How do you create a strong and exciting plot in your novel? How do you connect the plot with related subplots? What are plot points and how do you place them effectively throughout your story? This class will help you develop or strengthen your novel’s main plot. It will help you better understand the use of subplots and the purpose of plot points. A good novel is built around the main plot, subplots and plot points as they move your story from beginning to end. Participants will complete an assignment for workshop and conduct a series of revisions over the weekend. This workshop is designed for new novelists; those who are starting with only a story idea or those with just a few completed chapters.
Venise Berry is the author of three national bestselling novels: So Good, An African American Love Story (1996); All of Me, A Voluptuous Tale (2000); and Colored Sugar Water (2002). Berry’s book of essays, Driven: Love, Career and the Pursuit of Happiness, is currently with her agent. Berry’s co-edited anthology, Black Culture & Experience: Contemporary Issues, was published by Peter Lang in 2015. She is also the co-author of two nonfiction film books, The Historical Dictionary of African American Cinema (Scarecrow Press, 2007 & 2015) and The 50 Most Influential Black Films (Citadel, 2001). Berry is an associate professor of Journalism and African American Studies at The University of Iowa. Visit her online at www.veniseberry.com.