Write Productively, Meet Your
Deadlines and Finally Cross That #@*&%
Writing Project
Off Your To-Do List!
In June 2010,
transform your relationship with writing -
guaranteed.
Is writing
painful for you, something you dread and
put off as long as possible? Something
that always takes laborious effort, resulting in
cramped and convoluted text that
neither you nor others are happy
with?
Or perhaps you
love to write - at least the initial stages
where you blissfully express your heart out or
explore ideas you're excited about. Then
you get bogged down later in the process.
SORRY,
Registration for the live class beginning June 1
is now closed. Please consider instead the
home-study version of the material, described
near the bottom of this page.
Either way,
imagine knowing how to get started, how to keep
your momentum going and how to take each writing
project to the finish line so it communicates
what you wanted to say, clearly and
effectively.
Imagine too
knowing how to wend your way past your personal
obstacles, whether those fall into the category
of lingering childhood bugaboos or practical
conundrums like feeling too busy to carve
out time for writing.
One month after
the Complete
Your Writing Projects seminar starts, you'll
have new writing routines, new skills, greater
confidence about writing and many more terrific
pages of writing than before piling up.
And you benefit from the seminar without having to leave your home or
office!
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"'Complete Your
Writing Projects' gave me processes to use when I get stuck
and useful tips for time management. During the course I became
'unstuck' on a book project I had started a long time ago and regained my passion for
the topic. Even better, I now have tools I can use in the future when I'm
struggling with a writing project or unable to prioritize. Thanks,
Marcia!" - Cheryl Rainey, Tallahassee, FL |
A Field-tested, Validated
Program
The Complete
Your Writing Projects seminar is based on a
course I originally taught at Radcliffe Career
Services, part of Harvard University, years ago. Professors and doctoral
students from Harvard, Brandeis, M.I.T., Babson
and the University of Massachusetts learned to disregard
their writing demons and move along their
"publish or perish" projects more efficiently, improving both the
quality and the quantity of their
writing.
In 2009, I
revamped the course for a teleseminar format and
tested it with a small group of people with
varying backgrounds from all over the
country. Their progress was just as
impressive as with the original course
structure.
What You Learn
Here is the
class-by-class outline for the upcoming June
2010
incarnation of Complete Your
Writing Projects. It takes place in four
60-80 minute telephone conference calls, with
short instructional emails in between:
Session #1:
Examine Fears and Misconceptions about Writing
Catalog your fears, likes and dislikes when
it comes to writing so you can replace
misconceptions with more realistic ideas and
productive expectations. Find out which
commonly held beliefs and expectations about
writing are surprisingly untrue - and
why. Learn (and put to work) the
never-fail secret for resuming work or getting
started on a long-stalled writing project.
Examples of
famous writers with little-known productivity
triggers and stories of people I've worked with
make this session practical and inspiring rather than
theoretical.
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"I had been writing lots but publishing none of it - I just couldn't seem
to finish any of the topics. Now I can. Some of the course
techniques also helped me get to the point and inject interesting points to
make my content less boring. Already this week I have finished the content
of five web pages that had been sitting around for a couple months,
unfinished. The ideas are flowing again, the inspiration has returned. In the future
I will approach writing with far more pleasure and much less
trepidation. Good stuff!" - Linda Popovich, Bothell, WA |
Session #2:
Learn Quick Writing Techniques
Discover - and practice - five ways to get
chunks of writing done in a very small amount of
time. Use your current writing
project for these exercises if you like. I'll tell you the advantages
and disadvantages of each exercise, so you know
which ones match which writing purposes, as you
assess which techniques click best for
you.
Between sessions,
you find half-hour chunks of time in which to
apply the exercises you like best to your
real-life writing project.
Session #3:
Overcome Psychological and Practical Obstacles
Fear of criticism holds back many writers,
so we'll look at that and disarm your critics
(whether living or dead) during this session. You
consider other psychological blocks and
inventory practical obstacles.
Trust me - it
feels fun and liberating as we come up with
options and solutions for even the toughest
hindrances and hurdles, such as lack of time,
too many ideas, no child care or no place to
write. Between sessions,
you continue making gains on your writing
project.
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Acclaim for the
Complete Your Writing Projects
Perspective
An audio cassette tape incorporating
many of the ideas in this seminar made
the rounds of the writing world prior to
the rise of the Internet. It
became a selection of the Writers Digest
Book Club and was offered in the Sounds
True catalog. Best-selling mystery
author Sue Grafton called my approach "excellent." Years later
I met published writers who told me they
had listened to my soothing words on tape
every night before going to sleep. |
Session #4:
Create and Maintain Writing Momentum
Learn why productive writing that pleases
both you and readers involves a balance between
inspiration and discipline and get guidelines
for creating a comfortable equilibrium between
those elements. Find out why "energy
engineering" can be as vital to your
writing progress as time and a conducive space.
As in the
previous three classes, you receive a wide range
of suggestions for forging ahead and staying on
course through the final stages of your writing
project.
With these four
classes behind you, your writing projects take
less time, are better focused and involve more
pleasure and less pain. For many people,
greater productivity translates into lower life
stress and higher earnings.
The four
teleclasses take place the first four Tuesdays in
June at 5 p.m. Eastern time (4 p.m.
Central, 3 p.m. Mountain, 2 p.m. Pacific, 10
p.m. GMT). That's June 1, 8, 15 and 22. Can't make
all the class
sessions? Each session is recorded, and
you can listen (or re-listen) to it on a special
replay line at a time convenient for you.
