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Long Ridge Writers Group

This writing program prepares
you for success

 

The 450-page course manual for Breaking into Print contains 12 send-in assignments grouped in three major blocks of instruction in the techniques of writing fiction and nonfiction.

More than 75 skill-building exercises and over 50 tips on writing techniques are included. You’ll also receive 10 textbooks, 15 instructional supplements, nearly 200 sources for further study, and an exclusive guide to the more than 1,800 publications most likely to buy your writing.

With these carefully selected tools and the expert guidance of your personal instructor, you’ll achieve—and perhaps exceed—the goals of this program:

By the time you finish our program, you will complete at least two manuscripts suitable to submit to editors. You’ll also write a character sketch, plans for six stories and articles, and eight complete manuscripts.
 

Part 1: Writing for your reader

You sharpen your powers of descriptive writing, draw on your personal experience for story and article material, and learn the discipline of writing to a word count.

Your instructor will show you how to establish professional work habits to make the most of your time.

 

You learn how to plan and construct stories and articles, how to catch the reader’s interest, how to build to a climax, and how to write a satisfying ending. You are taught how to look for detail with a writer’s eye and how to use these details in forceful, effective fiction and nonfiction.

The ability to perceive and examine your surroundings for article and story material is taught in the program manual and through analyzing published stories to compare the techniques used by professional authors.

 
  Your program includes the 450-page Breaking into Print instruction manual; Searching: A Research Guide for Writers, a handbook of techniques and sources, including how to use the Internet as a research tool; and Best of the Magazine Markets for Writers, our up-to-date guide to more than 1,800 selected freelance markets in 92 distinctive genres and categories.

 

This section demonstrates that there are innumerable imaginative ways of finding ideas and infinite varieties of methods for developing rough concepts into polished writing.

 

Techniques taught in Part 1

  • observing with a writer’s eye

  • using sensory detail

  • specific vs. general language

  • showing vs. telling

  • setting a scene

  • using dialogue/quotes

  • “hook” beginnings/satisfying endings

  • correct manuscript format
  • analyzing a magazine’s makeup
  • identifying popular market types of fiction/nonfiction
  • assembling a magazine “library”
  • analyzing magazines in detail
  • finding new ideas
  • tying ideas to markets
Fiction techniques
  • developing truth into fiction
  • character motivation
  • defining the story problem/conflict
  • inner as well as outer conflict
  • plot complications
  • plausible resolutions
  • “headlining” your story idea
  • three-part story structure
  • 1st- vs. 3rd-person narrative
  • from anecdote to plot
  • creating a conflict
  • scenes as building blocks
  • transitions
  • single viewpoint and other choices
  • using flashbacks
  • eliminating “stage directions”
  • revision guides
  • types of story openings
  • writing a story summary
Nonfiction techniques
  • finding an idea
  • finding a slant
  • three-part article structure
  • using anecdotes and quotes
  • dynamic titles
  • factual accuracy
  • “headlining” your article idea
  • the dynamic lead
  • types of organization
  • paragraphing
  • transitions
  • brief endings
  • eliminating clutter
  • revision guides
  • types of article openings
  • writing an article summary
plus . . .
  • proofreaders’ marks
  • Story Planning Chart
  • Article Planning Chart
  • magazine description forms
  • character sketch form
  • technique highlights
  • style tips
  • computer tips
  • time management tips

 

You begin your training by mastering the basics of good writing. Then, with steady guidance from your personal instructor, you’ll explore various forms of fiction and nonfiction writing to help you find the niche that fits your personal and professional goals and aspirations.

 

Part 2: Finding your own fiction genre or nonfiction category
 Your writing takes on a new dimension in this section of the program. You move from a generalized plan to writing a manuscript targeted to a specific readership. Your growing skills in using effective techniques and your increasing knowledge of markets help point the way to your individual writing strengths.

 

You learn the techniques of identifying the market for which you want to write by using a directory published by Long Ridge Writers Group titled The Best of the Magazine Markets for Writers.

You learn how to tailor your manuscript to fit the editorial requirements of specific publications, when and how to write a query letter, and where to send it.
 
