Scenes often fall flat because writers shy away from creating real emotional impact. Plots often lose their steam because the stakes arenât high enough or the pacing drags. And characters can feel like cardboard cutouts because the reader canât access the impact of the story on them.
This live webinar urges writers to do the thing they often shy away from: Causing their characters pain, taking away things they love, and making life generally harder on them in every scene (in ways that make sense to the plot). It draws on key strategies to reveal and heighten emotional resonance, from softer âinternalâ character cues to driving hotter plot stakes through the escalation and conflict necessary to power forward. It sometimes means being âmeanâ to your characters, and it definitely requires being ruthless and intentional in every scene. No matter whether youâre writing a character-driven literary story or a twisty thriller, every writer will benefit from these techniques.
Writers who know they have a great story that just isnât quite âthere yetâ will come away from this webinar with concrete skills to apply at the scene, plot and character levels to âmake it hurt,â for characters and readers alike, in all the ârightâ ways.
Using techniques drawn from several of Jordanâs books, including Writing the Intimate Character, Make a Scene, How to Write a Page Turner and The Sound of Story, this live webinar will show writers how to evoke powerful emotion, turn up the stakes without forcing plot twists, and write page turning stories scene-by-scene.
This live webinar will include some writing prompts and time for questions and answers.
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Meet the instructor
Jordan Rosenfeld
Jordan Rosenfeld is author of the novels Fallout, Women in Red and Forged in Grace and the forthcoming Seeking Solace (â28) and eight books on the craft of writing, including, Writing Through the Pause: Mining Midlife for Powerful Writing (Jan. â27), The Sound of Story: Developing Voice and Tone in Writing, How to Write a Page-Turner, the bestselling Make a Scene, Writing the Intimate Character, A Writerâs Guide to Persistence, Writing Deep Scenes (with Martha Alderson) and Write Free (with Rebecca Lawton). Her freelance writing has been published in hundreds of publications, including: The Atlantic, The New York Times, Publisherâs Weekly, Salon, Scientific American, The Rumpus, Writerâs Digest Magazine, The Washington Post and many more. She is also a freelance manuscript editor, writing coach and teaches online classes. Jordanrosenfeld.net. Her Substack, âWriting In the Pauseâ can be found at: jordanwritelife.substack.com.
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