STORY BIBLES FOR NOVELISTS
| When: | September 6, 2021 – September 30, 2021 via GroupsIO |
| Workshop Cost: | $25 Non-Members/$20 Members |
| Hosted By: | Yosemite Romance Writers (YRW) |
| Registration Link: | https://yosemiteromancewriters.com |
Workshop Description:
Do you lose track of what you write? Can’t remember what color car the criminal was driving in your romantic suspense? Forgot the name of the tavern the coach stopped at in book 2 of your Regency trilogy? Can’t remember the skill set of each of the six demons in your paranormal series?
Are you always searching back and forth through your draft or last book for this bit of detail or that? Are you writing a series with shared characters and setting, or a complex novel with multiple characters, subplots, and setting details? Take a trick from screen writers and create a Story Bible as you write.
In this workshop, we will look at a variety of analog and digital frameworks for creating your own Story Bible and then proceed step-by-step through the process of creating the documents needed to keep track of all those pesky story details in your current or planned WIP. By the end of the workshop, you will have the beginnings of your own personalized Story Bible.
Syllabus
Eight lessons are planned. They will be posted on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a short assignment.
Introduction: Determining your needs
LESSON 1: What is a Story Bible?
LESSON 2: What Should I Put in My Story Bible?
LESSON 3: Analog Methods Pro and Con
LESSON 4: Digital Methods Pro and Con
LESSON 5: Making the Most of Your Story Bible
LESSON 6: Filling Your Story Bible: Setting Elements
LESSON 7: Filling Your Story Bible: Character Elements
LESSON 8: Recording & Retrieving Data
About the Instructor:
Joan Bouza Koster (Zara West)
Joan Bouza Koster is an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction works in the fields of ethnography, education, anti-racism, and the arts. She holds a doctorate from Binghamton University and has published two textbooks on teaching the arts as well as numerous academic and magazine articles. Her short stories have appeared in several anthologies, and have received awards from Women on Writing, Stone Thread Publishing, Tryst Literary Magazine, and Winning Writers. Her first historical fiction novel longlisted for the Mslexia Award. Under the pen name, Zara West, she has published the award-winning romantic thriller series The Skin Quartet. She is currently in the process of writing a historical fiction series about nineteenth-century women who never should have been forgotten. Her Write for Success series: Fast Draft Your Manuscript and Get it Done Now and Revise Your Draft and Make it Shine, Research Your Subject and Validate Your Writing (available 2021) and Power Up Your Language and Make Your Writing Sing (available 2021) are published by Short FUSE.
Joan Bouza Koster blogs at http://JoanKoster.com, Women Words and Wisdom, American Civil War Voice, Teach Peace Now, Zara West’s Journal, and Zara West Suspense. She has been teaching courses at the college level and writing groups for over ten years.
