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Who Should Take Writing Workshops?
Everyone! From people who want to try out writing or would like help getting started, to those more experienced writers who want to learn more and get better. Learning to write is an on-going process that involves perfecting and using many skills at once, and even published writers profit from editors and readers who help them refine their work.
What Can You Expect from a Workshop?
• Guidance and encouragement from a published, working author
• Instruction on technical aspects such as structure, diction, and form
• Kind, honest, and constructive feedback directed at the work but never critical of the author
• Peer readers/editors who act as ‘spotters’ for sections of your writing that need attention and who become your community of working colleagues, even after your workshop is completed
• Tips on how to keep writing and integrate this “habit of being” into your life
• Tactics for getting published when ready.
Introduction to the Short Story
Days: 8 Weeks
Dates: 1/11–2/29/16
Location: Online
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Genre(s): Fiction
Workshop Leader: Christopher Linforth
Cost: $360
Participants will read classic and contemporary short stories, and develop their own theories and opinions on the constituent elements of the genre. That is: what makes a short story, and more importantly, what makes a good short story. Through a set of writing exercises, explore the craft of short fiction and establish a sound grasp of the essential building blocks: character, point of view, dialogue, setting plot, structure, theme. By the course’s end participants will have a written, workshopped, and revised a complete story and have plenty of material for many others.
Poetry and The Personal Experience
Days: 7 Weeks
Dates: 1/18–2/29
Location: Online
Level: All Levels
Genre(s): Poetry
Workshop Leader: Alexis Pope
Cost: $315
This workshop will examine the ways in which personal experiences play a vital role in our poems. Whether written about directly, or simply in our back thoughts while writing, our lives determine who we are as poets. By focusing on the intensity of the line and the tension/pressure of breaks and the importance of what is left unsaid, we will begin to find out who we are within the poem. Readings will include poems by Amber Atiya, Emily Kendal Frey, June Jordan, Audre Lorde, Alice Notley, Hoa Nguyen, James Schuyler, and others. This workshop will culminate in the construction/creation of a small chapbook of your own work.
Digital Writing from the Heart
Days: 6 Weeks
Dates: 1/20–2/24
Location: Online
Level: All Levels
Genre(s): Nonfiction
Workshop Leader: Nneka M. Okona
Cost: $270
This interactive workshop will help writers create inspired pieces from the heart for digital audiences on digital platforms, whether it be posts on a personal blog or essays for a publication online. Over the course of six weeks, participants will learn how to create a writing space (physical, emotional, and mental) conducive to creating (week 1); use writing mantras, affirmations and other sources of inspiration to push past writing fears (week 2); tap into their most creative self with writing prompts to jog writing flow (week 3); structure tackling writing assignments or projects (week 4); approach self-editing in a way guaranteed to strengthen writing (week 5); pull the trigger and release their work in the world (week 6). By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to approach written pieces with the confidence and assurance they are writing from an inspired, creative space within.
Creating Novel Characters
Days: 4 Weeks
Dates: 3/11–4/1
Location: Online
Level: All Levels
Genre(s): Fiction
Workshop Leader: T. Greenwood
Cost: $195
When writing a novel, you must know your primary characters inside and out. You need to understand their desires, motivations, and frustrations, their histories and their futures. This workshop will focus on the development of authentic characters. Participants will examine character as both autonomous and residing within the context of the other novelistic elements, and the challenge of creating and integrating these various elements into a cohesive and credible whole. Participants will explore the main character(s) in their novels-in-progress.
Workshop & Event Guide
The Workshop & Event Guide features workshops, literary events, author interviews, craft features, and Book Talk.