Welcome Scribblers, Writers, Dreamers!

featured event:

The Building Blocks of Structuring Children's Books
(Picture Book, Middle Grade, & Young Adult Novels)
Find Your Path to Publication

with Kathie Fong Yoneda
& Pamela Jaye Smith

Register here: www.cbw-la.org

You have the beginnings of a great storyline for your middle grade, young adult or picture book, but you want to know -- What is the best way to get started with the writing process?

* Are there any "rules" for writing and structuring children's/YA books?

* What are the structural components each book must have?

* What do I need to know about today’s changing marketplace?

* How can mythic themes and elements enhance and benefit my story?

* How can I use the five mythic steps on The Path of Initiation for my characters and myself.

This workshop will answer those questions and more as Pamela Jaye Smith and Kathie FongYoneda address the growing rise in writing for the children and teen marketplace and how you can enhance your stories with these helpful "building blocks".

**Handouts and autographed copies of the speakers' books included.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

PAMELA JAYE SMITH is a mythologist, writer, international consultant-speaker, and award-winning writer-producer-director with over thirty years experience in the media industry. Her Cuban Circuit script was a recent winner at the Bahamas Intl. Film Festival. Pamela authored 5 books for media-makers, is co-author of two children’s books, Petra Volare and Skruffy, writes short stories and articles and teaches online for writers groups. Her company MYTHWORKS helps people improve their stories, live their personal myths, and better present their projects. Pitch Materials PitchProxy Pros. She is co-founder of Alpha Babe Academy and Mythic Challenges – Create Stories that Change the World.

KATHIE FONG YONEDA is an entertainment consultant specializing in development and marketing of live action and animated film, television, literary, and web projects. A former exec at Disney, Touchstone, Island Pictures, and Disney TV Animation, she has taught workshops worldwide. Her clientele includes several award-winning writers and she is the author of The Script-Selling Game. Kathie serves on the board of directors for Imago (French production company) and LAWEBFEST. She co-exec produced the teen cable series Beyond The Break, associate produced the web series The Big O and co-exec produced the upcoming short film Thirty Minutes. Kathie can be reached online at www.kathiefongyoneda.com.

Is your story issue-oriented? Do you want to raise awareness and motivate your audience to action? Put yourself ahead of the curve-of-change with the story tools

ABOUT THE BOOKS

MYTHIC CHALLENGES: CREATE STORIES THAT CHANGE THE WORLD

Is your story issue-oriented? Do you want to raise awareness and motivate your audience to action? Learn to use the classic story tools of Mythic Themes, Archetypes, and Symbols to give your story global appeal. Address some of the 15 Global Challenges facing humanity today as protagonist goals and dramatic conflict [water, women’s rights, the rich-poor gap, technology, ecology, international organized crime, etc.] Identify believable storylines, approaches, methods, and techniques for your characters to affect change. Put yourself ahead of the curve-of-change with the story tools in this workbook.

THE SCRIPT-SELLING GAME

The Script-Selling Game is like having a mentor in the business who answers your questions and provides you with not only valuable information, but real-life examples on how to maneuver your way through the Hollywood labyrinth. While the first edition focused mostly on film and television movies, the second edition includes a new chapter on animation and another on utilizing the Internet to market yourself and find new opportunities, plus an expansive section on submitting for television and cable.

Register here: www.cbw-la.org

Whether you seek a community of like-minded authors, dream of becoming a published author, or simply want to pursue and explore your writing hobby, joining a writing group like the Children's Book Writers of Los Angeles will help you.

CBW–LA offers critique groups and sessions, writing workshops, guest lectures, write-ins at local coffee shops, networking, writing support, and even publishing opportunities for our members and guests. Every month, there's something interesting on our calendar!

Once you've had a look around, be sure to check out OUR NEWSLETTER at medium.com for thoughts on writing.

Upcoming events

The Building Blocks of Structuring Children's Books (Picture Books, Middle Grade & Young Adult Novels)

23 Mar 2019 10:00 AM

Torrance Airport Meeting Room 3301 Airport Drive, Torrance CA 90503

HISTORY

Although the group's main focus is on writing for children, we welcome writers of all kinds, as well as those who love to read children's books.

Founded in 2010, we branched out to start publishing our members in 2013 through our annual Story Sprouts Writing Day Workshop. We have two Writing Resources and Anthologies under our belt: Story Sprouts and Story Sprouts: Voice as well as a collaborative Middle Grade novel called Kayla Wayman, Teen Time Traveler: Lost in the Stream.

Story Sprouts: Setting and Story Sprouts: Conflict are currently in development, as well as a yet-unnamed Middle Grade collaborative novel about a boy who gets sucked into his video game. Look for those soon.

We encourage you to attend the annual workshop and buy a copy of the previous Story Sprouts; they make an excellent writing resource, brimming with high quality poetry, short fiction and nonfiction by our Story Sprouts authors.

MISSION AND PURPOSE

Our workshops provide tips and lessons on the craft and business of writing. You'll learn how to create characters so real, they practically jump off the page, weave storylines to make an interesting plot, revise and edit your manuscript, write and submit query letters to agents and editors, and how the publishing industry works.

You can get helpful feedback on your manuscript through our critique sessions, and our creative writing sessions help in sparking the next great idea, or simply help you improve your writing skills so you can find your voice and style.

MEMBERSHIP AND EVENTS

Events are open to members and non-members alike. Members get great discounts on our workshops and free access to our critique sessions. Be sure to RSVP to reserve your space at any event. We offer many takeaways and have limited space, so we want to make sure you get the most out of your experience.