“Write Before You Write: Outlining, Planning, and Plotting” with Jennifer Ziegler
November 6 2021 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM CDT
$49.00 – $109.00
$49 for Members
$109 for Non-Members
All registrants will have access to the class recording for one month.
This class is a part of the Fuel Your Writing Practice online class package.
Do you ever start a manuscript and end up lost in your own story? Or perhaps you know what is supposed to happen but still find that your writing is blocked?
Before launching into writing that exciting new book idea, it’s important to take key first steps that will help prevent project-killing situations. If you tend to get overwhelmed by your own story, find yourself written into logistical corners, or get told that your book is too “thin” or has “unrelatable characters,” this is the class for you. This class will identify common problems, prescribe remedies, practice helpful exercises, and discuss how you can keep going until “The End.” Discover the pre-writing steps you should take depending on you and your project.
Participants will walk away with a clearer idea of what kinds of writers they are and how they need to approach and prepare for new writing projects, plus tips and tricks they can use before launching into a writing project.
TAKE THIS CLASS IF
- You’re writing long-form narratives, such as novels, novellas, memoirs, or plays.
- You tend to get lost in your own stories and eventually give up.
- You are often told that your characters come off as flat, unbelievable, or difficult to relate to.
- You are still learning about yourself as a writer and need to discover the process that works best for you.
The deadline to register for this class is Friday, November 5 at 5:00 PM CST.
Instructor
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Jennifer Ziegler is a writer, speaker, blogger, mother, spicy food lover, caffeine addict, and movie buff. Her early years were mainly spent trying, unsuccessfully, to copy hairstyles of famous female pop figures. But she also wrote—a lot. Underneath her bed you would find, among the detritus of discarded clothes and cookie wrappers, several spiral notebooks full of short stories, unfinished novels, elaborate doodles for future tattoos, and a comprehensive thesis on who was the cutest member of Duran Duran. She didn’t realize she was preparing for a career, but all that practice made writing feel comfortable, almost like a reflex (which, coincidentally, is a song by Duran Duran). Later, she received degrees in English and Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and taught middle school language arts, all of which helped to inspire her. Now she writes fiction, teaches writing workshops, and presents at schools and literary events throughout the country. Her book How Not to Be Popular (Delacorte, 2008), has been named to the Lone Star Book List and was an International Reading Association’s Young Adults’ Choice. Other novels include Sass and Serendipity (Delacorte, 2011), which was recommended on the NPR show “Tell Me More,” and Alpha Dog (Delacorte, 2006), a finalist for the 2006 Teddy Award. Her new book, Revenge of the Flower Girls, will be published by Scholastic Press in June 2014.
Before purchasing, please read all policies as noted below and on our Classes page.
If your browser has difficulty with our website store, or if you prefer to mail in a check, click here for a class registration form. The document provides instructions on where to mail it. If you prefer this option, please email wlt@writersleague.org with a copy of the form as well. We are working out of our office at this time.
Class & Event Registration Policy
Once a purchase has been made, registrations are not refundable and cannot be transferred to a different class or event. No exceptions will be made. If you purchase a registration and then find you cannot attend the class or event, someone else can attend in your stead. Simply contact us at wlt@writersleague.org and let us know the name and contact information for the person who will be using the registration so that we can update the class or event roster.
Credit Card Transaction Handling Fee Policy
All credit card transactions will incur a 4% handling fee. If you’d prefer to pay by check for membership, a class, or an event, you can use the provided forms on the membership or event pages and mail to: WLT, P.O. Box 14355, Austin, TX, 78704.
HOW WLT CLASSES WORK:
Our classes offer a combination of lecture and practical exercises, determined by the individual instructor, on focused aspects of the craft and business of writing. Your fellow participants will come from a range of writing experience, from beginners to people with MFA degrees and published books. WLT instructors, participants, and administrators all work together to create a welcoming, supportive environment.If you haven’t taken a class with us in recent years, feel free to email WLT Program Director Sam Babiak at sam@writersleague.org if you’d like to discuss whether our programming is the right fit for your needs.
HOW ONLINE CLASSES WORK:
Once you register for the class, you’ll receive an email with detailed instructions no later than 48 hours before the class date. You should expect 2-2.5 hours of direct teaching and 30 minutes of Q&A (for three hours total). If you need to leave the class early or can’t attend the class on that date, all registrants will have access to the recording for one week after the class date. No microphone or camera required, just an Internet connection capable of streaming video. All online classes are hosted on Zoom. To learn more about how Zoom works, click HERE.
Plan to log in to the online platform several hours before the class so that you can update your software or any other settings required to access the platform. (Updates usually only take a few minutes, but you don’t want to wait until the beginning of class.) Questions? Email us at wlt@writersleague.org.
This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.
Writers’ League of Texas classes and workshops are also funded in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts – Investing in a Creative Texas. For more information, go to www.arts.texas.gov.
This project is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
This project is supported in part by the Mid-America Arts Alliance. For more information, go to www.maaa.org.
