Teresa Jade LeYung's BLOG

Posts Tagged ‘fiction’

January 2020

Michael Larsen and his wife Elizabeth Pomada are two of the most big-hearted people I know.

Take a look at Michael Larsen Author Coaching
michaellarsenauthorcoaching.com

Over the decades, coaching his clients, and, giving his time at writers’ organizations, conferences, conventions, Michael Larsen must have inspired tens of thousands of writers.

 Michael Larsen says:

“Now is the best time ever for you to be a writer. I love helping writers to earn the recognition and rewards they deserve. After 43 years as an agent, I’m now eager to do it as a writer, co-founder of San Francisco Writers Conference and San Francisco Writing For Change Conference, and a coach for fiction and nonfiction writers. I can help you understand and meet the challenges you face, and take advantages of the amazing opportunities waiting for you.

• Developing your craft
• Being clear about your literary and publishing goals
• Figuring out the best publishing option for you and your book
• Getting the best possible agent, editor, publisher, and deal for your book
• Learning the fastest way to build the writing career you want
• Having a positive but realistic perspective about publishing.

Your success will be my success.”

https://larsenauthorcoaching.com/coaching/

How to Write a Book Proposal, 5th Edition, by Jody Rein with Michael Larsen
How to Get a Literary Agent  (3rd edition) by Michael Larsen
Guerrilla Marketing for Authors: 100 Weapons for Selling Your Work (coauthor) (2nd edition)
Writing Success Guaranteed: How to Deal Yourself Five Hearts to Win the Publishing Game by Michael Larsen (In progress)

Theme Consultant Teresa Jade LeYung salutes Hero Michael Larsen for coaching authors!

Sincerely,

Teresa Jade LeYung

photo of Teresa Jade LeYung by Mary E. Knippel http://yourwritingmentor.com/

As a story theme consultant, award-winning writer, and platform-building coach for pre-published and published authors,  Writing Coach TERESA JADE LEYUNG empowers her clients to identify their core themes in their manuscripts and career mapping.
http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog

“April 2, 2017 Writer’s Life Conference, California Writers’ Club for Fiction and Nonfiction Authors,” says Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

The one-day writers’ conference to help authors before and after publication. Learn from experts in the industry.

http://cwcmarin.com/writerslife/

Conference Chair – Dr. Joan Steidinger

Keynote Speaker

CONSTANCE HALE “The Seven Stages of Manuscript Grief”

Presenters

LINDA WATANABE MCFERRIN “Writing about Places Real and Imagined”

ROBERT PIMM – literary and trademark attorney

MARY RAKOW, Ph.D. – freelance editor

TANYA EGAN GIBSON - freelance editor

DAVID COLIN CARR - freelance editor

TERESA LEYUNG-RYAN  “Where Are YOU and Your THEMES on Your Writer’s Platform-Building Journey?”

JENNIFER MARCH SOLOWAY is an associate agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

ANDY ROSS started his literary agency in February, 2008. Prior to becoming an agent, Andy was the owner of Cody’s Books in Berkeley, California for 30 years.

The Writer’s Life Conference sponsored by California Writers Club–Marin Branch  at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista, Corte Madera, CA

If you miss this writers’ conference, here are other opportunities to attend my presentation “Where Are YOU & Your THEMES on Your Writer’s Platform-Building Journey?” and meet the members of these writers’ organizations:

• June 11, 2017, 1:00-6:00pm Writers Mini Conference at San Mateo County Fair Literary Stage https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2017/literary_17.pdf
  
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• July 10, 2017 Sacramento Suburban Writers Club, Fair Oaks, CA) http://www.sactowriters.org/

Cheering for all writers and readers!

Reach out, not stress out.

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

I am Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan who teaches my clients (writers, artists) how to reach out, not stress out, before and after publication — identify themes in their intellectual properties and create scripts for pitches, query letters, press releases, talking-points, one-minute videos, photo slideshows, and the all-mighty blog. Please visit http://WritingCoachTeresa.com  and http://LoveMadeOfHeart.com/blog for resources.

The workbook:
Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW – available at http://www.laurelbookstore.com in Oakland, CA and http://www.bookpassage.com in Corte Madera, CA and on Amazon – print edition and Kindle edition!

