Stan's Speaking Appearances

I've been asked to make an appearance and talk about writing at two events in October 2017, both in S.E. Michigan.

Saturday, October 21, 2017
ROCHESTER WRITERS CONFERENCE 
Oakland University, Rochester Michigan USA
Click here to Register.

My topic: 

The Sequence Method (75 minutes)

This presentation will explain a way to keep your readers and audiences emotionally involved from the beginning to the end. The method makes use of Nested Story Diamonds. We will first review the features, advantages and benefits of the story diamond used in Hollywood and by novelists. We will then show you how to nest the basic story diamond with sub-plots, sub-goals disasters and the alternating action of protagonist and antagonist. When structured right, these elements will emotionally capture your audience's attention and keep them involved. We will also briefly describe the interplay of the Scene/Sequence concept of Goal, Conflict, Disaster, Emotional Reaction, Thought Dilemma and Decision. By the end of the session you will be able to quickly structure a story that will be easy and fun to write. And it will keep your reader emotionally connected. As usual, I will use a host of colorful graphic slides to illustrate all of this.

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Saturday, October 28, 2017
ACFW - Great Lakes Chapter Meeting 
La Herradura Restaurant, Novi, Michigan USA
To Register: See instructions lower-right on flyer below.

My topic:
So You Want to Make a Movie of Your Book
The ins, outs, sideways and the reality of movie adaptations.

ACFW Workshop Slides and Q&A (9-22-11)

I presented a five-hour version of The Moral Premise workshop at the American Christian Fiction Writer's Conference Sept 22, 2011 from 8 AM to 1 PM. In the days following I met with a number of authors and hope-to-be authors helping them beat out their stories.

I was also privileged to sit in on several other workshops, have dinner with super-agent Natasha Kern, and talk with numerous multi-published authors, with 20, 30, and even 50 books to their credit. It was a great few days in St. Louis. Between the questions and answers below I'll post some pictures taken during the trip.

Looking East from our conference meeting rooms

All of the photos in this blog were taken with my iPhone. the conference was held at the Hyatt Regency at the Arch. Thus the pictures of the full arch (like the one at the right) are actually taken through windows in the hallway next to the meeting rooms.

Here are the questions I was handed, some of which I answered in the session, and my answers.

1. On the Emotion Plotting Slide, how do you decide numeric values on each action line, that are used for the graph. (Judy Christie)

Judy, the numbers assigned are subjective and objectively determined. Subjectively, they are based on my sense of how emotionally UP or DOWN the scene will come across to the reader/audience when I'm done editing it. In some scenes/lines the number is my INTENT. In others, it's what it is already. For instance when my protag's husband dies, it's a major DOWNER, when she is able to board the ship safely with her girls to go home, its a minor UPPER. Objectively, the "emotion" I hope my audience will feel is the degree to which they perceive my protag making progress toward the physical goal (positive numbers), or being set up from achieving the goal (negative numbers). I assign a number from -10 to +10 to each scene, and then accumulate a balance, like a checking account balance. It's the balance that is plotted, not the individual scene values.

American Christian Fiction Writers Conference - Early Bird Workshop

On September 22, 2011, in St. Louis, I'm presenting the five-hour long Early Bird Workshop for the annual American Christian Fiction Writer's Conference. Individuals who are registered for the workshop should be getting an email notice of what I'm posting below so they can come prepared by pre-reading and viewing the works I'll be referencing.

I'm posting it here for convenience, since the ACFW Conference cannot post it on their website. In case you're wondering if you want to attend (my workshop) the following provides the antecedents of my examples.  If  you want to know "generally" the outline of my workshop you can read about that HERE. Although what I do in St. Louis will be significantly abbreviated due to time and revised to include some novels in the mix.

I've also decided to spend more time than I have in the past on examples and clips, since SHOWING is far better than TELLING. (As a writer, have you heard someone tell you that before?)  I love sharing this stuff and revealing the secrets of what makes great stories and movies. The title of my talk will be The Top 20 Secrets to Successful Storytelling (in Movies and Print).

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Early Bird Workshop Reading/Viewing List

ACFW Conference September 22, 2011

Dear Early Bird Attendees:

In the course of the few hours we will spend together exploring the world of story structure, and the magic of moral and physical premises, I will reference a number of motion pictures and novels. You will get more out of the workshop if you are familiar with the following works. I am listing them in two categories:

I will spend the most time on these works:

• “Where the Heart Is” (novel by Billie Letts)

and the following movies

• DIE HARD (Bruce Willis)
• KARATE KID 2010 (Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan)
• RATATOUILLE  (Pixar)
• WHERE THE HEART IS (Natalie Portman)

I will mention these works but not spend as much time on them:

•  “The Mark of the Lion” novel series by Francine Rivers

and the following movies:

• A BEAUTIFUL MIND (Russell Crowe, Ed Harris)
• BRUCE ALMIGHTY (Jim Carrey)
• CITY SLICKERS (Billy Crystal)
• CITY SLICKERS II (Billy Crystal)
• CRAZY HEART (Jeff Bridges)
• DATE NIGHT (Steve Carell, Tina Fey)
• GRAN TORINO (Clint Eastwood)
• IN THE BEDROOM (Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek)
• LIAR! LIAR! (Jim Carrey)
• MY NAME IS EARL (TV) (Jason Lee)
• PRECIOUS (Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey)
• THE BLIND SIDE (Sandra Bullock, Quinton Araron)
• THE INCREDIBLES (Pixar)
• WHAT WOMEN WANT (Mel Gibson, Helen Hunt)

I’m looking forward to meeting you and sharing with you the excitement and focus that this workshop will give your story writing.

Please share this with your other writing friends and associates.

Stan