Writing in the Shadows

In September of 2008, John put together a number of his best ideas about writing fiction in a lecture series, “Writing in the Shadows,” which he taught at a major writing conference. I sat through the whole thing thinking, “Yeah, that’s right. Why did I never think of it that way?”

Now John and I have bundled up his lecture into a downloadable product that you can play in your web browser. You see the text of his PowerPoint slides. You hear his voice. It’s like having John in your computer, ready to teach you any time.

Here are a few of the things you’ll learn in “Writing in the Shadows”:

• The #1 way to attract an editor’s attention
• Why too much information is worse than too little
• Using the “iceberg effect” to heighten realism and depth
• Pacemakers and breakers — 9 ways to avoid “driver fatigue”
• Why every action should NOT have an equal and opposite reaction
• Using “word shadows” to deliver a powerful emotional experience
• The five drivers that keep your readers turning the pages
• Heightening the “central tension” of your scenes
• Manipulating the reader’s experience of time