March 21: Writer’s — Sign up for Elaine’s Literary Salon Workshop, “Becoming a Master Writer” with John DeDakis

Click here to sign up today for the March 21 workshop with John DeDakis! Course Description: A series of topic-specific workshops designed to drill deeper into the finer points of storytelling. Writing exercises will help you hone your skills and give you the confidence to take your writing to the next level. Deep Listening for Writers: A writer is an observer first, last, and always. This session is an invitation to consider every interaction as an opportunity to follow one’s curiosity about people of other genders, races, ages, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds with an eye on creating interesting and varied characters. This session will be interactive, with opportunities to practice listening techniques. Characterization Through Dialogue: When characters talk to each other, the story moves forward and the reader learns about the speaker. In this session you’ll learn how to create characters out of thin air and learn the do’s and don’ts of finding the right words to put into their mouths. Planning vs. Seat-of-the-Pantsing: Are you a meticulous planner, or do you just wing it? In this session we’ll explore writing strategies designed to add variety to your palette of writing techniques. If you’re a planner, we’ll explore how seat-of-the-pants writing can help you connect the dots. If your style is more free-form, we’ll look at how peeking at the road ahead can inspire your writing in the here-and-now. Facing Your Writing Fears: Not only is writing a lonely process, it can be downright scary – especially if you’re shy, or an introvert. And, when it comes to mustering the courage to share our work with others, fear can turn to terror. In this session, we’ll look at understanding what frightens us — and how to get beyond those fears. Your Instructor: John DeDakis is a former editor on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” DeDakis is the author of six traditionally published novels. Enemies Domestic, his latest political thriller, won eight writing awards in 2025 including the Pencraft, Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion, Feathered Quill, and the Grand Prize for Chanticleer’s Clue Award for Best Suspense/Thriller. DeDakis is a writing coach, manuscript editor, motivational speaker, podcaster, and regularly teaches novel writing at literary centers and conferences nationwide and abroad. Learn more: www.johndedakis.com About John’s books: Fast Track is the story of Lark Chadwick, a young woman searching for purpose as she solves the mystery surrounding the car-train collision that orphaned her as an infant. The novel deals redemptively with issues of suicide, journalistic integrity, anonymous sources, and mentoring relationships. It grew out of two events in the author’s life: a fatal car/train crash he witnessed as a y