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"There were two techniques in the course I 'bonded with' immediately: outlining articles, websites, and even books in just 20 minutes (yes, 20
minutes is enough to provide a good solid skeleton), and doing fact-checking
after I've finished writing for the day, and thus not getting distracted or
losing the flow of my writing. I've been using those two techniques in
almost everything I write, and they have made my writing much, much more
efficient." - Sue Schopp,
Arlington, MA |
More Than a Class, It's
Three-Way Instruction
Complete Your
Writing Projects is more than a one-way
lecture course. Each telephone session
includes the opportunity to share experiences,
ask questions and request solutions. In
addition, throughout the course participants can
email me questions, and I answer
all the ones that have general relevance in
between-session emails for the whole group.
These
supplementary emails -
always short and to the point -
include additional self-awareness exercises,
checklists, stories, reminders or resources for
further reading.
You also have the
option to team up with one other person - your
"writing buddy" - and talk to each
other between sessions by telephone (best) or
email (second best) to further process and
integrate what you're learning.
Experts say it
takes 28 days to build new habits, and by the
end of June 2010, you can expect to have a
markedly different experience of writing from
what you had before the seminar began.
Everything
described up to here - the four teleclasses, the
replay line, the between-sessions emails and
being teamed up with a writing buddy - is yours
in the basic or "Just Learning"
version of the seminar for $197.
Plus One-on-Ones and Extra
Resources for 10 People
Want even more
assistance in transforming your relationship
with writing or with getting your
soon-to-be-completed work out to the
marketplace?
I've created ten slots for a
deluxe or "Ready for Action" version
of the seminar. In addition to everything
described above, this also includes a private
one-hour telephone consultation with me (value:
$300) on refining your writing process,
resolving a dilemma about a specific writing
project or getting my advice on how to pursue
publication in today's maze of publishing
options.
In this upgraded
option, you also receive my studio-recorded Become
a More Productive Writer four-CD course in a
boxed album, which overlaps somewhat with the
content of the live class sessions but is
organized for repeat listening. It normally
sells for $147. Additionally, you receive a free
demo copy of a software program that helps you
organize a writing project of any size and a
one-hour CD interview (value: $47) with a
colleague of mine on how she completed eight
books in 18 months.
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"Working through Marcia's 'Become a More Productive Writer'
audio course
permanently improved my writing process, not just by speeding it up,
but by making it less frustrating. The self-paced exercises pushed me
to try out an amazing variety of mental tools, which I now have at my
disposal every time I sit down to write. Highly recommended." - Jean
Moroney, President, Thinking Directions |
Enrollment in the
deluxe or "Ready for Action" version
of the seminar costs $497 and is open to 10
people - first come,
first served. We'll schedule your
one-on-one consultation at a mutually agreeable
date and time sometime before the end of July.
Your Satisfaction is Doubly
Guaranteed
If you've read
this far, you're definitely interested in
transforming your relationship with
writing. To take away the risk of signing
up, I offer the following
strong-as-steel double guarantee.
Your first
guarantee: Sign up for either the
"Just Learning" or "Ready for
Action" version of the seminar and attend
the first teleclass meeting. If you don't
feel excited about the session and confident
about the value of the rest of the course for
you, simply tell me by midnight June 1st and
I'll refund everything you paid - and thank you
for having given it a try.
Your second
guarantee: Attend all four class
meetings, and if
you don't feel you made the progress you
expected, tell me by midnight June 22nd and
I'll refund 100% of your seminar fee.
After June 22nd at midnight, there are no
refunds.
Essentially I am
guaranteeing that the seminar improves your
relationship with writing. If that's a
result you want, sign up for the seminar
while there's still space available!
Can't Make the Seminar
Meetings?
If the time slot
at which I've scheduled the weekly telephone
sessions doesn't work for you, consider these
two options.
First, if you
have to miss one or more of the class meetings,
you'll have a replay number you can use to
listen to the recorded session whenever it's
convenient for you, any day of the week, up till
the next scheduled class session. If you
attended and would like to listen to all or part
of the session again for reinforcement, you can
call into the replay line for that purpose as well.
Second, if you
prefer a self-study option, you can purchase my
studio-recorded four-audio course, Become a More
Productive Writer, which covers many of the
same issues as Complete Your Writing Projects,
without the interaction, for just $147 plus
shipping. Details
on the previously recorded, self-study course.
Reserve Your Spot Now -
Enrollment is Strictly Limited
If you are ready to
transform your relationship with writing, sign
up for Complete Your Writing Projects today!
Select the version of the seminar that best
meets your needs:
1)The Ready
for Action deluxe version of the live course,
$497 - only 10 spots available!
This includes the four-session live course
described above PLUS a one-hour private
telephone consultation on your writing PLUS my previously recorded four-CD course,
Become a More
Productive Writer, sent to you at the
conclusion of the live course, with free
shipping. All this comes with the double
guarantee described above. SIGN
UP NOW.
2)The Just
Learning basic version of the live course, $197
This consists of the four-session live course
described above, but no one-on-one consultation
and no CDs. Your enrollment is covered by
the double guarantee described above. SIGN
UP NOW. 3)The
Self-Study version, $147 (plus shipping)
This gets you my
studio-recorded four-CD course, Become a More
Productive Writer, which contains many of
the ideas in Complete Your Writing Projects
in a format suitable for self-study. If it
doesn't improve your writing process, return it
within a year for a full refund.
ORDER
NOW.
Questions? Email
me and I'll answer.
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