If you’d like to email me . . .   WritingCoachTeresa  then @, then Gmail.com

• What email subject line will attract my attention?  Tell me where you’ve met me (which conference? which workshop? which community event?) or tell me who referred you.

•  In the body of your email, please include your full name and your URL (website or blog address) so that I can see what you’re already doing to build your writer’s platform and fanbase. I like concise and gracious emails. Thank you so much.

Here is a timely reminder from the gracious team at  2015 San Francisco Writers Conference

“Early Bird Rate expires on December 31, 2014 at midnight. The registration fee until then is $650.  On January 1, 2015 it goes up to $745. And yes, we are selling out quickly so there may be no seats left at the at-the-door price of $795!  https://sfwriters.org/2015-registration-form/

To see the entire December 2014 newsletter from SFWC http://archive.aweber.com/sfwcnewsletter

 

Author & Fanbase-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says “Treat yourself to 2015 San Francisco Writers Conference”

Look at who the keynote speakers are!  John Lescroart! Yiyun Li! Michelle Richmond! Helene Wecker! Judith Curr of Atria Books!

Mary E. Knippel and I (Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan) and our colleagues will see you there. Please look for our names in the program and check out our presentations and classes.

Author & Fanbase-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says “Treat yourself to 2015 San Francisco Writers Conference”

Teresa LeYung-Ryan “Platform & Fanbase-Building Coach Teresa” is

author of:

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW (workbook)

Love Made of Heart: a Mother’s Mental Illness Forges Forgiveness in Daughter Ruby (novel used by college professors)

Coach Teresa’s Blog at http://writingcoachTeresa.com

creator of:

“Talking to My Dead Mom” (monologues)

“Immigrant Experience Writing Contest”

past officer of Women’s National Book Association-SF Chapter

past president of California Writers Club-SF Peninsula Branch

recipient of the Jack London Award for outstanding service

                                                                       Thank you, California Writers Club Member Eileen Shaine, for asking me to broadcast these writing contests!

 http://www.fcwriterscontest.org

Sponsored by the City of Foster City Parks and Recreation Department

Contest Fee: $10 per entry
First Place: $250; Second Place: $100

Prizes to be awarded in the following three categories:

FICTION: Personal experiences developed as fiction, have proven to be popular favorites in this category. Not to exceed 3000 words in length.

PERSONAL ESSAY: A personal essay should reflect the writer’s personal outlook on life as gained through personal experience but it must not be an editorial/opinion piece, a proposal to solve an existing geopolitical problem or a dogmatic expression of opinion. Stories in these categories may be written in any narrative point of view, and must not exceed 3000 words in length.

POETRY: Submissions to the Poetry category may be rhymed, metered or free verse on any topic desired by the writer. Poems may be written in any narrative point of view. Typed manuscripts must use double-spacing between lines, quadruple-spacing between stanzas and must not exceed 500 words or two double-spaced pages using a 12 point font.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION GUIDELINES:

Manuscripts must be original, previously unpublished, and in English. They must be double spaced on 8.5 x 11 inch white paper with the pages numbered at the top right hand corner. Contestant’s name must not appear on the manuscript. No graphics or illustrations on manuscripts, please. Judges reserve the right to place manuscripts in more appropriate categories. Manuscripts not conforming to said guidelines will be reviewed only at the judging staff’s discretion. Contest judges are not eligible to participate in this contest.

ENTRY FORMS AND FEES:
Entry forms can be obtained either online at the website or by sending a request to the contest email address: <fostercity_writers@yahoo.com> or send a request for an entry form along with a self addressed, stamped envelope to the City of Foster City address (seen below).

A non-refundable entry fee of $10 must be submitted for each entry, made payable to “City of Foster City.” If submitting multiple entries, please remit only one check. International entrants (including those from Canada and Mexico) must submit an international money order in US funds. No credit card payments. Mail your completed entry form and manuscript to:

Foster City International Writers’ Contest
c/o Foster City Parks and Recreation Department
650 Shell Boulevard, Foster City, CA 94404 USA

ONLINE ENTRY SUBMISSION:
Please send manuscript as an attachment (RTF, Word [DOC], PDF, or TXT format) to <fostercity_writers@yahoo.com>. In the email subject line include: Writer’s Contest Entry, Category and your name. Please retain copies of manuscripts as they cannot be returned. Please mail the check along with your completed entry form to Foster City Parks and Recreation.

