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| THE COMPELLING FICTION
WRITER This program tells what compelling is and how to get to it in your novel. How to write fiction that connects with the reader, engages the senses, inspires the heart, uplifts the spirit, moves the soul and keeps those pages turning. Award-winning writer and speaker, James V. Smith, Jr., has written four books on writing and a dozen novels of his own. And he has toured the country for Writer’s Digest, giving day-long workshops on writing the novel. In his study of dozens of best-selling authors, he has found the key to the one word everybody in publishing uses but few can even define: compelling. The key to compelling? THE STUPID POWER OF PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT In every great novel, every great character , man or beast, makes you feel engaged. Same goes for nonfiction. Case in point: the title character in the book, Seabiscuit. The big question: What do readers want? James knows. He tells you how to connect with readers by making them feel what they want to feel. He helps you nudge people to buy your book in huge numbers and start the buzz. He uses several tools any writer can use. And any writer, no matter what level of their craft, can boost their writing to the next level. The rest of his tool kit? The IDEAL Tool At last, a way to measure the elements of compelling in your novel. Set specific targets for edits. Best of all, pace your novel. This tool gives you the power to tweak rising and falling action. Measure your pace on a line graph and edit until the pace rises and falls at your will. Pacing your writing by the numbers? You’ve never seen this tool before. When you do, you’ll regret ever calling it crazy. The ACIDS Test A system for testing every scene in your story for:
"Good writing alone won’t make a novel a bestseller. Need proof? Take a look at any NYT list of the last ten years." "All the best-selling authors—even the lousy writers—either by accident or instinct, compel their readers. Millions of readers out there will tell you what they want. If only you will listen." "The good news? I have found the keys that can help any writer crack that code to compelling. The bad news? Duh . . . I can’t think of a down-side to this idiot-proof system." |
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| BUSINESS COMMUNICATION How well does your Web page work? Do people read your e-mails and reports? Do people act on your memos? Or does your company writing stand like fog between you and your sales? Award-winning trainer, writer and speaker, James V. Smith, Jr., has analyzed the writing samples of dozens of firms. His finding? “What’s the best way to put this without giving offense? Oh, I know—as a rule, corporate writing sucks.” So, to fix the problem, he wrote the book and workshop titled . . . THE CREATIVE CORPORATE WRITER We live in an age where any fool can send a million words and pictures around the globe at the click of a mouse. A CEO has to ask: “Does our writing work? Or do we just send out garbage at the speed of light?” Let us look at your business writing and give you the answers so your words add to your bottom line. Here’s what you get: ASSESSMENT A Writer’s Lifeline expert studies your copy and gives you report on the good, the bad and the ugly. Web pages, e-mails, memos, in-house pubs, reports, sales pieces. We look at it all. CUSTOM GROUP TRAINING WL helps you target your effort to fix problems and boost even your best material to the next level. In sessions with large groups, James sets a fresh tone for all the writing in your company, using your own writing as examples. After only an hour you will see progress—no grammar, no hassle, no kidding. TRAIN-THE -TRAINER COACHING A half-day session with managers and trainers. Managers learn the skills to make words work. Again, a custom segment. TOOLS TO KEEP Each employee gets job aids to refer to in all future writing tasks. Each gets a copy of the book, The Creative Corporate Writer, at a discount price. FOLLOW-UP WL will look at a cross-section of business writing and issue a year-end report so execs can act to keep up the quality. You get a report card on your results. Here’s what the working man and woman say about the CC Writer workshops: “Best seminar I have ever attended.” “I learned more in one hour with Mr. Smith than in all the other writing classes I’ve attended here.” “Is he coming back? I want to practice these writing tips and then talk with him again” |
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 I’m
on a mission to re-teach writing to writers, both on the job and in
the novel — no grammar, no hassle, no kidding. Corporate writers? You can steal the secrets of the best-sellers. You can use these secrets in your writing on the job. Novelists? You can apply the secrets to writing your fiction. I have studied the works dozens of best-selling authors. They share traits that most of us seldom use, either at work or in fiction. I teach how to put five key traits to work for. You can plot your results and edit to easy-to-read targets. Is this some kind of magic bullet I’m hawking in my books? (The Fiction Writer’s Brainstormer and You Can Write a Novel from Writer’s Digest Books. Or The Creative Corporate Writer, the basis for workshops at work.) Nope. The magic is in you. What I teach brings it out. No matter your level, my aim is to take you to the next level. You need to know my chops. I’ve both sides of the fence. I taught novel seminars for Writer’s Digest on a US tour. And I’ve worked with Fortune 500 firms like Arvin, Arthur Andersen, Safeco and Lockheed Martin, teaching groups and singles to write better. I’m a Gannett Teaching Fellow of Indiana U. and was director of the J-Department of the DoD school to train reporters and editors. I’ve co-written books with business writers Harry Dent (The Great Boom Ahead) and Jerry Wilson (Word of Mouth Marketing). I’ve a dozen novels, including the Force Recon series now in print from Berkley and Delta Force: Michael’s Sword, due in 2004. You could look me up on Amazon.com. I was a writer for the Dallas Morning News and the Indianapolis News. And I’ve been a small-town editor. I won a national Golden Quill award and four other national awards for writing. I have a MS in journalism from Kansas. But don’t let the resumé baffle you. I simplify the task of writing at work. I demystify the craft of fiction. Hey folks, it ain’t art, it’s bidness. |
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