Writing the Novel

Here's a note about a class being taught by my friend, Carol Lynch Williams and Cheri Earl.

Carol Lynch Williams and Cheri Pray Earl are holding two one-day novel-writing classes in January and February 2009. The January class is for writers who have never written a novel before (Level I) and the February class is for writers who have perhaps begun a novel but need work completing and polishing it (Level II).

Dates: Saturday, January 10th, 2009 and the tentative date for the Level II class is Saturday, February 7th.
Place: The Provo Library, Bullock Room
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (brown bag lunch discussion at noon: Plunging into Publication)
Cost: $50 for each workshop

What you can expect to learn from each class:
Both classes are interactive and discussion oriented and will include some hands-on writing exercises; neither includes a formal critique/workshop session.

Level 1: Structure; coming up with ideas; voice; good versus not-so-good prose; genre distinctions; plotting the novel; beginnings, middles, and ends.

Level II: *For this class students should have a novel-in-process or the outline of a novel to work from in class.
Diagnosing structural problems; developing ideas; strengthening voice; identifying strengths and weaknesses in the prose; defining the genre; improving the elements of the story arc; writing spectacular beginnings and unforgettable endings; brainstorming the murky middles.

If you’re interested in either or both of these classes, email Carol (carolthewriter@yahoo.com) or Cheri (cheri_earl@byu.edu).

Carol Lynch Williams is the author of more than 20 books for young readers. Her novels include The True Colors of Caitlynne Jackson, If I Forget, You Remember, Pretty Like Us, and her most recent book The Chosen One, due out in May ’09. Her books have been recognized as ALA Best Books for Young Adults, IRA Teacher’s Choice Award, PEN Nomination among others. She co-writes the early mid-grade novel series George and Gracie, Just in Time (Fall ’09) with Cheri Pray Earl. She has her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and is the mother of 7 children.

Cheri Pray Earl graduated with her M.A. in Creative Writing from Brigham Young University in 1995. She began teaching freshman and advanced writing courses for the Honors program in 1993, where she continues to teach. As a part-time instructor, she has created and helped to write courses for Honors, including "Writing for Publication" as well as "The Publishing Lab,"
to encourage students to write for publication. She also teaches Creative Writing for the BYU English Department and the BYU Honors Summer Scholars Academy and was awarded Honors Professor of the Year in 2005.

Cheri considers herself a young adult novel writer, winning the Utah Original Writing Competition in 1994 in the YA novel category and taking honorable mention in 1997. However, her first publications are for younger readers. She is the co-author of an early chapter book series with Carol Lynch Williams, published by Peachtree Publishing (the first two books in
the series are scheduled to come out in the fall of 2009). Cheri also co-authored an American Girl non-fiction book with Rick Walton (scheduled to launch in the spring of 09). She lives in Provo, Utah, with her husband and three of her five children, two cats, and a dog.

Carol and Cheri organize the annual BYU-sponsored Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Workshop which is now in its 10th year.