July 9-20, 2012
MASTER CLASS: Powerful Openings
by Kris Kennedy
Prerequisite: Must have basic knowledge of writing skills (POV, showing vs. telling, etc), have completed at least one manuscript and be working on another.
In this highly competitive market, it's important to make sure your readers are engaged, because they have a hundred other things they could be doing. Including reading another book. You have to make yours stand out. That doesn't mean doing acrobatics with plot or characterization. It means writing an opening that makes an agent, an editor and then millions of readers (yes, we're aiming high) HAVE to pick it up, and not set it down. This class will help identify key elements to ramp up your story's dramatic potential and still be true to your Voice, with concepts including:
Eight (okay, Nine) key components to crafting powerful openings
Setting up page goals and "answering" them
Establishing the all-important Story Questions
Creating characters worth caring about
Unfolding story tension and micro-tension
When, where and why to raise the stakes
The value of setting up "irrevocability"
After winning RWA'sŪ 2008 Golden Heart Award for Best Historical Romance with THE IRISH WARRIOR, Kris Kennedy realized anew the power of a great opening. Her commitment changed from the rather nebulous "Sell Books" to "Make readers HAVE to turn the page," and she now has three books out with more on the way. Her latest, DEFIANT from Pocket Books, received a starred Publishers Weekly review, and has garnered "top pick" status from many review sites.
To register for the Maser Class: "Powerful Openings," click HERE.