Event Details
Register Now for MWA University.
When: Saturday, August 14, 2010
Where: The Writer's Center
4508 Walsh St
Bethesda, MD 20815
Cost: $50 per person
UPDATE: Thanks to a great response this event is sold out. We are no longer taking reservations.
Hotels in the Area:
Hyatt Regency Bethesda
7400 Wisconsin Ave
Bethesda, MD
(301) 657-1234?
Hilton Garden Inn Bethesda
7301 Waverly Street
Bethesda, MD
(301) 654-8111
8:15 - 8:50: Registration
8:55 – 9:00: Welcome – MWA’s Executive Vice President – LARRY LIGHT
9:00-10:00: After the Idea
Teacher: Jess Lourey (Jess Lourey is the author of the Murder-by-Month mysteries and a tenured professor of English and sociology at a two-year
“If you wish to be a writer, write." But how? You've got the great idea, the one that won't let you go, that embellishes itself as you walk around your day. But how do you grow that kernel into a compelling story, and where do you find the time? This class gives you the tools to turn a good idea into a great novel. Bring a notebook and writing utensil.
10:15 -11:15: Dramatic Structure & Plot
Teacher: Hallie Ephron (Hallie Ephron is the author of psychological suspense Never Tell a Lie, crime fiction book reviewer for the Boston Globe, and author of the Edgar-nominated Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel.
Since Aristotle, the three-act structure for storytelling has reigned supreme, but does it still hold true for modern crime writers? Is it the best way, or the only way, to tell your tale? Is plotting simply sequencing your scenes or is there more to it? This class will teach you the art of storytelling and plotting so your manuscript will attract the attention it deserves.
11:30 – 12:30: Setting & Description
Teacher: Daniel Stashower (Daniel Stashower is a two-time Edgar award winner, and a recipient of the Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship in Detective and Crime Fiction Writing.
“I guess God made
12:30 – 1:30: Lunch Break
1:30 – 2:30: Character & Dialogue
Teacher: Donna Andrews (Donna Andrews is the award-winning NYT bestselling author of sixteen novels and founding member of the MWA Mid-Atlantic chapter.
From Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple to Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlings, character is arguably the most memorable element of a mystery novel and a series. How do you create a full-realized unique protagonist that leaps from the page? How should you develop secondary characters as well as the protagonist’s nemesis? This class will challenge you to eliminate cardboard characterizations and create something new and fresh.
2:45 – 3:45: Writing as Re-Writing
Teacher: Reed Farrel Coleman (Twice nominated for the Edgar® and a three-time winner of the Shamus Award, Reed Farrel Coleman is an adjunct professor of English at
If editing was good enough for William Shakespeare, it’s good enough for you. More often than not, it’s the things you remove, the tweaks you make, and the tinkering you do, that are the difference between another slush pile manuscript and a new book contract. There are some easy methods to learn and follow to help you develop an editorial ear. Give us fifty minutes and we’ll give you a better chance with agents and editors.
4:00 – 5:00: The Writing Life
Teacher: Hank Phillippi Ryan (Winner of two Agatha Awards and nominated for the Anthony, Agatha and Macavity, Boston TV reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan has won 26 Emmys for her investigative journalism.)
"I write when I'm inspired, and I see to it that I'm inspired at nine o'clock every morning." That's how Peter DeVries balanced art and craft. What's the reality of the writing life? The journey from your great idea to 90,000 words will mean hours of solitude. Days of self-doubt. Revision. Rejection. And then--rejoicing. You'll often say: "I wish someone had explained this to me!" In this class, they will.
