04/10/10 Arlington, OH: Revision 9-1-1 Workshop: Intensive Care for your Work-in-Progress

Saturday, April 10, 2010 (8:30AM – 12:45PM)
Arlington, OH
Revision 9-1-1 Workshop: Intensive Care for your Work-in-Progress

• Tired of rejections?
• Manuscript stuck?
• Can’t look at your work objectively?

In this intensive 4-hour workshop, author and writing coach Cynthea Liu shows you how to revise your ailing work into submission-shape! You will learn how to quickly identify issues with voice, setting, plot, character through real-life examples, and Cynthea will share smart revision techniques to heal manuscripts as painlessly as possible. She’ll also point out symptoms most people casually push aside that shouldn’t be ignored.

• You must bring a completed or work-in-progress fiction children’s or teen manuscript to the workshop (no magazine stories or poetry, please. Rhyming picture books are okay, though. In fact, bring ‘em on!).
• You are encouraged to submit a first page. Cynthea will read first pages, critique them for you, and select some for ANONYMOUS discussion throughout the workshop.
• You must come with a positive attitude, and you must have skin as thick as a Brontosaurus because Cynthea promises to be 100% candid about your writing.
• You must be prepared to work, learn, and laugh because we will be having some fun!*

Class is limited to 30 participants. This ensures maximum interaction between instructor and student.

Cynthea will also be offering paid manuscript critiques (up to ten double-spaced pages), which includes a written critique AND a 15-minute phone consult. You must turn in your manuscript by 03/10/10.

Snoop

Finally, this workshop is not for just anyone. By attending, you must agree to take The Solemn Critiquee Oath:

• I shall not shed a single tear upon reading my critique
• I shall remember I am asking for only one opinion. That is all.
• I shall not take any comments personally as some of Cynthea’s comments could be perceived as offensive and
• I shall allow Cynthea’s rabbit Snoop to consume the manuscript if he so wishes.

About Cynthea Liu

Cynthea Liu

Cynthea Liu left a career as a technology consultant to become a children’s book writer, proving that anyone, no matter how inexperienced, can write for children if one has the drive and the patience to learn. She obtained a literary agent within her first year as a writer and sold two novels soon after at auction to the Penguin Group (PARIS PAN TAKES THE DARE, Putnam, 2009 and WHAT I DIDN’T TELL YOU, 2011). Her third book sold to Penguin on proposal (THEGREAT CALL OF CHINA, Speak, 2009).

Writing for Children and Teens: A Crash Course

Cynthea is also the author of WRITING FOR CHILDREN AND TEENS: A CRASH COURSE, Pivotal, 2008) and the woman behind the popular web site www.WritingforChildrenandTeens.com where she and her bunny Snoop freely dispense writing advice. They have critiqued over a thousand writing samples from web site followers, and Cynthea has seen some of her most devout tiquees go on to sell their manuscripts, ranging from picture book to YA novels, to major publishing house.

Her long-time critique partner Tammi Sauer (who has sold six picture books in the last three years to Simon & Schuster, Dutton, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Bloomsbury) calls Cynthea ,”GOLD!”

What the “critiquees” say …

“You critiqued three chapters of my MG story … and your critique was one of the things that inspired me to work on this story last year … Fast forward to this year. I finished the story, sent it to my agent, who sold the story … ” – now published MG author with Roaring Brook Press and Scholastic

“THE most thoughtful critique I’ve ever, ever gotten, and I’ve gotten a lot … lately all I’ve been getting is pats on the back for my WIP, and while they feel great, I knew the first draft of my new story wasn’t perfect … So your comments are so very appreciated.” — now published YA author of three books with G.P. Putnam’s Sons

“ It’s funny the mixture of emotions a crit can make me feel. Kind of hurt/pissed off first when I don’t get an automatic gold star. Then embarrassed at all the mistakes. Humbled. And now … ecstatic. Because you were so right about [X] … just that one pointer I think is going to make this story so much better.” – YA author under-contract with a three-book deal from Hyperion

How to Register

Only online registrations are accepted through the SCBWI-Central and Southern Ohio website. You do NOT have to be an SCBWI member to register. If you would like to receive a critique (to be delivered at the workshop), please make sure you select the correct option.

Click here to register for the workshop (critique optional).
Click here for instructions on how to turn in a first page for anonymous discussion.