  Your textbooks include Voices, three volumes of exemplary fiction and nonfiction that are key to your search for a genre or category that is best for you.

 

You explore the vast and varied nonfiction markets—its unique features relative to the market for fiction writing—and learn to apply the techniques and skills you have developed to prepare saleable articles.

You discover why nonfiction is a very responsive and growing market, particularly for new authors.

 

Techniques taught in Part 2
Fiction techniques
  • enhancing conflict
  • plotting twists and turns
  • building to a dramatic climax
  • endings: plausibility, inevitability
  • point and meaning
  • emotion and story drive
  • secondary characters
  • dynamic dialogue
  • inner dialogue
  • selective use of setting
  • scene construction
  • playing “what if?”
  • choosing between 1st- and 3rd-person modes
  • scenes: mixing action, dialogue, narrative, and inner narrative
  • when to show and when to tell
  • revision strategies
  • the right title
Nonfiction techniques
  • the how-to article
  • the informational article
  • setting a scene
  • the personality profile
  • quoting and paraphrasing
  • action, anecdotes, humor
  • clarity and pace
  • self-editing
  • types of nonfiction markets
  • targeting a readership
  • targeting a specific magazine
  • fresh vs. predictable slants
  • strong vs. weak leads
  • research strategies
  • writing a query letter
  • sidebars and subheads
  • revision strategies
  • the right title
plus . . .
  • character sketch form
  • Research Strategy Plan
  • Magazine Choice Forms
  • sample query letters
  • technique highlights
  • style tips
  • computer tips
  • time management tips
At the end of Part 2 you will have reached a milestone: the completion of two articles or stories, edited and targeted to the market.

 

Part 3: Writing for editors and publishers
The objective of the program and the challenge to you and your instructor is to develop your skills, resources, and work habits to a level that will prepare you to continue writing—independently—long after you complete your training.

Focusing on the special strengths and interests you developed in the program, you complete three additional manuscripts and devise a strategy for marketing them.

 
  Four contemporary classics, specially selected to complement the program, are included in your materials.

 

Techniques taught in Part 3
  • analyzing your strengths and weaknesses
  • analyzing magazine guidelines
  • researching local markets
  • a professional writer’s resource bank
  • staking out and furnishing an office
  • revising an editorial request
  • self-promotion
  • copyrights and contracts
  • taxes and accounting
  • commercial writing as a financial mainstay
  • professional ethics
Fiction techniques
  • open-ended plot structure
  • pros and cons of experimentation
  • combining dialogue with action and thought
  • more on viewpoint choices/techniques
  • manipulating time: flashbacks and foreshadowing
  • creating key scenes
  • testing your story’s effectiveness
  • genres revisited, with marketing pointers
  • warm-ups to maintain and sharpen skills
Nonfiction techniques
  • creative nonfiction
  • slanting a familiar topic
  • the personal experience article
  • 7 types of leads
  • an upbeat slant
  • testing your article’s effectiveness
  • adult reading levels
  • more on transitions
  • focus, coherence, and unity—from lead into body of article
  • categories revisited, with marketing pointers
  • spin-offs from research
  • finding a hook for your query letter
plus . . .
  • more sample query letters
  • revision checklist
  • Magazine Choice Forms
  • story summary/article idea sheets
  • Record of Submissions Form
  • Record of Expenses Form
  • technique highlights
  • style tips
  • selected bibliography
  • Course Index
Long Ridge’s coveted diploma will be awarded to you when you complete the program.

 

After you find your writing niche, you’ll study the markets and publications in it that welcome freelance manuscripts. By the time you finish the program, you’ll complete at least two manuscripts—fiction, nonfiction, or one of each—that are ready
to submit for publication.

 

It is of great importance that you adjust your study hours to your schedule and work at a rate you find comfortable. Your work pace and rate of progress are up to you.

Remember, the essentials of this program are flexibility and individual instruction designed to meet your personal and professional goals and aspirations.

 

 

 

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LongRidge Writers Group
91 Long Ridge Road, West Redding, Connecticut 06896
Telephone: 1-800-624-1476 ~ Fax: 203-792-8406
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