DEADLINES AND NOTIFICATION OF WINNERS:
Manuscripts will be accepted through September 13, 2013 (postmarks accepted). Manuscripts without fees will not be accepted. Only winners will be notified. Each winner must provide a social security number or the equivalent in order to receive the cash prize. For any general contest information please call: 650.349.0388.

Cheers to all contestants and contest creators and sponsors!

Before you send off your submission . . .  if you’re near San Mateo, CA, please attend my editing workshop on June 8, 2013 on the Literary Arts Stage in the Fine Arts Galleria at the San Mateo County Fair, San Mateo, CA – click here for more info.

Edit Your Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction and Prescriptive Nonfiction with Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa

22-Day Writers’ Platform & Fanbase-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says:

“Build your writer’s platform and work on the craft, simultaneously with ease.  I’m cheering for you!”

http://writingcoachteresa.com  for Coach Teresa’s list of events; see how she helps her clients.

http://www.facebook.com/Teresa.LeYung.Ryan

Update: Colleagues Leon Veal, Judith Marshall, Chandra Garsson, Sheryl Fairchild, Susan Pace-Koch, Dave LaRoche, and of course Cindy Sample and Jennifer Walker have sent their good wishes to Margie Yee Webb via my facebook posting of this blog post.

Margie Yee Webb, author of Cat Mulan’s Mindful Musings: Insight and Inspiration for a Wonderful Life, enjoys promoting her book in person.

Margie says: “I am so excited since I have seen some authors at Apple Hill before and wanted to do an event there. So when Cindy Sample asked me, I said yes!”

10th Annual Art in the Orchard
September 8 & 9, 2012
11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Author Appearance and Book Signing
Rainbow Orchards – #10
2569 Larsen Drive
Camino, CA 95709

Local Authors  Margie Yee Webb (Cat Mulan’s Mindful Musings: Insight and Inspiration for a Wonderful Life), Cindy Sample (Dying for a Dance and Dying for a Date) and Jennifer Walker (Bubba Goes National and Bubba to the Rescue) will be signing their books and talking to fans.

Click here Margie’s calendar of events for details of this fun event.

Click here for Margie Yee Webb’s website to see how this author builds her writer’s platform and fanbase

 

Click here for El Dorado Arts Council

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Then, on Saturday Sept. 22, 2012, 10:00am – 4:00pm Margie Yee Webb, Rita Lakin (Gladdy Gold mystery series) and I (Teresa LeYung-Ryan) will co-exhibit our books and have fun with our colleagues and fans at the Sonoma County Book Festival in Santa Rosa, CA.  Click here for my webpage of events.

Sincerely,

writers' platform-building coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: "Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams!"

As coach and author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW,  she says: “Whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, make your name synonymous with the issues you write about.”

Teresa has built her own platform happily. Her first novel Love Made of Heart  is used in college composition classes; available at public libraries; recommended by the CA School Library Association and the CA Reading Association; and archived at the San Francisco History Center. Love Made of Heart and her short play Answer Me Now carry the themes closest to her heart:  mother-daughter relationship; Chinese-American immigrant experience; helping adult-children (of mentally-ill parents) speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their loved ones.

Please visit Coach Teresa’s Events Page

http://WritingCoachTeresa.com  Click on “Coach Teresa’s Blog”

http://www.facebook.com/Teresa.LeYung.Ryan
http://www.youtube.com/teresaleyung

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Kim McMillon’s “Writers On Writing” event energizes, inspires, delights panelists and audience!

• Playwright and Arts In the Valley radio host Kim McMillon

• Award-winning Australian author and journalist Stephanie Dale will help authors find their inner voice as writers

• Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan will define “writer’s platform” and guide audience in an exercise to identify their fans, brands, and write their platform-statements (for authors of fiction and nonfiction, before and after publication ).
  

• Author and columnist Yolande Barial will demonstrate the importance of finding your passion

• Author and educator Joan Gelfand will deconstruct the process of getting published

• Poet and composer Judith Cody will discuss how to write for and publish an anthology

What else do Joan Gelfand, Yolande Barial and Teresa LeYung-Ryan have in common?  They are proud members of Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter!

