workshops

Ask Jami: WordPress Questions and Answers

April 18, 2013 Random Musings
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My two WordPress workshops are next week, so this is the last time I’ll mention them here on my blog. Try to contain your disappointment. *grin* Today, I’m summarizing the questions and answers from the Facebook chat about WordPress I did last week with Lisa Hall-Wilson. Facebook makes looking through old posts a hassle, so I wanted to [...]

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When Should We Upgrade to a Paid Site?

April 2, 2013 Writing Stuff
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Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve shared several posts about websites and blogging. I promise I’m almost done with all that. On Thursday, I’ll resume my usual balance of craft, author entrepreneurship, publishing industry, and writing life posts. (Believe me, I get as sick of ruts as you all do. However, I hope this [...]

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Do Authors Need a Website and Blog?

March 14, 2013 Writing Stuff
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Today I’m opening two workshops to help beginners set up websites and blogs. With that in mind, I want to go back to “step one” and review why authors might need a website and blog. Years ago, authors could get away with pounding on their typewriter in seclusion and never interacting with the public. Now the [...]

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Write Romance? Get Your Beat Sheet Here!

November 1, 2012 Writing Stuff
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NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month—write a 50K word novel during November) starts today, and while I plan to continue blogging throughout NaNo, I wanted to make sure I gave you something good to keep you happy during my crazy month. *smile* Of course, whether or not you’d define today’s post as anything good might depend [...]

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NaNo Prep: How Do You Get in Touch with Your Muse?

October 18, 2012 Writing Stuff
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In my last post, I explained that I’m a pantser (I write by the seat of my pants) because that’s the best way—for me—to hear my subconscious ideas of what to write. But maybe one reason why some of us are plotters and some of us are pantsers is because we all need to use different [...]

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NaNo Prep: Should Pantsers Be Plotters?

October 16, 2012 Writing Stuff
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My friend Roni Loren has often mentioned that she has “plotting envy.” Like many pantsers (those who write by the seat of their pants), she wonders if her writing method is the best she could do. Pantsing can feel a little like magic—we trust our subconscious to come up with plot twists, character depth, and [...]

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NaNo Prep: Making Time for Writing

October 11, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Many writers will spend the month of November dedicating every spare minute to writing as they participate in National Novel Writing Month (known as NaNoWriMo or just plain NaNo). So now is the perfect time to identify issues that could interfere with our writing goals. (And read on below for a class on “plotting for pantsers,” [...]

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Immersion Master Class with Margie Lawson: Part One — Guest: Melinda Collins

September 4, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Whoo boy, do I have a treat for you today. The lovely Melinda Collins recently returned from an Immersion Master Class with Margie Lawson, and she’s here today to share her experience. I’m playing this cool now, but it was a different story earlier. When I heard Melinda was going to a weekend-long writer’s retreat, [...]

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Michael Hauge’s Workshop: You’re the Hero of Your Life

August 30, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Okay, I wasn’t going to do yet another post about Michael Hauge’s presentation at the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Conference. But an off-the-cuff, as-we-were-heading-out-the-door thought he gave to us at the end of his “Using Inner Conflict to Create Powerful Love Stories” workshop really stuck with me, and I wanted to share it with you. Over my past couple of blog [...]

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Michael Hauge’s Workshop: Combining Emotional Journeys and External Plots

August 21, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been sharing tips from Michael Hauge’s presentation at the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Conference. First we looked at how to make sure our love (or romantic interest) stories didn’t fall prey to a lame “love at first sight” relationship. Then we talked about how to show that our characters really are the [...]

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