March 24, 2016 - The M.P. Baker Library of Panola College and the Sammy Brown Library have partnered in a new offering for the community. After a recent author signing where Bobbie Shafer and Cathy Myers were featured, many visitors to the author event expressed interest in learning the tricks of the trade to becoming published authors. These ladies host Lone Star Writing Workshops for just this purpose. They will be leading a series of ten writing workshops through the office of workforce and continuing education at Panola College beginning on Saturday, April 9 and continuing periodically until September 10, 2016. These workshops are designed to be taken individually so anyone can select just one or as many as they’d like. Each workshop is $75.00. The instructors provide all the materials and students may purchase the CDs of materials to keep if they so choose. The topics and dates are as follows:
April 9, 2016: Maximize Your Creativity. This workshop focuses on the aspects of getting your ideas on paper and increasing your productivity while considering all the aspects required to become published before you begin.
April 30, 2016: Much Ado About Plotting. This workshop will focus on more than 20 things to consider while developing the plot of your story.
May 14, 2016: Create Dynamic Unforgettable Characters. This workshop discusses over 21 ways to develop characters into your storyline and incorporate them into your plot.
June 4, 2016: Develop the Perfect Scene. This workshop helps writers learn how to turn perfect scenes into perfect chapters. It also leads students in over 15 considerations for developing the scenes in your story.
June 25, 2016: Genres. This workshop will teach students how to write across genre lines and appeal to a wider audience. Students will be taught the aspects to incorporate for fantasy, romance, mystery, and other genres.
July 9, 2016: Writing for Children. Students will be introduced to the 18 considerations for writing children’s books for varying age groups.
July 23, 2016: Short Stories and Articles. This workshop focuses on shorter forms of writing to launch or boost a writing career.
August 6, 2016: After the Last Jot and Tittle. This workshop is designed for the writer that has finished their writing project. It discusses what the next steps are for publishing and promoting the completed work.
August 20, 2016: Series & Serials. This workshop covers over 20 aspects of writing continuations for series where characters are repeated throughout story lines. It includes the steps for publishing serial works instead of stand-alone titles.
September 10, 2016: Jump-Start Your Marketing. This workshop is devoted to all the things to consider for marketing your completed works and how to use the various platforms of social media and branding to be recognized.
C. R. Myers, a native Texan, received her MA from the University of Texas at Tyler. As a teacher and professional speaker, she designed and implemented her own creative writing course as well as writing college sketches. Today, Ms Myers works full-time as a free-lance journalist with over 500 articles published nationally and as a novelist with over thirty-five books currently in print. In addition, she edits professionally and has served numerous times as a judge for writing contests.Ms. Myers spent over twenty years teaching high school and college English as well as presenting writing workshops at writer's conferences and writer's groups throughout the state.
Bobbie Shafer is from Troup, Texas. As a freelance writer, Ms. Shafer has had published over 350 short stories. As a novelist, two historical/adventure/romance, a young/adult/middle-grade fantasy, 26 children's books, and stories in three anthologies have been published. She also has four more books being released in the next few months. Bobbie is CEO and Acquisitions Editor for Dancing With Bear Publishing. She is a member of Malachite Quills Publishing Authors and Caliburn Books, belongs to East Texas Writers Guild and is a member of The Writing Warriors Critique Group.Ms. Shafer has lectured in colleges, libraries, and writer's groups across Texas.She can be found on www.BobbieShafer.com, Facebook, Twitter, LinkIn, Amazon Authors, Malachite Quills Publishing, East Texas Writer's Guild, and World Wide Who's Who writes mystery and suspense--cozy to edgy as well as children's books.
For more information about specific workshops please contact Cristie Ferguson at 903-693-2091 or Debbie Godwin at 903-693-6741. To enroll contact Continuing Education at Panola College at 903-693-2067.