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writers' platform-building coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: "Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams!"

Writers’ Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan . . . energized from being with writers today at Rockridge Library, Oakland, CA.

"Writers On Writing" panelists Teresa LeYung-Ryan, Joan Gelfand, producer Kim McMillon, Judith Cody, Stephanie Dale and Yolande Barial -- photo by Dave Peterson

Writers' Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan asks "What do fans do for you?"

Coach Teresa’s definition of Writer’s Platform:  “Making your name stand for something—to attract targeted consumers—who are likely to buy what you have to sell.”

Start with:  “I care about . . . ”

Example: (as a writer of fiction, narrative nonfiction, including memoirs )

I am Teresa LeYung-Ryan, author of Love Made of Heart.  I care about helping adult-children (of mentally-ill parents) speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their loved ones.

Example: (as a writer of prescriptive nonfiction  a.k.a. “how to” )

I am Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan, author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days.  I care about helping writers thrive in today’s publishing arena.

Your Turn:

Click on the blue title bar of this post so that you see the full post and empty boxes.
Please broadcast to my fans what you care about (themes you write about) by filling in the boxes:
•    your name; email address (you must have an email address in order to submit comments to a blog post)
•    your website address (you don’t have to have a website address to submit comments, but, do get one if you don’t already have one…my workbook shows you how to get a free site and what to do with it);
•    compose your comment ( copy your comment and save it for future use)
•    when you’re satisfied with your composition, click the “submit comment” button. Voila!
I will receive a notification that there’s a new comment waiting for me to moderate and publish.

Playwright and Arts In the Valley radio host Kim McMillon with Pat Lichter, Rockridge Branch Manager, Oakland Public Library

A room full of courageous writers at "Writers on Writing" (produced by Kim McMillon) at Oakland Library, Rockridge Branch, on 14 July 2012--photo by Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

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Dear Kim McMillon, thank you so much for having orchestrated the “Writers On Writing” panel.  Thank you, Rockridge Branch Manager Pat Lichter & Reggie!

Yours truly (Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan) had sooo much fun with Kim and fellow-panelists Yolande Barial, Joan Gelfand, Judith Cody, Stephanie Dale (from Australia!).  Seeing talented friends in the audience– Lori Overgaard Noack, Laurel Anne Hill, Sally, Rosie, D.C., Lakshmi Kerner, and all the brave writers in the room– made my heart sing!

Poet & Columnist Yolande Barial, Writers' Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan, and "My Video Talk" Rep. Lakshmi Kerner

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Teresa LeYung-Ryan, Kim McMillon, Sally Faubion, Rosie, Yolande Barial, Linda Messick, Judith Cody cheer for writers and readers --photo by Paradise

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Award-winning Australian author and journalist Stephanie Dale (My Pilgrim's Heart) chats with artist Wanda Sabir at "Writers On Writing"

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Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan with Cynthia Johnson-Colston (children's stories) at "Writers on Writing"

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Author Laurel Anne Hill (Heroes Arise) and Sally cheer for writers and readers at "Writers on Writing" July 14, 2012

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Author and educator Joan Gelfand inspires writers by deconstructing the process of getting published with the 4 Cs: craft; commitment; community; confidence -- photo by Dave Peterson

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Poet and columnist Yolande Barial uses humor and frankness to inspire writers at "Writers on Writing" produced by Kim McMillon - photo by Dave Peterson

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producer Kim McMillon introduces poet and composer Judith Cody at "Writers on Writing" photo by Dave Peterson

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Davida with poet/columnist Yolande Barial, artist Wanda Sabir and playwright/Arts In the Valley radio host Kim McMillon cheer for all writers at "Writers On Writing" -- photo by Writer's Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

courageous writers Kerry Messer and Molly Anne Messer show up at Kim McMillon's "Writers On Writing" -- photo by Writers' Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Writers who filled out my evaluation forms (thank you!), I’ll be emailing you more writer’s platform-building coaching tips.

Please send me facebook Friend’s Request so that we can connect and you can access photos from today’s “Writers On Writing”

Sincerely,

Writers’ Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

http://writingcoachteresa.com

Coach Teresa says: “I love helping writers build their platforms and published authors fortify theirs with individualized coaching.”

As coach and author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW, she advices: “Make your name synonymous with the issues you write about.”

