How many ways can you say ____?

“He walked.” Really? Do you know there are over 115 ways to describe the way a person walks? Why should you limit yourself to using the same words over and over? The same is true with voice descriptions and many other modes of communication we must rely on in telling a story.

In this presentation, Jan will explore various active verbs that can take the place of the passive and draw a better picture in a reader’s mind of what the characters are doing. When you master this, it will take your writing to a new level of excitement both for you, the author, as well as the reader.

In her talk, she’ll show techniques to prevent your writing from becoming mundane and stale. Using the same phrases and descriptions are ruts we all fall into because we’re too rushed, too tired, or often—let’s face it—too lazy. Bring pen and paper for the interactive exercises. Jan plans to present this program in a fun and upbeat way using the Emotion Thesaurus as well as other reference material. Handouts will accompany her talk.

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression will be referred to frequently during this presentation as well as other resources authors may find helpful. A PowerPoint presentation will be used in conjunction with printed material.

Jan is a multi-published, award-winning author of an exciting series about her life with her country singer/performer husband, Rick Sikes. She’s a member of the Texas Association of Authors and is heavily involved with the Texas Musicians Museum in Irving. In addition to writing books, she writes songs, poetry, short stories, and is currently working on a novel with paranormal elements.