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September 2017
Writing Children’s Picture Books
Instructor: Hannah Barnaby $189 Members | $210 Non-members Wednesdays, 9/20/17 - 11/8/17 | 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM Picture books are a child’s earliest introduction to the power of story. We’ll explore elements of classic and current picture books, study the spectrum of commercial to literary picture books, examine the relationship between text and image, and most importantly, generate ideas and develop them into polished drafts. You’ll complete the class with both a deeper appreciation of the art of the…
Find out more »Revising to Solve Common Craft Problems
Instructor: Jody Hesler $60 Members | $65 Non-members Saturday, 9/23/17 | 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM Ever heard these comments in a workshop? “I don’t think this story earned its ending.” “Where’s the urgency?” “Why this event right now?” This seminar addresses some common craft pitfalls that evoke these kinds of reader responses and keep a story from shining its brightest. Topics we’ll cover include narrative tension, clichés of the body, verisimilitude, point-of-view filtering, and more. Come prepared to do some…
Find out more »October 2017
Secrets to Writing Every Day
Instructor: Joan Mazza $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Sunday, 10/1/17 | 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM Whatever style of writing you do or hope to do, you can develop habits for writing every day and find the time to do so. In this seminar, we will discuss strategies to stay in your writing mind and make creative leaps. We’ll talk about how to catch ideas and track them, and how as little as fifteen minutes a day can keep you…
Find out more »Build a Website Workshop for Nontechies
Instructor: Candace Schoner $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Sunday, 10/15/17 | 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM This workshop is designed for individuals and small business owners who want to build a professional website without spending nights, weekends, or even months without results. Those who attend will learn everything they need to design, build, and host a website, as well as the pros and cons to popular web design tools such as WordPress, Weebly and WIX. During the last half of…
Find out more »November 2017
Writing Love
Instructor: Amanda Korman $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 11/4/17 | 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM This seminar is for prose writers who are looking to make vivid the feelings—all the feelings, joyful and otherwise—of love. We’ll discuss fiction and nonfiction that explore loves of many kinds—familial, platonic, romantic, marital, extramarital, erotic—and we’ll work on ways to sharpen the portrayals of love in our own work. Amanda Korman is a writer whose short fiction has appeared in the Virginia Quarterly…
Find out more »January 2018
Fiction/Nonfiction Generative Workshop (Class is Full!)
Instructor: Sharon Harrigan $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 1/17/18 - 3/7/18 | 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM No time for homework? No problem. We’ll do all the writing and critique work in class, so you don’t have to do it at home. Each session will begin with a short meditation to clear our heads. Then the instructor will lead participants through a series of prompts that build on each other and move toward the goal of completing a cohesive story,…
Find out more »New Year, New Query
Instructor: Nichole LeFebvre $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 1/20/18 | 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM Make 2018 the year you land a literary agent. In this seminar, you'll learn how to find agents who represent your genre, and importantly, how to attract their attention. You'll get tips for condensing your brilliant book into a 3-4 line description. You'll write an intriguing bio. Never published before? Don't despair. There is something about you that will stand out to an agent. Bring a 1-page…
Find out more »February 2018
The Gifts of Grief: A Retreat on Writing Through Your Loss – Session is Full
Instructor: Lisa Ellison and Deborah Prum $80 Members | $87 Nonmembers Saturday, 2/10/18 | 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM *This retreat will take place at the instructor's home. There are places in the heart that do not yet exist; suffering has to enter in for them to come to be. –Leon Bloy Grief and loss are universal human experiences frequently associated with suffering and darkness. But there are gifts hidden in these difficult times that transcend the painful narratives we…
Find out more »Publishing Options: Pros and Cons – Only One Spot Left!
Instructor: Bob Friedman $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 2/17/18 | 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM Traditional publishing is always preferable to self-publishing, but a small percentage of manuscripts ever get to that point. So with the easier and cheaper access to book publishing technology, many more authors turn to self-publishing. What are the advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing? Are there self-publishing avenues that are far better than others? Are there rip-off companies that are basically in the business of printing?…
Find out more »May 2018
Free Members-Only Event: Essential Tools for Writing a Picture Book Biography
Instructor: Katherine Erskine FREE for WriterHouse Member Wednesday, 5/16/18 | 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM Kathryn Erskine shares her research, approach, and multiple drafts of the recent award-winning Mama Africa! How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with her Song, along with the key elements in writing a successful picture book biography. Come ready to try rooibos tea and cookies from South Africa. About the Instructor: Kathryn Erskine is the author of six children’s novels including National Book Award winner, Mockingbird, Jane…
Find out more »Fiction/Nonfiction Generative Workshop (Class is Full!)
Instructor: Sharon Harrigan $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 4/4/18 - 5/23/18 | 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM No time for homework? No problem. We’ll do all the writing and critique work in class, so you don’t have to do it at home. Each session will begin with a short meditation to clear our heads. Then the instructor will lead participants through a series of prompts that build on each other and move toward the goal of completing a cohesive…
Find out more »June 2018
Picture Book Boot Camp
Instructor: Hannah Barnaby $80 Members | $87 Nonmembers Saturday, 6/2/18 | 10:00 AM - 4:00 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 Barnaby --…
Find out more »July 2018
Fiction/Nonfiction Generative Workshop
Instructor: Sharon Harrigan $150 Members | $165 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 6/6/18 – 7/11/18 | 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM No time for homework? No problem. We’ll do all the writing and critique work in class, so you don’t have to do it at home. Each session will begin with a short meditation to clear our heads. Then the instructor will lead participants through a series of prompts that build on each other and move toward the goal of completing a cohesive story,…
Find out more »(HE)ART Speaks: The Mindful Connection Between Poetry and Art
Instructors: Lisa Ellison and Jum Jirapan **FREE for WriterHouse Members | $15 for Nonmembers Tuesday, 7/31/18 | 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM Experience art as meditation through this hands-on seminar that explores the connection between poetry and art. Make your own artwork using the simple painting technique Jum Jirapan used to create her WriterHouse exhibit. This event will include prompts, a conversation with artist Jum Jirapan, meditations facilitated by Lisa Ellison, and opportunities to share. Snacks will be provided. We'll provide the…
Find out more »August 2018
Crafting Irresistible Characters
Instructor: Doug Lawson $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 10/27/18 | 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM What is it that makes a character truly, madly, deeply memorable—so uniquely gripping that they can’t be forgotten, so quirky that you can’t help but love them, hate them, want to take them home with you and cook them dinner? In this seminar, we’ll look at some examples of great characters from stories in different mediums (stories, novels, movies, TV) and see if we…
Find out more »October 2018
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 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…
Find out more »November 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 »April 2019
Submitting & Publishing: Parts I and II (This seminar is full!)
Instructor: Liza Taylor $30 Members | $32.50 Nonmembers Saturday, 4/6/19 | 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM These back-to-back mini-seminars may be taken separately or together. Part I - Getting Noticed: Submitting your work (10:30 AM - 12:00 PM) Here at WriterHouse we’re taught to be better writers, but it’s up to us to get our work out there and learn how to be writers in the world. So, you might be wondering, how will I know if I’m ready to try…
Find out more »May 2019
The Ins and Outs of Humor Writing – What’s funny and why
Instructor: Tony Vanderwarker $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Part I, Saturday, May 11, 2019, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Part II, Sunday, May 12, 2019, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM This two-part seminar occurs on consecutive days, to allow time to digest the information from the first day and apply it toward writing or revising a piece for the second day. In the opening session, Tony will discuss the elements of humor in writing, using examples from Mel Brooks, David Sedaris and…
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