Keynote for General  Session

Four P’s Wrapped in Two G’s or What Writing Requires

This talk or series offers a humorous, encouraging, and inspirational look at the writer’s life. Mona uses humor and honesty blended with plenty of practical tips as she examines the need for Passion, Professionalism, Patience, and Perseverance. This topic lends itself well to a single session or to a two, three, or four session series, 40-50 minutes each.

Note: This topic is adaptable for general market writers conferences as well as for conferences specifically designed for writers who are Christians.

What? Me A Writer?

With humor, honesty, and practicality, Mona examines the Call, the Reason, the Response, and the Role of a writer. This topic lends itself well to a single session or to a two, three, or four session series, 40-60 minutes each.

Note: What Writing Requires and What? Me A Writer? serves well as a two-talk set.

Writing Restoration One Word After the Other

Drawn from the book and life of Nehemiah, this series of three or four talks examines the process for effective ministry, the obstacles, and the prize. 

Note: This session or series was created for conferences specifically designed for writers who are Christians.

Comprehensive  Classes

These comprehensive sessions are designed for 4-8 hours of class time.

Build a  Tree  House: Writing For Children

This interactive course offers an overview of writing books for children and writing for children’s magazines, including age group divisions, various fiction and nonfiction formats for magazines and books, tips on writing well for children, and comprehensive marketing information.

Get Started: Writing For Publication

These sessions will help the beginning writer learn to recognize, test, develop, and focus ideas; define good writing; foster their creativity; set up record keeping; decipher publishing business lingo; learn the value of and how-to’s of marketing; format manuscripts for submission; understand rights; write compelling query letters; compile a strong book proposal; and more.

Break Into the Magazine Market

This interactive course will help writers navigate the magazine market—Christian and general market periodicals for both adults and children. The sessions include exploration of various formats including fiction, nonfiction, and other; great break-in markets; writing shorts and fillers; submission formats; rights; writing cover letters and query letters; and more.

Write the Publishable Poem

This interactive course includes exercises, readings, and writing in an exploration of what poetry is and is not, its various forms, its mastery of figurative and picturesque language, and how and where to market poetry.

Workshops

These sessions are designed for 45-minute to 120-minutes each.

For Children’s Writers

Writing Books For Young Children *
Come to this workshop for an overview of how to write and sell board books and picture books.

Writing Books For Young Readers  *

This class offers a comprehensive look at Early Readers and First Chapter Books: What they are, their audience, favorite types and topics, an overview of graded readers, book proposal components, and submission format.                                                  

Writing For Middle Readers
Students will examine and discuss middle readers—the audience, the various book and magazine formats and markets, how to format them for submission, and how to market them.

Story Building Blocks for Children’s Writers *

This popular class provides a hands-on exercise in creating characters and story problems that appeal to the intended audience.

For Beginning Writers

Writing Word Pictures That Draw A Reader *
Come learn the value of drawing on figurative language and imagery for your prose through symbolism, metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, homonyms, onomatopoeia words, and using sense appeal.

Cinching Your Nonfiction *
”Show, don’t tell.” “Active versus passive.” Class participants will learn basic elements of self-editing—how to tighten and strengthen their writing with a hands-on polishing session that involves a sample of their own work.

Wearing Flip Flops to Work
This session offers a humorous and inspirational look at the life of a freelance writer. Mona uses humor and honesty blended with plenty of practical tips as she examines the need for Teachability, Story-sense, Patience, Sensitivity, Initiative, Humor, Passion, Professionalism, Perseverance, and Community.

The Writer’s Toolbelt
If you’re going to build a career as a freelance writer, you’ll need some tools. Come to this session for an examination of ten essential tools of the publishable writer.

Writing Shorts & Fillers
Learn what shorts and fillers are, why editors and writers like them, how to write them, and how and where to market them.

Great Break-In Markets *
Discover the markets and formats most open to new freelance writers - Church take-home papers and denominational magazines - and learn what and how to write for them. Short stories, poems, personal experiences, inspirational pieces, personality profiles, how-to articles, opinion pieces, news briefs, book reviews, and humor pieces. Come to this workshop to discover who, what, when, where, why, and how of writing for the periodical markets.

Story Building Blocks for Fiction Writers *

This popular class provides a hands-on exercise in creating compelling characters and story components.

For Poets

Finding A Home For Your Poem

Come to this workshop to find out what poetic forms and styles editors look for, how to format your poems for submission to an editor, and to receive other valuable tips for getting your poems into print.

Writing Word Pictures That Draw A Reader *
Come explore the use of figurative language and imagery in your poetry and prose. This workshop will include a study on symbolism, metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, homonyms, onomatopoeia words, and using sense appeal.

Writing Poetry In Good Form *
Are you looking for word play? Participants in this class will discuss, discover, and try out various poetic forms, including free verse and haiku.

* Lends itself well to a two-hour session or two-part workshop.