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September 2018
Pathways to Picture Book Publishing
Instructor: Hannah Barnaby $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Fridays, 9/21/18 - 11/9/18 | 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM What makes picture books so magical? The alchemy of text and art creates a unique medium for a story, turning it into something more than just the combination of works and pictures. It might seem like a mystery, but writing picture books is far from impossible — it just takes a special set of skills and a peek behind the curtain. Hannah…
Find out more »Plot. Stakes. Tension
Instructor: Crystal Hana Kim $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 9/22/18 | 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM These three terms are often used interchangeably when we talk about the craft of writing. How are these three terms different and how do they work together to keep the reader interested? In this seminar, we will discuss how to effectively create and maintain dramatic tension in fiction by closely reading a short story together. We will then examine our own characters to…
Find out more »Putting the Pen to the Page: Drafting Your Novel in One Year (This Class is Full!)
Instructor: Kristen-Paige Madonia $1,399* Members | $1,399* Nonmembers Select Tuesdays, 9/11/18 - 5/21/19** | 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM *Payment plans of $335 per quarter will be available to students accepted into this program. Overview: Putting the Pen to the Page is an opportunity for writers to study the craft of creative writing, share and workshop portions of their novel manuscript, provide and receive constructive criticism, and work with a published author at an MFA-level of instruction as they write…
Find out more »Evening Poetry: The Collagist (Class is Full!)
Instructor: John Most $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays, 9/18/18 - 11/6/18 | 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM In this class, which is open to all poets, we will spend most of our time writing and workshopping new poems. In addition to writing new poems, each week we will read example poems that, in the broadest sense of the word, collage words, forms, sources, genres, styles, allusions. . . Collage is powered by surprise, so our guiding question will be:…
Find out more »Evening Creative Nonfiction (This Class is Full!)
Instructor: Jay Kauffmann $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays, 9/18/18 - 11/6/18 | 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM This workshop will explore the essential elements of creative nonfiction, such as sensory imagery, metaphoric language, distinctive voice, dramatic arc, and focused theme. Participants will discuss essays and memoir pieces submitted to the group. In addition, there will be readings and in-class exercises that address pertinent craft issues. There will also be opportunities to consider non-craft issues associated with this genre, such…
Find out more »Advanced Poetry: Packing a Punch in Your Poetic Endgame
Instructor: Mirabella Mitchell $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 9/19/18 - 11/7/18 | 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM Prerequisite: Students must have taken at least two poetry classes. Renowned poet Gregory Orr argues that there are six very different kinds of endings for poems. In this class, we’ll read, explore, and discuss an array of poems ranging from the 16th to 21st centuries, and we’ll use these six diverse “species” of endings as our path into them. However, our topics…
Find out more »Novel Launch Pad: The First 50 Pages
Instructor: Jody Hesler $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 9/19/18 - 11/14/18 | 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM NOTE: THE CLASS WILL NOT MEET ON OCTOBER 3! Students in this class should have made significant strides on the beginning of a novel. We will workshop the first 50 pages, in 25-page increments. Through close reading of each other’s work, and of some literary texts, students will gain insights to help them zero in where the beating heart of their budding…
Find out more »Novel 101: Premise, Story, Character (This Class is Full!)
Instructor: Bruce Holsinger $94.50 Members | $105 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 9/19/18 - 10/10/18 | 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM This series of four evening workshops will be devoted to the conception and development of participants’ novels in progress. Whether you’ve sketched out a few pages of a fantasy epic or completed a work of historical fiction, this class is intended to help you begin shaping (or reshaping) your novel into a manuscript responsive to the conventions and expectations of the contemporary…
Find out more »Advanced Fiction: Voice and Character
Instructor: Kristie Smeltzer $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Thursdays, 9/20/18 - 11/8/18 | 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM This workshop-heavy class will provide writers at least three opportunities to have a full class workshop. Students will have one-on-one feedback sessions with both instructor and classmates. Participants are required to have fiction work ready to workshop at the outset of class or be able to produce material week-to-week. Students will be asked to write, read, and provide feedback to peers, both…
Find out more »October 2018
Novel Launch Pad: The First 50 Pages
Instructor: Jody Hesler $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 9/19/18 - 11/7/18 | 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM Students in this class should have made significant strides on the beginning of a novel. We will workshop the first 50 pages, in 25-page increments. Through close reading of each other’s work, and of some literary texts, students will gain insights to help them zero in where the beating heart of their budding novels is strongest, identify which craft issues need the…
Find out more »You Can Control Time
Instructor: Amanda Korman $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 10/13/18 | 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM Time is an important instrument in your fiction-writing toolbox. In this four-hour seminar, we will learn about the many ways you can play with the speed at which things happen in your stories and novels. We’ll read examples of authors making ample, even wild use of the possibilities, and we’ll do some writing and experimenting of our own. About the Instructor: Amanda Korman is…
Find out more »The Songs of Fall: A Poetry Retreat
Instructor: Sara Robinson $99 Members | $110 Nonmembers Saturday, 10/20/18 | 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Fall and its change of colors offers writers an opportunity to explore their writing in a natural setting. We can look at our art and see how changing colors, direction of light, plants, trees, streams, offer us opportunities to evaluate our own sense of change in what we compose. We can find inspiration like Robert Duncan’s “Often I Am Permitted to Return to a…
Find out more »The Art of Forgiveness: A Writing Retreat (CLASS IS FULL!)
Instructors: Lisa Ellison and Deborah Prum $85 Members | $95 Nonmembers Saturday, 10/27/18 | 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM Grievance stories are detrimental to your writing health. Ruminations on bad guys eat up your creative space. Side effects include one-dimensional characters, stale plotlines, and preachy prose. How do you stop nursing a juicy grievance story and regain your creativity? It all comes down to forgiveness. Join Lisa Ellison and Deborah Prum as we explore various aspects of forgiveness. We will…
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