Margie Lawson left a career in psychology to focus on her true passion—helping writers make their stories, characters, and words strong. Tired of the same old writing rules and tools? Try something new.
Using a psychologically based, deep-editing approach, Margie teaches writers how to bring emotion to the page. Emotion equals power. And power not only grabs readers, it holds onto them until the end. Many Margie grads have gone on to win awards, find agents, sign with publishers, and hit bestseller lists.
As an international presenter, Margie has taught over 150 full day master classes in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and France, as well as multi-day intensives on cruise ships in the Caribbean. Pre-COVID, she taught 5-day Immersion Master Classes across the U.S. and Canada and in seven cities in Australia too.
She also founded Lawson Writer's Academy, where you'll find over 30 instructors teaching online courses through her website.
Margie has condensed her big 3 courses into lecture packets—each containing over 300 pages of writing empowering lessons that you can customize to work with your manuscript.
Lecture packets are self-directed. The lecture packet is a PDF download of the lessons from an online class. You can work through the exercises on your own schedule. The lecture packet will be saved in the downloads area of your account giving you easy access to it in the future.
"I constantly think how different and IMPROVED my writing is because of your teachings. I can't gush enough. No class or book has come close to making the difference that your classes have. Your Empowering Characters' Emotions and Deep Editing classes have pushed my writing to a new level. With your tools, I'm more inspired, excited, and confident in my writing than I've ever been."
– Linda Covella"Empowering Characters' Emotions, was just what I needed to infuse extra oomph into my WIP. It's amazing what a handful of highlighters and some out-of-the-box thinking can do. Her exercises on the four levels of emotion not only helped my characters, but empowered me as well." — Susan Gee Heino, "Mistaken By Moonlight"
– 2008 Golden Heart finalist, Regency Historical Category"Once again a heartfelt thank you for your brilliant course. I'm singing your praises (cliché alert!) to every writer I know. Your 'Deep Editing' course gave me the opportunity to take my writing to the next level. Enlightening. Informative. Brilliant. Can't recommend it highly enough."
– Nicola Marsh, author of sassy, sexy romance for Harlequin Romance and Presents"When I'm reading, I'm LOOKing at the words, reading the story. The EDITS system takes me to a whole new level - helps me truly SEE what's missing, over-used patterns, my strengths and opportunities. And even more importantly, it helps me SEE how to make my writing shine."
– Cherry Vanderbeke, from Deep Editing: The EDITS System, Rhetorical Devices, and More!"WOW! What a powerhouse of information you have in your Lecture Packets. So much to absorb, even though I have studied them thoroughly. I credit your lectures with showing me how to take my writing to the next level, that of being published, as I did this year with HEART OF THE DRUAE, (Black Lyon Publishing, Ancient Times Romance Line opener), my finalist from the Colorado Gold 2007. Whenever I can, I rave about your Lecture Packets as the single most comprehensive work on best-selling-writing-techniques available!"
– Dana McEndree, Heart of the DruaeEmpowering Characters' Emotions
https://www.margielawson.com/product/empowering-characters-emotions/
Want to add a psychological punch to your writing and editing?
Want to learn how to capture the full range of body language on the page?
Want to turn your work into a page-turner by powering up emotion and hooking the reader viscerally?
Look forward to learning:
•The EDITS System – for analyzing your scene
•Basic, complex, empowered, and super empowered passages
•Backstory management
•Kinesics, Haptics, Proxemics, Facial expressions, Dialogue Cues
•Proprioceptive stimuli, Involuntary physical responses
•Ideomotoric shifts
•Mirroring, Communication Accommodation
•Levels of intimacy, Love signals
•Nonverbal gender differences
•Emotional authenticity
•Power Words and Backloading
•Entrancing the Reader
•Writing fresh
•Projecting Emotion for a Non-POV character
•Carrying a Nonverbal Image Forward
Deep Editing, Rhetorical Devices, and More
https://www.margielawson.com/product/deep-editing-rhetorical-devices-and-more/
DEEP EDITING is for the writer who wants to psychologically impact the subconscious of the reader. For the writer who wants to learn fresh editing techniques. For the writer who wants to edit for power.
Participants will:
1. Learn the EDITS System and take it deeper. See the interplay of patterns on the page and analyze what's needed to strengthen the scene. This is not a broad-brush approach, it's a roll up your sleeves and get to work making a difference with your manuscript.
If you were introduced to Margie's EDITS System in her Empowering Characters' Emotions course, you'll learn how to expand the EDITS System in DEEP EDITING.
2. Learn 25 rhetorical devices and practice using them in your work. You'll learn how and when to use these techniques. Examples of rhetorical devices from bestselling authors will motivate writers to follow their lead.
3. Develop skills by using worksheets provided in each lecture. The worksheets also serve as a handy reference for learning the rhetorical devices.
4. Learn Deep Editing tips including Margie's Five Q, back story management, power lines, throw-away words, cliché twists, backloading, tautologies, and emotional hits.
5. Learn how to make a FINAL EDITING PASS and make it be your last pass.
Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist
https://www.margielawson.com/product/writing-body-language-and-dialogue-cues/
Learn how to write body language and dialogue cues from a kinesics specialist. Writers will learn how to write fresh:
•Body Language Basics: facial messages, lips, eyes, chin, full facial expression, flicker-face, gestures, posture, hierarchical zones…
•Body Language Clusters
•Avoidance and deception cues
•Vibes – beyond spidey senses and hair-raising
•Turning Points driven by subtle body language cues
•Body Language and Dialogue Cues for POV and Non-POV characters
•Body Language and Dialogue Cues with Rhetorical Devices
•Specific Emotion-driven full Kinesics Patterns for anxiety, fear, joy, sadness, lust, shock, surprise . . .
Each teaching point will be illustrated with examples from bestselling authors, their excerpts dissected and analyzed.
Bonus Lecture from a Police Detective: Body Language in the Police and Criminal Worlds — Interrogations, Spotting Criminals, Hostage Negotiations
