DP Lyle
Award-Winning Author
Lecturer
Story Consultant
OUTLIERS WRITING UNIVERSITY
What is Outliers? What does it do?
We are a group of best-selling. award-winning authors who give back to the writing community by offering our knowledge and experience through various learning opportunities. Our goal is to teach the craft of writing and storytelling to those who have a story to tell but don’t know where or how to begin, as well as those who already write but wish to improve their skills.
Do you have a non-fiction project in mind? Our team can help with the organization and writing of your manuscript with an eye toward adding storytelling elements to your work.
Our events and programs are online so that we bring writing conferences and instruction directly into your home. Our instructors include experienced authors, experts in various fields, and professionals with knowledge to share.
We offer seminars/classes on various topics of interest to writers, both fiction and non-fiction, such as craft, research, inspiration, everything. Some of our events are brief, a couple of hours, others are a full day, while others will span multiple sessions, even the entire year in an ongoing school.
As working writers, we know the hard work required to create a publishable story or work of non-fiction. Each of us has been there. Each of us received help from other instructors and writers. That’s the way this community works.
OUTLIERS is continuing that process in a unique and convenient way.
Our goal is to establish an online writer’s community where we can exchange ideas and offer classes to help writers of all levels. Part of this is the creation of the online Outliers Writers University. Right now, conferences are episodic, last a few days, and then nothing until the next year. The good feelings and motivation from the event quickly wane, leaving the writer staring at that blinking cursor. And with travel, hotels, and registration conferences are expensive. We want to change that paradigm by offering a continuing array of ongoing classes and seminars in a convenient and cost-effective at-home fashion. We feel that this will keep writers motivated throughout the year and not just that week or two after a conventional conference.
Kathleen Antrim and DP Lyle, co-creators
Check Out the
OUR TEAM
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John Raab
Shannon Raab
Cody Blocker
UPCOMING EVENTS
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OUTLIERS ONGOING WRITERS CONFERENCE
A Year of Zoom Classes Taught by Best-selling Authors
Two Classes Per Month
On the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of Each Month
Begins Tuesday, January 2, 2024, at 4 PM Pacific
SPACE IS LIMITED
SIGN UP NOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE 50% OFF
EXTENDED BLACK FRIDAY SALE
https://www.outlierswritinguniversity.com/special-offer
The Story Cube: An In-depth Exploration of What Truly Lies at the Heart of All Great Stories
Instructor: Steven James
Three consecutive Wednesdays at 4 pm Pacific Time
Beginning April 3, 2024
Part 1: April 3; Part 2: April 10; Part 3: April 17
3 ZOOM Sessions
REGISTRATION COMING SOON
Ever since Aristotle, story theorists have been looking at story through a temporal lens—beginning, middle, and end, or first act, second act, and third act. But what if there was another way of conceptualizing story on a more elemental level? What if there was a way of understanding story that was easy to visualize and remember and that would apply to any genre you write? Well, there is, and in this in-depth seminar you’ll learn how it can transform your writing and storytelling forever.
In Part 1, you'll learn:
● What a story really is (it might surprise you!).
● The specific things that your opening needs to accomplish, no matter what genre you write in.
● Why every story that doesn’t entertain collapses in on itself—and what to do about that.
● How to use settings to either inhibit your character’s pursuit or enhance it.
In Part 2, you'll learn:
● The three realms of struggles within a story and what readers expect to happen within each of them.
● The centrality of tension, its propulsive force to drive a story forward, and how to enhance it through unmet desire.
● Why struggles are incubators for growth and why sacrifices that mean nothing to characters mean nothing to readers.
● Specific tips on creating moral dilemmas that will engage readers, reveal characterization, and add intriguing, unpredictable climaxes.
In Part 3, you'll learn:
● Why the necessity of “rising action” is a myth and what to include instead.
● How to create believable twists that won’t feel too contrived, too predictable, or too outlandish.
● The difference between stated and implied narrative promises, why it matters, and when to use each of them.
● Why it’s much more important to be able to state your dilemma than your theme.
The Autopsy of a Thriller: Deconstructing The Terminator
Instructor DP Lyle
Wednesday. June 12, 2024, 4 pm Pacific
A ZOOM Session
REGISTRATION COMING SOON
How do you learn to plot your story? How do you determine the sequence of your scenes and when to reveal the key story elements to the reader, or viewer? How do you build tension scene by scene and keep the reader/viewer engaged? What will keep readers turning the pages, and viewers on the edge of their seats?
Mastering the plot can make your story sing, or fall flat.
One of the best ways to develop this skill is to deconstruct successful plots. See what makes them work. And then, apply this knowledge to your own stories.
In this class, we will undertake a scene-by-scene analysis of The Terminator—“the perfect thriller.” We will look at storytelling by showing how this movie follows the 3-act structure, progressively raises the stakes, ramps up the tension, and forces the protagonist, Sarah Conner, to alter virtually everything in her life, heart, and soul in perhaps the greatest character arc ever. You will learn techniques that will allow you to analyze other stories and ultimately master plotting.