5 Reasons Every Novelist Needs Margie Lawson

by Dorothy Adamek

Are you ready to take your fiction writing to the next level? Looking to study the craft of writing with a master teacher? Perhaps, even change the course of your writing career? 

If you haven’t already met, let me introduce Margie Lawson. I’m a proud Margie-Grad. I’ve studied and applied her writing wisdom, and today I want to share the five reasons you need her, too. 

1. Margie Lawson knows psychology. And writing. And how the two should sit in a knot in every writer’s toolbox. Margie’s a psychotherapist, editor and international presenter. If you’re keen to sharpen your characters’ visceral responses, or even learn what a visceral response is, then you need to knock on the Lawson Writing Academy door. Discover how Margie’s decades of psychotherapy translate into online writing courses and lecture packets. You’ll learn how to Empower Characters’ Emotions, Write Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist, and plunge into the Deep Editing System. If you’re serious about writing fiction, you won’t regret taking Margie’s courses. Your editor, agent and reader will thank you. And long before they do… you’ll be thanking yourself. 

2. Margie loves fresh writing. She lives for it. When fresh writing grabs her, she slaps sticky notes all over that brilliance. She shares examples with her students, over and over and over, until the cadence of words sings across the room and each student stops to breathe it in. Margie will tell you, “It’s all about fresh writing,” and her enthusiasm is contagious. She trains the ear for what every reader deserves, and what every writer longs to deliver. 

3. Margie kills clichés. Don’t touch them. Don’t even think about them. Even if one bobs around in your mind, all pretty and perfect, don’t be fooled. Margie won’t care. She’ll take you a different way, deepen your writing senses and you’ll soon recoil when clichés flirt with your writer’s head. Instead, you’ll find the scaffolding to transform clichés into powerful writing. The way you hang laundry on the line. One word at a time. Here, here and here. Flipped and swapped, until words slap you across the head all crisp and bright, you’ll wonder how you never thought of it that way before. But Margie has. She’s taught her methods to hundreds of authors and I’ll bet there’s no reason you can’t be one of them. 

4. Margie plays with colours. Yes, she does. Just when you thought she was all frowns and tsk tsk…. turns out… her love of pinks and blues and greens will illuminate your world. She’s turned an ordinary pack of highlighters into a fierce editing tool, (along with her EDITS System) and you’ll never despair about what’s missing from your pages or what’s messing your story flow. You’ll learn to spot strengths and opportunities in a darkened room with your eyes half shut and your manuscript the wrong way around. Ok, maybe you’ll need the light on, but you’ll learn to edit with your pages upside down. For real. It’s a Margie-thing. And it works. I promise. 

5. Margie keeps tricks up her professorial sleeve. She opens her home for Immersion Retreats where she welcomes writers to deepen their knowledge and sharpen their skills. Her Colorado mountain home is the perfect location for writing master-classes, and Margie’s schedule also includes retreats all over the US. (And perhaps Australia someday soon, if I have my way.) You’ll discover what’s beyond the lecture packets and online courses, as well as enjoy one-on-one time…you and your manuscript, and Margie with her red pen. (Read more about my 2013 Immersion Class here.)

Have you ever taken (or strongly desire to take) a Margie Lawson online course? Studied one of her lecture packets? Attended an immersion retreat? 

Yes? No? Want to? Read on… 

I’m excited to announce Margie Lawson is offering not ONE but TWO Lawson Writing Academy prizes for ICFW readers. Comment below and you’ll be in the running to win a place in an online writing course by Margie Lawson or one by Tiffany Lawson Inman. Valued between $40-$65 each, this is an opportunity you won’t want to miss. 

Thanks so much Margie, you’re the best. 

Enter now! The winners will be announced on October 27 in the Sunday Edition post. 

Good luck, and many thanks to the wonderful ICFW community for allowing me to visit, and to Margie Lawson for her generosity. 

Lawson Writer’s Academy

http://www.margielawson.com/lawson-writers-academy-courses

Upcoming Courses 

November 1 – 30: Virtues and Vices and Plots

November 1 – Dec. 6: More than a Pretty Party Face: Make Secondary Characters Count

December 2 – 13: Blog Bites: Six Steps to Drive Traffic to Your Blog 

December 1 – 31: From Madness to Method: Using acting techniques to invigorate your story and make each moment Oscar worthy! 

January 2 – 31: Empowering Characters’ Emotions 

January 2 – 31: Story Structure Safari 

January 2 – 31: Maximize Twitter

January 2 – 31: From Homeroom to Last Bell: The Hero’s Journey in YA Fiction 

January 2 – 31: Action and Fighting in Fiction: Writing Authentic Choreography with Precision and Bite

DOROTHY ADAMEK lives in Melbourne with her Beloved and their three teenagers. She's the 2013 FHL ~ Touched By Love contest winner. Enamoured by all things 19th century, she writes The Heartbeat of Yesteryear, Historical Romance - Aussie style. 

Come say G'day at her blog, Ink Dots. http://dorothyadamek.blogspot.com