If you missed my workshop with OCLS at the Downtown location, here is a chance to grab a copy of the PDF and/or PowerPoint Show. It was a heavy 2-hour course and we covered a lot of content and questions to help guide your revision efforts. Be sure to “enable outside links” since this does contain 3 YouTube videos. Just in case, I will add those down below and explain what they reflect. Thank you to all who came out to attend and I hope the advise has helped you in your effor

Yesterday, on behalf of Orlando Nanowrimo at the South Trail location for OCLS I had the honor to introduce and inform writers what this “Nanowrimo” thing in November means. I had a great group and it was fun tackling the questions many still had after the presentation. Per my promise, here are links to the PowerPoint I used both in PDF and PPS format via DropBox: PDF: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mkorcxnr4tj4ayu/Nanowrimo%20101%20by%20Valerie%20Willis.pdf?dl=0 PPS: https://www.

This was a question that popped up in one of the many groups I am part of and after leaving a monster-sized response I figured I might want to post about this topic for those who need an answer to this. Not to mention my fellow Author L.E.Perez and I have been discussing this topic all summer long. So here it goes, the Full Monty on Book Covers. BONUS: Author Learning Center posted a clip of me sharing some advice about Book Covers in March 2018: Why Are Book Covers Important

Introduction As a writer, we often find ourselves in need of Research. I blame it on the natural curiosity, which drives us to put our stories to paper, a need, a thirst to see where “this” goes. In many of our works, our characters and worlds have elements we have never experienced, things new or oblivious to us, and at times, things we never want to experience. Not all research feels fun, yet other times we fall down a rabbit-hole, coming up for air hours later realizing we

What to Expect from This Topic Whether you are developing a plot for a story, game, or movie, we all struggle with getting our imaginations to take it beyond that initial idea. Inspiration comes from an event, listening to music, dreams, a spur of a moment thought, but taking it beyond that small snippet and making it into something big and complete can be painful at times. Lately, I have been asked for advice on writing a novel or story idea and so this has sparked a mini-se

What is Character Development? Developing a story is only half the battle. Character Development isn’t just the art of naming and describing a character, but dives deeper. This covers the overall design of a character physically, mentally, and emotionally. Proper development should show reaction, change, and growth in more than one way. At the same time, a character is expected to be consistent, but not always predictable. Development should not stop with the main character o