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“Two years ago, I attempted my first NaNoWriMo. With no previous writing experience, I pounded out a 60k word rough (very rough!) draft. A few months later I signed up for a class at WriterHouse. I learned so much, so quickly. Over the following months I took more classes and and refined my manuscript. A year later I submitted it to PitchWars, a highly competitive, international competition. Out of nearly 3000 applicants, 160 were chosen (including me!) to work one-on-one with a published author followed by a showcase with literary agents. I know the only reason I was able to go from a newbie writer to having interest from top literary agents in 18 months was because of the lessons I learned at WriterHouse. So thank you, WriterHouse! “–Emily Thiede, WriterHouse student and member
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FEATURED EVENTS
June 2018
Jump-Start Your Narrative
Instructor: Ariel Stess $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 6/16/18 | 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM Have you been trying to start a new play, short story, memoir, or novel? Or, are you in the middle of writing a new piece and feeling stuck? This workshop will help you to step outside of your familiar modes of writing to create characters, worlds, and settings that surprise you. Students are asked to bring paper, a pen, and a desire to generate…
Find out more »Brand New Jew, A DNA Comedy by Monica Bauer
What happens when a DNA test gives an adoptee a brand new view…of herself? Playwright and performer Monica Bauer (Edinburgh Fringe Festival's “The Year I Was Gifted”) takes on her own unexpected results, along with a cast of comical characters, including a reassuring Rabbi, a Brit who’s not British, and Judy from Atlanta, who may be related to George Clooney. Biology, religion, and culture are all fair game in this Comedy of Identity Errors. Raised Catholic, but expelled from St. Agnes school…
Find out more »July 2018
Reading featuring Novelist Andrew Martin
Tuesday, July 17, 2018 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM This event will be held at New Dominion Bookshop 404 East Main, Charlottesville, VA 22902 Join us for a reading with novelist Andrew Martin, who will be reading from his debut novel, Early Work. This event is cosponsored by New Dominion Bookshop and will be free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided. For young writers of a certain temperament—if they haven’t had such notions beaten out of them…
Find out more »Strong Openings: Right from the Start
Instructor: Noley Reid $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Sunday, 7/22/18 | 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM After the title, a short story’s opening can make or break its connection with a reader. After all, the first words, first sentence, first paragraph are the most visible and the spot where most readers, editors, and agents decide to stop reading altogether. In this workshop, we will examine the openings to dozens of well-published authors’ short stories, noting the many techniques used and how…
Find out more »Reading Featuring Visiting Author Noley Reid
Join us as visiting author Noley Reid shares excerpts from her acclaimed novel Pretend We Are Lovely. A book signing will follow. This event is free and open to the public. If you love what you hear, stay for her seminar Strong Openings: Right from the Start. About the Instructor: Noley Reid is the author of the new novel Pretend We Are Lovely, which The O, Oprah Magazine calls “scrumptious.” Her fiction and nonfiction appear in The Rumpus, The Lily, Bustle, Tin House,…
Find out more »August 2018
Plot Part One: From Concept to Story Arc
Instructor: Max Sheridan $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Wednesday, 8/1/18 | 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM This four-hour creative writing workshop with author Max Sheridan will show aspiring and more experienced writers how to concept and develop plots for their stories. Using Kurt Vonnegut’s ideas on “story shapes” as a springboard, we’ll see how plots typically evolve according to basic principles. We’ll also look at the ideas of pacing (a story’s rhythm) and conflict (tension), and explore two different techniques for…
Find out more »Plot Part Two: Plot in Action
Instructor: Max Sheridan $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Thursday, 8/2/18 | 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM Just like good music in a movie, when plots are done right, you might not even notice them. In this second four-hour workshop, we’ll be looking at actual plots from stories that work and then taking them apart to see why. After that, we’ll see how the missing piece in this puzzle—character—interacts with plot to turn a concept into a relatable, gripping story. Participation in…
Find out more »Write On! Comic Book Writing Camp
Instructor: Laura Lee Gulledge Cost: $125.000 Saturday, August 4, 2018, and Sunday, August 5, 2018 | 1:00 PM-5:00 PM This special weekend workshop is for 12-17 year-olds interested in making COMICS! Critically acclaimed graphic novelist Laura Lee Gulledge will share her techniques for telling stories through words and pictures, sharing original artifacts and demonstrating the process drawing live with the group. Participants will then develop their own original characters and make their own six-panel mini comic book using Laura Lee's…
Find out more »September 2018
How to Promote Yourself and Your Work: A Brown-Bag Lunch Talk
**This Event will take place at New Dominion Bookshop In this interactive brown-bag lunch & learn from copywriter and brand strategist Elizabeth Hope Derby, uncover “How to Promote Yourself and Your Work (Without Feeling Like a Fraud or a Sleazeball).” This event will be free and open to the public. Bring your lunch if you wish! This event is co-sponsored by New Dominion Bookshop, the oldest independent bookseller in Virginia, located in Historic Downtown Charlottesville Elizabeth Hope Derby is a…
Find out more »First Fridays Art Opening with Philip Marlin
Join us for food, wine, and lively conversation as we celebrate the artwork of Philip Marlin. His exhibition titled Abstract by Intuition is free and open to the public. About the artist: Philip Jay Marlin was born in Queens, NYC, on October 16, 1963, to Rebecca and Kenneth, who had a short-lived marriage. The memory of his mother initiates all of his work. After all, it was his mother who introduced him to acrylic painting when he was ten years old.…
Find out more »WRITERHOUSE NEWS
When Publishers Fail to Market Your Book
This post appeared in the August 1, 2018 edition of the WriterHouse Newsletter. Jane is teaching Getting Your Book Published: A Year-Long Master Class during the fall 2018 term. As may have heard, not all books are adequately marketed by publishers, who may rely...
The Power of Digression
Lately, I’ve been editing my own work, trying to put together a collection of short stories I’ve worked on for three years. Revision, for me, involves a lot of cutting. I value clarity to a fault in my early drafts; later I aim to lose the excessive unnecessary...
Read the Winning Entries from the 2018 JMRL and WriterHouse Poetry Contest
We received an overwhelming response to this year's JMRL and WriterHouse Poetry Contest judged by former Virginia Poet Laureate Ron Smith. We'd like to congratulate winner Erin Wells for her poem "Nevertheless, Isabella Gibbons Reads" and co-runners-up Cynthia...
