August 2019
Dabblers Group
This is a closed writing group organized by member Carol Cutler that meets in the Salon.
Find out more »Open Writing Hours Today!
WriterHouse will be offering the volunteer operated Open Writing Hours today. Come in and enjoy a nice quiet place to write, meet with your writer friends, and have a cup of coffee on the house. Want to see more open hours? We do too! Become a volunteer for WriterHouse today to help us promote the creation and appreciation of the literary arts in your community.
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Off-Season NaNoWriMo Meeting
This is a closed meeting of NaNoWriMo organizers facilitated by Jennifer Ehlers.
Find out more »September 2019
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 Mondays, 9/9/19 - 5/21/20** | 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM *Payment plans of $335 per quarter will be available to students accepted into this program. NOTE: THE APPLICATION DEADLINE FOR THIS PROGRAM HAS PASSED. 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…
Find out more »Writing, Revising, Pitching: Getting Your Novel Out of the Drawer and Off to Market (This class is full!)
Instructor: Randall Klein $1299* Members | $1299* Nonmembers Select Mondays 1/14/19 – 9/23/19 | 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM *Payment plans of $412 per quarter (3 quarters) will be available to students accepted into this program. Overview: For most novelists, the ultimate goal is to get published. Before that, however, comes much revision, along with some frustration and confusion at a seemingly impenetrable system of submission, waiting, and hoping. Writing, Revising, Pitching is a class for people who have…
Find out more »WriterHouse Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror/Speculative Fiction Writers Group
Do rolling green hills inspire you to think of brutal orc armies bearing down on ancient elfin civilizations? Intrepid heroes slashing their way through overgrown jungles in search of the one cure to a deadly pandemic? Forgotten tribes descended from a humanoid ancestor other than our own? Government enclaves for top secret and highly unethical experiments? Mother Nature’s healing touch after the nuclear apocalypse? If so then we would love to hear about it! The WriterHouse Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror/Speculative Fiction Writers Group…
Find out more »Poets At Large
This is a closed group facilitated by Sharon Ackerman and Priscilla Melchior. The group's goal is a detailed study of the craft of poetry.
Find out more »Evening Creative Nonfiction
Instructor: Jay Kauffmann $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays, 9/17/19 - 11/5/19 | 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 »Daytime Generative Writing Class
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 »Evening Fiction: The Expansion Draft – Turning Your Short Story into a Novel
Instructor: Randall Klein $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 9/18/19 – 11/13/19 | 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm Note: This class is nine weeks long to allow a full eight weeks for workshopping. The currency of many writing classes is the short story; writing one can teach all the fundamentals of storytelling, and develop craft in the process. For many writers, though, the goal is to start and finish that novel, something longer and more panoramic. If you’re starting with…
Find out more »Evening Poetry
Instructor: Douglas Nordfors $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 9/18/19 – 11/6/19 | 6:30 pm -9:00 pm This course will follow the traditional, tried-and-true workshop model. Participants will bring in a poem each class to be critiqued by fellow students and the instructor. For anyone who appreciates outside prompts, an optional assignment will be given each week. The aim will be to create a rigorous, but stress free, atmosphere suitable for veteran as well as novice poets. Any style of…
Find out more »Memoir in a Year Part II: Drafting and Revising Your Book-Length Memoir (This class is full!)
Instructor: Lisa Ellison$1399* Members | $1399* NonmembersSelect Thursdays 1/24/19 – 12/5/19 | 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM*Payment plans of $335 per quarter will be available to students accepted into this program.**For a complete list of class dates, please see the Memoir in a Year Part II Syllabus. Have a powerful life story you absolutely must tell? Looking for support as you harness the power of that narrative? Memoir in a Year Part II: Drafting and Revising Your Book-Length Memoir is…
Find out more »Daytime Poetry: The Power of Four
Instructor: Clay Moldenhauer $94.50 Members | $105 Nonmembers FOUR Thursdays, 9/19/19 – 10/10/19 | 9:30 am - 12:00 pm Angela Arrien’s book, Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary, suggests four editorial postures that the poet can take to their own poems or to other people’s. Where would you place your poems in this four quadrant schema? And is such schematic thinking really useful in writing poems? Bring your poems to the group and join in a teach–learn four Day Academy (10…
Find out more »Daytime Fiction (Intermediate/Advanced Writers)
Instructor: Christina Ward-Niven $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Thursdays, 9/19/19 – 11/7/19 | 1:00 pm -3:30 pm In this workshop, we will read one story by a published author each week and discuss what makes it tick. How exactly does the story work (or not)? We'll dig into a wide range of craft topics, as they come up—point of view, characterization, pacing, suspense, mystery, etc. Next we'll turn the same lens to our own work, reading and responding to two…
Find out more »Cville YA Writers Group
This group is open to any member of WriterHouse. At this meeting, one member will read a short piece for us to critique. We will also discuss an article about writing antagonists. We welcome more voices in our lively discussions about writing as it pertains to the YA audience. Questions? Contact Bonnie Redding at riderwriter5@yahoo.com
Find out more »Staying the Course
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, 2/22/20, 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…
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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 »Putting Your Poor People in Peril! (Creating Realistic Characters Then Throwing Them to the Wolves)
Instructor: Elizabeth Massie $50 Members | $55 Nonmembers Saturday, 10/19/19 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Characters are the experiencers of a story. Without characters who act, speak, and think, there is no story. Without characters there is no problem to solve, difficulty to overcome, or adventure to have. This two-hour workshop will offer activities to get writers into the hearts, minds, and souls of their characters and then introduce characters into frightening situations to determine how they will react…or…
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 »Villanelle Crash Course
Instructor: Claudia Gary $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Sunday, 10/27/19 | 10:00 am - 1:00 pm Improve your villanelle skills, or write your first one. Guided by an internationally published author of villanelles, sonnets, and other metrical poems, you'll first read classic and contemporary villanelles to see why they work. The class will write a group villanelle, and then, with or without shortcuts, you’ll write one of your own. Next you'll see how your new poem can be improved by…
Find out more »Meter Crash Course
Instructor: Claudia Gary $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Sunday, 10/27/19 | 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Improve your ear for meter, and fine-tune your understanding of how meter works in poetry. Have you ever wondered how scanning the lines of your first draft can make for a better poem? Do you know why listening for the natural rhythms of speech can strengthen your writing? Guided by an internationally published author of sonnets, villanelles, and other metrical poems, this one-day workshop…
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
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…
Find out more »WriterHouse Fall Class Reading and Open House
Join us for food and fun as we celebrate the writing created during the 2019 Fall Term. Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry will be represented. The event is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served. Bring friends!
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