Teresa has built her own platform happily; her novel Love Made of Heart and her short play Answer Me Now carry the theme closest to her heart: mother-daughter relationship.

Teresa LeYung-Ryan helps clients identify themes, universal archetypes, front-story and back-story in their manuscripts.

Coach Teresa, what happened on Feb. 16, 2012 at San Francisco Writers Conference?

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan here . . . this is what happened from my point of view. Tell me and my colleagues your point of view by submitting comments to this blog post.  How? Click on the blue title bar of this post, scroll down to get the boxes, fill in boxes and click on “submit comment” button.

I took BART into The City and then MUNI #1 to meet co-presenter & colleague Mary E. Knippel.  At 6:00pm we were to deliver BE YOUR OWN EDITOR at the San Francisco Writers Conference at the Mark Hopkins Hotel at top of Nob Hill.

Authentic details for writers who want to get to the top of Nob Hill: If you off-board BART at Embarcadero station, come up to street level that is closest to Drumm Street. Walk northward on Drumm, then westward on Sacramento Street (a one-way street). At Sacramento St. (near Davis St.), you’d catch the MUNI #1 bus that travels westward on Sacramento Street. $2 fare (driver gives  y0u a transfer that’s good for 4 hours).

The ride is about 10 blocks or .7 mile (through Financial District and Chinatown, and up the hills).  If you’re concerned about not knowing how to push the bell or pull the cord to request your stop, ask the bus driver or fellow passengers to look out for you. Off-board at Mason; walk a block southward on Mason to get to California St. (California St. is parallel to Sacramento St.).  Wait for signals to cross the street.  There you are–at the International Mark Hopkins.

As soon as you step onto the bricked courtyard, courteous hotel employees will greet you.

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Linda Lee and Jane Glendinning among the first to arrive to help make SFWC THE writers conference

Story Consultant and Writers' Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan happy to present at SFWC again

presenters Mary E Knippel & Linda Lee solve mystery over their luggage at Mark Hopkins

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I saw Laurie McLean, Barbara Santos & Richard Santos, Nina Amir, Neal Sofman, dear mentors Michael Larsen & Elizabeth Pomada, Stephanie Chandler and other colleagues.  Our session was to begin at 6:00pm.  Among the writers who attended our session “Be Your Own Editor” were memoirist Jing Li,  journalist and novelist Don Hudson and Margie Yee Webb (author of Cat Mulan’s Mindful Musings)!

Thank you, Patrick, for setting up the microphone–the room was long–without the microphone, the writers sitting in the back would have had difficulty hearing us.

Thank you to each writer in the room!  Here’s an offer to you if you were in our session on Feb. 16, 2012 –  I’ll be happy to read and give feedback to the first 2 pages (double spaced; pages numbered; manuscript title and your full name in the header) of your manuscript.  Email me: your full name; your project’s genre; list of your themes.  Then I’ll let you know when would be the best time to email me your first 2 pages. I’ll arrange my schedule so that I can focus on one writer a day.  My email address is at gmail.com  My User Name is:  WritingCoachTeresa

Session hand-out for Mary E. Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan’s presentation BE YOUR OWN EDITOR

Mary E. Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan
Being Your Own Editor
Ensure Your Manuscript 100% Ready For the Next Step
•    hire a book doctor/developmental editor OR
•     pitch to agents or acquisition editors OR
•     be  your own publisher

fiction / narrative nonfiction / prescriptive nonfiction (“how-to” books)

YOUR NAME: ______________________________ Your Project: ________________________________

Tool #1   Grounding Reader with the three Ws (Who? When? Where?)
Tool #2   Hooking Reader from first page to last with core theme and “What does Protagonist want?” (in prescriptive nonfiction “What does Reader need?”)
Tool #3     In Fiction & Narrative Nonfiction (both genres are forms of  “story-telling”) Who are your protagonist, antagonist, and other archetypes?
Tool #4    In Fiction & Narrative Nonfiction (front story / back story)
Tool #5    Foreshadows  Metaphors   Recurring Images
Tool #6    Authentic Details
Tool #7   Monologue   Dialogue   Vernacular
Tool #8   Misspelled words; misplaced modifiers; other frights

and 15 minutes for Questions & Answers

Thank you, dear mentors Michael Larsen & Elizabeth Pomada, for inviting Mary and me to deliver our signature presentation “Be Your Own Editor”!

