Writers Boot Camp

For Seattle-area writers, WRITERS BOOT CAMP with author BOB MAYER is an intensive five-week writing series every Tuesday evening in March at Bellevue Library. Organized by the King County Library System.

Registration required. To register, click on each of the date links below. Books will be for sale at these workshops.

New York Times bestselling author Bob Mayer has over three million books in print. He travels frequently as a leadership speaker, consultant and writing workshop presenter. He graduated from West Point and served in the military as a Special Forces A-Team leader and a teacher at the JFK Special Warfare Center & School. His latest book is Who Dares Wins: The Green Beret Way to Conquer Fear & Succeed.

Tuesday, March 2, 7-9pm
The Original Idea and Conflict: The Core of Writing and Selling Your Book:
Can you say what your book is about in 25 words or less? This is essential to both writing a tight book and then selling it. Discover ways to find and state your original idea so you stay on course while writing the book. Learn to use the Conflict Box to create conflict between your protagonist and antagonist.

Tuesday, March 9, 7-9pm
Outlining, Plot, and Writing Scenes: The Events of Your Story:
Before you begin writing your book, you should spend some time outlining and developing your story. Discuss types of outlines along with techniques for efficiently developing the strongest possible story based on your original idea. From the exciting opening that grabs the reader through the escalating conflict to the climactic scene and ending with the resolution—the entire structure of the novel with be covered with emphasis on hooks, the remote control effect, building suspense and creating satisfying endings.

Tuesday, March 16, 7-9pm
Character and Point of View:
The point of view you write in is your voice as a writer. This goes beyond just first person, third person and omniscient voices. The most critical component of a novel is character. Discover how to go from writing flat two-dimensional characters to vibrant three-dimensional ones.

Tuesday, March 23, 7-9pm
The Publishing Business for Writers: Selling your book, Marketing Yourself and Your Book:
Develop a writer friendly approach to marketing your book efficiently. Understand the flow of a query at a publishing house and how decisions are made to buy a book. Learn to create cover letters that grab the reader, how to do a one page synopsis, and other practical tools to sell your work. Discuss what you can do marketing-wise to be a success in this business and cover a variety of techniques from book-signings, media outlets, publicists and other innovative ways to promote your book. Learn up-to-date information on the publishing business including: Fee-charging agents; sell-through and sales numbers; E-books; print-on-demand; shrinking mid-lists; corporate mergers and self-publishing.

Tuesday, March 30, 7-9pm
Introduction to Warrior Writer:
For fiction and non-fiction authors, this is a workshop that focuses on educating writers about how to be authors. Warrior Writer is a holistic approach encompassing goals, intent, environment, personality, change, courage, communication and leadership that gives the writer a road map to becoming a successful author. Many writers are focused on either the writing or the business end. Warrior Writer integrates the two. Warrior-Writer fills a critical gap in the publishing industry paradigm. Discuss how to conquer the fears that hold writers back and how to set strategic and tactical goals.