• If you are telling a story—fiction, nonfiction, short, or long—where do you begin?
• What events should you include in your story, and in what order?
• Where do you put backstory or flashbacks?
• When a story isn’t “working,” how do you troubleshoot the problem?
• Do you need to simply massage a few paragraphs, or does the problem lie deeper than that?

It doesn't matter if you're writing fiction or nonfiction, an article or book, this information will improve the way you tell stories.

Last month we launched free monthly online training events exclusively for Illumify authors. For this month's training event, I'll be sharing how you can apply the Jon Franklin technique to develop the perfect complication/resolution outline for your story.

This is Karen Bouchard, and I’m going to be teaching this material on Tuesday, January 22, at 7:00pm MST.

To attend, email me at kbouchard@illumifymedia.com and let me know you'd like to attend and I'll send you the link to join the event. A few minutes before 7:00pm MST, click on the link and join me on the live video conference call.

This is a VERY powerful and versatile approach to telling a story. I have personally used this approach to write personal testimonies, true stories, and fictional stories in all sorts of formats, including magazine articles, blog posts, book-length works, and even children's books!

The techniques are from Jon Franklin's book Writing for Story. Franklin, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, pioneered a style of writing called dramatic nonfiction, in which fiction storytelling techniques are applied to nonfiction stories. In the process, he developed and taught story development techniques that are sheer magic and can be applied to nonfiction stories as well as works of fiction.

I'll be teaching Franklin’s Complication/Resolution approach to outlining and developing any story, from short stories and articles to book-length dramatic nonfiction, fiction, personal testimonies, and even children’s books.

I frequently use Franklin’s approach to help writers strengthen stories, and know firsthand that recognizing and fixing a botched complication/resolution is critical to turning a good story into a WOW! story.

To participate on this one-hour video conference call, email me at kbouchard@illumifymedia.com, let me know you want to attend, and I’ll email you a link to join the video conference call tomorrow night. 

As Michael Klassen mentioned in a recent newsletter, we’ve got all sorts of exciting developments underway to help make 2019 your best year ever as a writer and/or published author.

Exclusive online training events for Illumify authors are just the beginning. We’re also in the process of developing powerful new tools and resources to help you build your platforms, market your messages, and ultimately sell more books.

And if you need help improving or finishing a manuscript, or building your author platform, talk to me about one-on-one coaching. I work with authors of all genres who want to meet a writing goal, improve their writing, or build their readership. 

If you'd like to learn more about one-on-one coaching with me, click here to go to my calendar and pick a time for us to chat. 

In the meantime, here's to your writing and publishing dreams coming true in 2019!

 

Karen

Karen Bouchard

Acquisitions Editor, Illumify Media Global

Click here to schedule a free consultation 

kbouchard@illumifymedia.com