Thank you, dear Birgit Soyka author of To Drink the Wild Air, for bringing your camera tripod!

Thank you, dear Margie Yee Webb, author of Cat Mulan’s Mindful Musings: Insight and Inspiration for a Wonderful Life, for introducing Mary and me, for taking photos, for having written the purr-fect gift book and letting me show in our session how every page of a prescriptive nonfiction book ought to contain inspiration, wisdom or a metaphor.

Thank you, Camille Thompson, columnist at SanRamonPatch.com, for your gracious help, making our session an enjoyable one.

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authors & story consultants Mary E. Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan use classics to draw examples for BE YOUR OWN EDITOR at SFWC--photo by author Margie Yee Webb

authors & story consultants Mary E. Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan give 8 tools at BE YOUR OWN EDITOR packed house session SFWC–photo by author Margie Yee Webb

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authors & story consultants Mary E Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan attract writers at BE YOUR OWN EDITOR packed house session SFWC-photo by author Margie Yee Webb

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testimonials from Mary E Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan's BE YOUR OWN EDITOR session

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Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: "Wearing your 2 hats as a writer---to polish your manuscript and to build your platform---can be as fun as riding a San Francisco cable car."

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Across the street at the Fairmont Hotel –  LEARNING & the BRAIN Conference–Connecting Educators to Neuroscientists and Researchers

Vehicular traffic was blocked off in the area because President Obama was to speak at the Masonic Auditorium that evening!

Coach Teresa here took the cable car to go home and pack for Day II of San Francisco Writers Conference.  Please see next post.

Sincerely

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

“Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams!”

http://writingcoachteresa.com
author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

As editor/story consultant, Coach Teresa helps her clients polish their manuscripts by identifying themes and archetypes.

Her novel Love Made of Heart is used in college composition classes. Thank you, Teachers & Students!

Dear Writers,

Coach Teresa here . . . to encourage you to ask your protagonist “Who are you?”  and show up (with your writing instruments) so that she/he can answer your question over time.

Over time–You create the magical bond between you and your characters.

Whether the story is being presented as fiction or nonfiction . . .  Ask yourself:  “What incident shook my world (or someone I care about‘s world) and I must tell the story.”

With memoirs, the author and Protagonist are YOU. You ask yourself: “What happened to me?”  “How do I tell my story to hook Reader?” My answer is this: “You as Protagonist–stay in story-world. Move about in your story as though you do not know the ending. ‘Grow’ with yourself in story-world. No interjecting commentary from the author that would take us out of story-world. Let us see your story unfold as it happened. After all, you experienced the story in real life; to give us editorial comments as the “experienced one” will usually give the effect that an actor is stepping in front of the camera to interrupt (while the story is being played out in Reader’s mind’s eyes).

With novels, you created the protagonist.  Perhaps he/she was modeled after yourself; even if that weren’t the case, you the author get under his/her skin. Because you are writing fiction, you have the luxury of changing the sequence of events and the specifics of the events. Novel authors also must not interrupt the story with editorial comments that aren’t apropos for the plot point.

“What incident shook my world (or someone I care about‘s world) and I must tell the story.” In my novel Love Made of Heart, something happened to Protagonist Ruby Lin’s mother.  When Ruby finds out what has shaken her mother’s world, her own world also get jolted.

I’m reading Mary Jo McConahay’s memoir Maya Roads: One Woman’s Journey Among the People of the Rainforest and being hooked by her prologue.  The author was fascinated by an exhibit in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. So fascinated that she went back to the museum the next day to look at the representations of the indigenous Lacandón people, descendants of the ancient Maya.  “I must go there,” she told her sister.

I’m on page 7 of Mary Jo’s book–she has just met Moises Morales, an archaeoastronomer (one who studies ancient beliefs about the sky). I’m intrigued.

Coach Teresa Says To Ask My Protagonist: “Who Are You?”

Happy writing! Happy reading and researching! Happy rewriting!

If you need a story-consultant/editor, please review my webpage by clicking on this link.

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

“Reach out, not stress out, when pursuing your dearest dreams!”

http://writingcoachteresa.com
author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days