WEEK 1
Daily Writing and Self-Editing Practices
Maren stressed the importance of daily writing and self-editing practices for authors. She highlighted that writing every day helps build discipline, nurture creativity, and prevent creative stagnation. Regular self-editing through reading one's work allows for reflection, improvement, and ensures continuity and coherence in the narrative. Maren also pointed out that this iterative process helps develop a more authentic and compelling voice. She then started a writing exercise with the attendees, encouraging them to write a few sentences related to their chosen topics.
Writing Process and Revision Guidance
Maren provided guidance on the writing process, emphasizing the importance of having an endpoint in mind when starting a book. She also discussed the need to establish a global overview and use side stories to reinforce the primary narrative. Joanie shared that she is working on a young adult adventure story and sought feedback on her dialogue. Maren advised her to read her work multiple times to refine the characters' voices and noted that the first draft is often challenging, but subsequent revisions can improve the nuance and flow.
Adapting Dialogue for Maggie's Character
Joanie started a story about an adventure involving her and her travel companions, Bruggal and Maggie. Maren suggested playing with the dialogue, proposing to shorten a phrase and change its meaning to better suit Maggie's character. Maren used the example of a magpie as a nuisance, an obstinate child, encouraging the team to adapt the language to match Maggie's personality. The goal was to make the dialogue more expressive and consistent with the intended personality of the character.
AI Tools and Photoshop for Children's Illustrations
Maren shared with denise how she uses AI tools and various websites to create her illustrations and stories for writing children's books. Maren suggested websites like Fiverr for finding illustrators and stock photo websites like iStock for sourcing images. Maren also advised denise on how to use Adobe Photoshop for turning photos into sketches and cartoons and offered to guide denise through a Photoshop class. denise expressed interest in finding similar tools to make her writing and illustrations more engaging for her target audience of children.
Story Development and Narrative Styles
Janaris shared her ongoing work on her son's transition story, exploring different narrative styles, including a 'game of thrones' approach. Maren suggested blending truth and mysticism in storytelling in regards to Janaris's story. And, discussed the approach to narrating factual stories with supernatural elements, suggesting that the narrator could describe the facts without delving into the fantastical elements unless the author chooses to.
Focusing on Primary Storyline in Narratives
Maren illustrated the importance of focusing on the primary storyline in a narrative, using the example of the Bridgerton series on Netflix. She pointed out that while certain subplots, such as a secondary couple's child getting a title, may seem appealing, they can hinder the progression of the main story and may not even belong in the current storyline. Maren suggested that these subplots could be explored in their own separate books or stories, while the primary story should remain focused.
Parents Sharing Experiences and Healing Through Empathy
Janaris shared her personal experience of her son's transition and the challenges she faced as a parent. Maren supported Janaris, encouraged the sharing of personal stories for the healing of others.
HOMEWORK
Developing Daily Writing Habits and Emotions
Maren assigned two main homework tasks to the participants. The first task involved developing a daily writing habit, with no specific length requirement for the written pieces. The second task required choosing a word or a person and writing a story around it, or alternatively, to select a moment in their life and describe the emotions it evoked. An optional task was also suggested, which involved writing about a significant moment in their life and the emotions it elicited. Maren emphasized that the focus should be on the emotions and physical sensations, not just the details of the event.
Visual Aids for Writing Timelines
Maren discussed the importance of setting up a detailed timeline for writing projects. She emphasized the value of using visual aids like sticky notes to organize ideas and key events, allowing for flexibility and easy adjustments as the story develops. Maren explained her personal approach of using color-coded sticky notes to represent different storylines and themes, which she finds immersive and tactile. She encouraged participants to experiment with this method and stressed that this approach can be applied to both fiction and nonfiction writing.
Writing Course Group Creation and Updates
Maren announced the creation of a dedicated writing course group on the marenmuter.com platform. This group will serve as a support hub for members to share feedback and engage in weekly homework assignments related to the course. Maren also announced two optional meeting times for the group on Fridays and Sundays.