from Action to Reaction . . . and Back Again

    4-B CONFLICT THAT SIZZLES
    Without conflict there is no story. But what is conflict and how does it affect character and plot? It stems from the obstacles to the character's goal and from the consequences of character action. This course will focus on escalating obstacles and consequences until conflict sizzles on every page.
    1. External Conflict
    2. Extreme Differences
    3. How Plot Pressures Characters
    4. The Action Arc

    5-B SPARKLING DIALOGUE Dialogue is not hard to write. But neither is it like a real conversation. Dialogue has a story purpose beyond proving your characters have vocal chords. This course gives techniques on writing dialogue that reveals character and moves along the plot.
    1. Dialogue Moves a Story
    2. How He Thinks is How He Speaks
    3. Techniques for Dynamic Dialogue
    4. Weave in Narrative

    7-B PUNCH UP YOUR PROSE
    You can have great characters, excellent plots, and zingy dialogue but if you don't write the story with brevity and clarity and evocative words you'll lose readers by page three. This course covers the writing habits that must be developed to keep your stories engaging.
    1. Paragraphs and Scenes
    2. Sentences and Punctuation
    3. The Right Words
    4. Point of View and Good Writing

    SIX WEEK CLINICS

    C2-A 6-Week Clinic . . . EXPLORING THE HERO'S JOURNEY
    Mythology was made famous by Joseph Campbell and later applied to screenwriting and stortytelling by Hollywood, yet the principles of this powerful tool to a reader's subconscious. Learn that archetypes are actually placeholders and how the journey itself takes many forms. This course is six weeks long and features considerable discussion as well as exercises for employing the "Journey" method. We'll also use a textbook - THE WRITERS JOURNEY by Christopher Vogler - and take it apart chapter by chapter to discover how to use this structure to enhance our stories.
    1. Merging Craft with Passion
    2. The Archetypes
    3. The Journey-Part 1
    4. The Journey Part 2
    5. The Journey Part 3
    6. Nuances — Weaving Archetypes and Journey Stages to Build Passionate Stores
     The material in this course is derived from THE WRITER'S JOURNEY by Christopher Vogler
    Prequisites: To get the most from this clinic, it is highly recommended that you first complete 1B-Characterization and 2B-Plot


    C2-A 6-Week Clinic . . . SURVIVING REWRITES AND REVISIONS
    Many writers dread self-editing. Some find it too confusing. Some find their creative energy squashed by all that internal criticism. And some just find it mind-numbing boring. This workshop doesn't pretend to solve all those problems, but it will help with the confusion — which results from doing the same editing processes over and over without any apparent results. And by solving the problem of confusion, you might also solve the rest.
    1. Re-visioning.
    2. Story structure and rewriting.
    3. Writing effectiveness.
    4. The Story Set-up (Opening Pages)
    5. Small Stuff
    6. Managing the Process
    Prequisite: To get the most from this clinic, it is highly recommended that you have a solid working synopsis and a manuscript that's at least half-completed.


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    Connie Flynn