Services - Writing Workshops - Personal
Skype and Online Writing Tutorials
PERSONAL Writing
The Professional Writer offers online writing workshops to improve your creative skills.
Further your career with a published story or convert unpublished manuscripts into marketable texts. Use the published material to make money or raise funds for your non-profit organization. The Professional Writer will teach you how to pitch your story to a private foundation or for publication in newspapers, magazines or television broadcast.
We offer beginner, intermediate and advanced level workshops to help you discover your voice. Find the appropriate vehicle suited to the nature of your writing project: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, newspaper writing, blogging and others.
Discovering the elements of a good story are the qualities that will make your story great and the keys to your success. Learn how to write a synopsis with guidance in revisions for clarity, conciseness, and impact.
Let’s develop your story about a subject you feel passionately about. Discover different research channels. Explore different topics to further your knowledge of the subject. Whether the topic be a biography of a friend or family member who has accomplished something extraordinary, a fiction or non-fiction book, magazine, or newspaper article, we will help you find the right editorial vehicle to channel your voice.
What You Will Learn In your Online Writing Workshop:
Organizing your Thoughts:
Learn how to organize your thoughts, targeting your passions and drawing upon your experiences to creating a compelling narrative. Talk about your expectations and what you imagine the reception of your story will be. What do you like, and what don’t you like when reading the work of others? Let’s look at sample stories and articles discussing the elements that make these stories impactful.
Character Development and Personalization:
Work on your story line. This is a written document drawing on the elements that make a good story as were discussed in Part 1. Focus on who the main personalities of your story are. How do they interact and what problems do these personalities face? Your opinions and points of view will bring to the story a personalized touch strengthening the narrative. We will discuss who the most appropriate audience for this story is.
Setting The Mood for The First Pitch:
Organize your story line in a manner that lays out what you are trying to say. This is known as the “First Pitch.” You will bullet point your ideas, listing the points you’d like to make. Then, create a character outline of personalities, describing their interactions. What is the emotional tenor of your story? List the background and tone of the story; location, environment, time of day, weather conditions etc… to achieve the appropriate emotional tenor.
Let us show you how to capture the most captivating aspects of your story, draw out your inspiration while editing out the excess. This will help you personalize your story, and deliver it in the most sincere and heartfelt manner.
Making the First Pitch:
Test your concept on a third party who knows nothing about the subject matter. Practice pitching the ideas of your draft to people that know nothing about your subject. We suggest your friends, co-workers or family. The professional Writer’s staff will also look at this draft and make comments as to its content.
The First Draft:
Write the first draft of your story proposal, developing a one page outline of the story drawn from your “first pitch.” Take this outline and show the final proposal to the Professional Writers staff, friends, family, co-workers
Refining the First Draft:
Incorporate Feedback from the Professional writer, staff and friends to refine the first draft of your story proposal. Then write the final draft of the proposal, showing it to a third party again for comment.
Proposal Research:
Do some research and link your project/book proposal to a current event if possible. If pitching ideas for a magazine or television show become familiar with the network TV show or magazine’s editorial content before you pitch your story idea. Editors and producers like to know that you like their work and that you’ve done your research.
Closing the Sale:
Learn how to close the sale of your proposal. Your success will be in the details and follow up.
Creating the Editorial Outline:
Once your story has been picked up by a producer or a publisher we will guide you through the process of creating the editorial outline based on input from the media outlet/publisher that is purchasing your story. It’s vital that you send a confirmation outlining what you have agreed upon and imperative that you get a written contract.
Establishing the Deadline:
Establish a deadline for the first draft of your story/article. A missed deadline is the kiss of death.
Spend time reconfirm your sources of data. Make sure all this data is correct and that you have someone corroborate the quotes you’ve drawn from their source. A third party reference.
Final First Draft:
Write the first draft of your book/article/TV show. Let it sit for several days then look at it again. Remember that creating a successful story is a collaborative process involving you the writer, and the editor/producer. Make sure there are no surprises and if you are not sure about something make a phone call to discuss any changes or modifications. Your first draft will come back with edits. Edit your article and send it back. There could be an exchange such as this 25 times. The manuscript should continue its exchange until the editor/producer is happy with the work.
Part 12:
Final Draft:
The Editor/producer will then give you the publishing date.
Writing Workshops/ Lectures
Yale University
Columbia University
Babson College
Stanford University
New York City Department of Education
Union City, New Jersey Department of Education
