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February 2020
Utopia and Dystopia: Writing Heaven and Hell
Instructor: Warren Rochelle $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 2/29/20 | 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm Utopia, the perfect society? Or, a planned, better one? Dystopia, a warning, a cautionary tale: if we don't stop doing .... there'll be hell to pay. We'll talk about utopia and dystopia, past and present, outline a statement of beliefs, then start individual stories set in the alternate world of these beliefs in action. Warren Rochelle lives and works in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he…
Find out more »March 2020
Propelled by Story, Constrained by Truth: Exploring the Boundaries of Narrative Nonfiction (only 2 spots left!)
Instructor: Chris Register $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 3/14/20 | 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm Narrative nonfiction authors face many decisions along their journey from proposal to print. Whether curating material for a historical snapshot, recreating conversations for a travelogue, or painting a scene for a memoir, the challenges are the same: where to begin, what to tell and leave out (and in what order), how much dialogue versus backstory to employ, and—of course—that elephant in the writing room: to…
Find out more »Daytime Poetry
Instructor: Mariflo Stephens $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays, 3/31/20 – 5/19/20 | 10:00 am – 12:30 pm Whether you're an experienced poet who has worked in the field for years or an aspiring writer who needs direction or impetus, this class can help jump start your creative impulse. Each week we’ll experiment with a poetic technique, then write a poem to workshop the next week. In our discussions, we will focus on revision techniques, and there will also be…
Find out more »Evening Poetry: Day in/Day out
Instructor: John Most $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays, 3/31/20 – 5/19/20 | 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm In this class, open to all poets, we will spend the bulk of our time writing, reworking, and discussing new poems. We will also focus on the daily precursors of poetry: observations, notes, journals, conversations, poems, books…. Our guiding question will be how are we working into/out of a poem. John Most earned his PhD in media philosophy from the European Graduate…
Find out more »Evening Creative Nonfiction
Instructor: Brendan Wolfe $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays, 3/31/20 – 5/19/20 | 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm In this workshop, we'll critique student writing in addition to considering samples of a few published selections. We’ll consider essays and memoir as a distinctive genre, with the goal of moving from the chin-strokingly philosophical—"What is a true story?" "Is it memoir or mem-wah?"—to the more practical: "How should this story be told?" "How do I convince my readers to share my…
Find out more »April 2020
Daytime Generative Writing
Instructor: Sharon Harrigan $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 4/1/20 – 5/20/20 | 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…
Find out more »Screenwriting 101
Instructor: Michael Cordell $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 4/1/20 – 5/20/20 | 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm Learn the fundamentals of screenwriting to increase the odds of getting your script read. This class covers key elements of screenwriting, including story structure, character development, dialogue, and exposition. We'll talk about how Hollywood thinks (to the extent that anyone knows how Hollywood thinks), and the class will also be encouraged to submit a story outline or the first ten pages of…
Find out more »Reading for Craft: Fiction and Nonfiction
Instructor: Jody Hesler $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Thursdays, 4/2/20 – 5/21/20 | 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm In this class we’ll be reading published short stories and essays that employ craft strategies in especially unique or effective ways. We’ll dig deep into each piece to see what makes it work, or what keeps it from working, for each of us. Stronger readers make stronger writers, so we will be able to apply what we learn from our reading to…
Find out more »Evening Advanced Fiction Workshop: Voice and Character Development
Instructor: Kristie Smeltzer $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Thursdays, 4/2/20 – 5/21/20 | 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 »The speaker, and the Art of the Imaginary Real
Instructor: Derek Kannemeyer $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 4/4/20 | 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm Not every poem is written out of personal experience, or in the writer's own voice, or even from a point of view with which the poet agrees. As readers, we know and accept this. Poets, unlike (say) memoirists, are allowed, even expected, to blur the line between fiction and non-fiction, in their pursuit of a higher imaginative truth. As writers, do we exploit the…
Find out more »Picture Book Boot Camp
Instructor: Hannah Barnaby $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 4/18/20 | 1:00 pm – 5:00 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 words 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 »Title Wave
Instructor: Joan Mazza $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 4/25/20 | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm A strong title immediately places your work above the work of others. The best agents and editors know that compelling titles are assets to literary successes. Effective titles set the stage for the reader to anticipate interest. In this seminar, we'll explore strategies for choosing titles that attract interest in your writing, no matter the genre. Participants are encouraged to bring a list of…
Find out more »May 2020
Self-Publishing 101
Instructor: Doug Lawson $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 5/2/20 | 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm While traditional publishers are reducing advances, royalties, and asking authors to handle more and more marketing for their books, there's a renaissance happening in the self-publishing world today. New and established writers are bringing their works directly to readers, without stigma, and many are making some decent money as a result. This seminar will focus on what you, as a writer, may need to…
Find out more »Rabbit Holes and Easter Eggs: Writing Historical Fiction
Instructor: Liza Taylor $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 5/9/20 | 10:00 am – 1:00 pm Liza Nash Taylor’s two forthcoming historical novels are set in 1925 and 1931. ETIQUETTE FOR RUNAWAYS, partially set in Keswick and Charlottesville, comes out August 18. IN ALL GOOD FAITH will follow in 2021. Liza will supply resources and discuss pitfalls, Easter eggs, and cheats for research techniques for setting, characters, and working with historical figures, as well as crafting period-appropriate dialogue and backgrounds.…
Find out more »Flash Fiction: Standing Dangerously Close to the Flame
Instructor: Debbie Daniel $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 5/9/20 | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Flash dance. Flash fire. Flash bulb. Flash flood. Flash burn. Flash mob. Flash point. Let’s explore the genre we call flash, both the stand-alone story and the novella-in-flash. We’ll attempt to pin down what it is, and discover how to make one out of shiny words and bangles and churning clouds and unique characters you might notice sitting on a bus or in an…
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