Info below is related to the Feb. 2025 Retreat (already completed). DO NOT TRY TO REGISTER! [Info re the 2026 Retreat will be posted in late 2025.]
RIRW Retreat 2025 (on ZOOM)!
Jo Ann Brown Ferguson on POV & on Show or Tell?
Debra Dixon on Goal, Motivation, and Conflict
Join Rhode Island Romance Writers for our RIRW Retreat 2025. The Retreat will take place via ZOOM from Friday evening, Jan. 31 to Saturday night, Feb. 1st. Registration is now open for RIRW Members ONLY at a reduced Earlybird price (just fill out the form and pay below).
On Dec. 1, registration opens to non-members and to members at the regular member price. Attendance will be limited to 40 participants, so sign up early to make sure you can get a place.
This year’s Retreat includes three stellar workshops, one Friday night and two on Saturday (with a pizza party starting at 6 PM Friday).
Friday, January 31 – 7 pm EST: Jo Ann Brown Ferguson on Now for My Point of View on POV
An easy definition of Point of View (POV) is that the author is the director of an “invisible” movie. POV frames each scene of a book as a director frames each scene in a film. This workshop will focus on how to integrate readers into the scenes so that they feel they have a vital stake in the story. Why? Because they deeply care about the characters, connecting with them emotionally through the internal telling of the story. Changing POV (when and how and why) as well as choosing the right POV for a scene will be discussed.
Jo Ann Brown Ferguson is the best-selling author of over 130 books since her first was published in 1988. She currently writes for Love Inspired because she loves stories with happy ever after endings. A former military officer, she enjoys traveling with her husband. She has been teaching creative writing for more than 30 years, including establishing the first romance writing course at Brown University. Her website is: joannbrownbooks.com.
Saturday, Feb 1, 0930 Eastern: Debra Dixon on Goal, Motivation, and Conflict
Goal, motivation, and conflict are the foundation of everything that happens in the story world. Debra Dixon’s iconic GMC workshop will help you build plot, create characters readers care about, and sharpen your scenes.
Take your fiction writing to a new level as we explore what causes sagging middles and how to fix them, which goals are important (also which aren’t and why), how to motivate characters to take action, and how to use conflict to create a good story.
Debra Dixon is the President and Publisher of BelleBooks and its imprints—Bell Bridge Books and ImaJinn Books, which tackle a broad spectrum of genres. Their titles have been picked up in translation and by major publishers in subrights deals for mass market paperback, book club, audio and large print. The company has published original work from NYT and USA Today bestselling authors.
Early in her career, Debra Dixon published with major publishers, wrote ten books, contributed to twelve anthologies, and served as Vice President of RWA. Her popular GMC: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict workshop spawned a book that has become a how-to bible for writers.
Saturday, Feb 1, 1:30 PM Eastern: Jo Ann Brown Ferguson on Show?
Tell? Let me tell you (and show you) what you need to know
Everyone says to show, not tell, but there are places for both methods in your manuscript. The session will offer examples of how to use these two tools effectively and without intruding on your reader’s experience by pulling them out of the story…or worst of all, boring them with too much detail in an info dump. We’ll touch on description, world building and other times when it’s easy to be tempted to go too far in either showing or telling.
REGISTRATION COSTS:
- Early bird price for RIRW members $25 – before December 1
- Regular price for RIRW members $30 starting December 1 until slots fill up
- Price for non-members $40. Registration opens for non-members starting December 1.
The Retreat’s fun and games begin at 6:00 PM Friday when we’ll get together for our virtual pizza party. More scheduling info will be available closer to the date of the retreat.
Fill out the online form below to register and pay.
ON DECEMBER 1ST, TWO PAYPAL BUTTONS WILL BECOME AVAILABLE, ONE FOR MEMBERS, ONE FOR NON-MEMBERS.
BEFORE HITTING SUBMIT, please add RIRW.Register@gmail.com and Treasurer.RIRW@gmail.com to your safe senders list so your confirmation will not get filtered out by your email program.