FREE May Writing Workshop: Writing Gymnastics: The Art of the Flip

May 17, 2013 FREE Writing Workshop: Writing Gymnastics: The Art of the Flip

Time: 6 pm - 8 pm, Friday, May 17, 2013

Location: Mardel's, 5964 Barnes Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80922

DrivingDirections

“Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.” —William Strunk Jr.

At every writer’s conference an editor will share the “Top 10” editing tips every writer must know. At the top of the list?

• Get rid of adverbs, adjectives and ‘to be’ verbs.
• Write in the active voice.
• Show, don’t tell.

Easier said than done. Have you ever noticed that workshops and articles on editing tell you what to do, but fail show how to make these changes. Truth is? Every writer’s natural tendency defaults to passive voice, filler words and telling. This interactive workshop, Writing Gymnastics: The Art of the Flip, teaches you how to exercise and perform editorial perfect 10’s. Gain Olympian skills in:

• Spotting: How to save time by using an editor’s best friend: “Replace and Find.”
• Front Twist: Flip a sentence from passive to active voice, plus turn adjectives into picture nouns and adverbs into visual verbs.
• Back Walkover: Kick out words that “tell” — adverbs, camouflaged verbs, say-nothing-generic nouns, and normalizations — and land on words that “show.”
• Backward roll: Push out “weasel” words —qualifiers, intensifiers, wordy phrases, or words that slow action or are redundant, overused or buzzwords.
• Gymnastics Coaching:  Coaching examples —critique comments from real fiction and nonfiction WIP’s (work-in-progress) — will be featured.

If you want to gain these easy-to-learn drills and skills to train as a Gold-medal writer, bring your manuscript and 6 different colored highlighters or your laptop. As we explore each skill, you will mark up your WIP and return home with the know-how to self-edit and polish your manuscript.