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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 »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…
Find out more »June 2019
Writing for Magazines (This seminar is full!)
Instructor: Bill Glose $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 6/15/19 | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm In this workshop, Bill Glose shares his own roadmap to successful publication to show how to break in at magazines and keep landing assignments after you’ve kicked the door down. You will learn the basics of querying, the three stages of the interview, editorial timelines and relationships, and the art of narrative non-fiction as it applies to both essays and articles. Bill Glose is the author…
Find out more »July 2019
Plan Your Writing Year (Ongoing class)
Instructor: Jody Hesler $94.50 Members | $105 Nonmembers FOUR Wednesdays, 6/19/19 – 7/10/19 | 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm Let’s make the most of summer’s lull to plan our writing year. This class is meant for writers who want to deepen their commitment to their work in any genre. We will share strategies for keeping up our stamina in the face of daily distractions and disappointments, for writing when the Muse seems to be sleeping, for drafting and for revising…
Find out more »August 2019
Navigating Self-Publishing Using Amazon KDP (This seminar is full!)
Instructor: John Nicolay $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 8/10/19 | 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm This seminar takes the student through the process of using Amazon’s “Kindle Direct Print” for publishing any project as a softcover book. We will discuss each element of the process, starting with formatting the “to-be” work so that KDP remains happy. John Nicolay is a professor in The Graduate School, University of Maryland. He is an officer with the Blue Ridge Writers, and a…
Find out more »October 2019
Secrets to Writing Every Day – Tricks and Techniques
Instructor: Joan Mazza $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 10/12/19 | 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 »Staying the Course (Ongoing Class)
Instructor: Jody Hesler $260 Members | $289 Nonmembers Meets monthly on Saturday for eleven months: 9/28/19, 10/26/19, 11/23/19, 12/14/19, 1/25/20, 2/29/20, 3/28/20, 4/25/20, 5/23/20, 6/27/20, 7/25/20 | 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm This is a course for committed writers who want some structure and accountability for reaching their writing goals. Reaching these goals is often more easily said than done. We often lose our way when we have no sounding board, no one to check in with to see if…
Find out more »Getting Into Character
Instructor: Amanda Korman $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 10/26/19 | 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm What makes a story “unputdownable”? We know that propulsive plots are one way to keep your readers turning the page. But there are plenty of stories where the captivating factor is instead the intrigue of the characters themselves: the way their minds work, the way their particular sensibilities clash against one another. In this afternoon seminar we will discuss strategies for creating consistent, believable…
Find out more »Daytime Generative Writing Class (This class is full!)
Instructor: Sharon Harrigan $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 9/18/19 – 11/6/19 | 9:30 am -12:00 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 »November 2019
Submission Bootcamp, Part I: Getting Noticed – Submitting Your Work
Instructor: Liza Taylor $30 Members | $32.50 Nonmembers Saturday, 11/2/19 | 10:30 am - 12:00 pm Note: The Submission mini-seminars may be taken separately or together, but you must register for each one individually. 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 submitting? Liza will…
Find out more »Submission Bootcamp, Part II: I’ve Finished Writing My Book, Now What?
Instructor: Liza Taylor $35 Members | $38 Nonmembers Sunday, 11/3/19 | 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Note: The Submission mini-seminars may be taken separately or together, but you must register for each one individually. As they say at the Publisher’s Clearinghouse, “If you don’t enter, you can’t win.” Finding an agent for your manuscript is tough. This seminar will discuss preparing book manuscripts for submission, researching literary agents, writing and formatting a query letter and synopsis, submission strategies, and dealing…
Find out more »Confessions of a Book Reviewer (Seminar has been canceled!)
Instructor: Bill Glose $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Sunday, 11/10/19 | 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm As the Books editor for Virginia Living for the past 16 years, Bill Glose has sifted through hundreds of book marketing campaigns. In this seminar, he will discuss how he chooses which books to review and the mistakes that many beginning authors do that harm their chances. He will also discuss the lifespan of a book and show participants how to make a publicity…
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