Two events created for writers of all levels will occur on Saturday, Oct. 19, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

These events are free of charge and open to the public. There is no registration.

9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 19
“Structure” with Jean Redmann, author and activist

A story has five basic but important elements. These five components are: the characters, the setting, the plot, the conflict, and the resolution. These essential elements keep the story running smoothly and allow the action to develop in a logical way that the reader can follow.

The parts of a plot in a story include the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. The five parts work together to build suspense, and flow together smoothly to create a unified story line.

During the presentation, Redmann will discuss the following: What is narrative structure? Types of narrative structure. Types of narrative arcs for plot development.

J.M. Redmann is the author of a mystery series featuring New Orleans private detective Michele 'Micky' Knight. Her latest book is The Girl on the Edge of Summer, nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. A previous one, Ill Will, made the American Library Association GLBT Roundtable's 2013 Over the Rainbow list, won a Lambda Literary award and was a ForeWord award honorable mention. Water Mark was also on the Over the Rainbow list and won a Fore Word Gold First Place mystery award. Two of her earlier books, The Intersection of Law & Desire and Death of a Dying Man have won Lambda Literary Awards.

11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 19
“Book Project Templates” with Traci Andrighetti, author and translator

Traci Andrighetti is the USA Today bestselling author of the Franki Amato Mysteries and the Danger Cove Hair Salon Mysteries, will explain how to create a book project template to organize and track manuscripts from inception to publication.

She says that writing a book directly from scratch is overwhelming and not always necessary. Book writing templates give a writer a head start on the structure of the book. Book writing templates vary in what they have to offer, many of the core characteristics will remain the same. A novel outlining template should have sections for basic aspects of writing a novel: Research; outline; brainstorming; note taking; character sketches; setting sketches; chapter sections; scene sections; and world-building.

Andrighetti has been an award-winning literary translator and a lecturer of Italian at the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned a PhD in Applied Linguistics. She left the academic life for a life of crime. She now teaches mystery writing for Savvy Authors and hosts aspiring and established authors on intensive writing retreats to Italy with LemonLit.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.