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October 2020
Putting the Pen to the Page: What is involved in this year-long novel class? (Free online seminar)
Instructor: Kristen-Paige Madonia FREE SEMINAR! Saturday, 10/10/20 | 11:00 am – 12:00 pm 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 their way through the generative process of drafting their novel manuscript. Curious about the class? Join us for a FREE seminar and learn about the course…
Find out more »January 2021
Fiction from Soup to Nuts – CANCELLED
Instructor: Kristie Smeltzer $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1/12/21 – 3/4/21 | 6:00 pm - 7:15 pm Like a seven-course meal, this class offers a little bit of everything. Class discussions on a variety of writing topics—such as effective beginnings, smooth transitions between scenes/chapters, and how to write better sentences—will sate your appetite. The best part is that what you're craving will help shape the menu: the class offers participants the opportunity to share topics of interest to…
Find out more »Engaging Beginnings, Middles, and Endings When Writing for Children & Teens (Online seminar)
Instructor: Kathryn Erskine $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Session One: Sunday, 1/24/21 | 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Session Two: Sunday, 1/31/21 | 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Whether you’re writing a picture book, chapter book or novel for young readers, what are the elements you need for a great beginning? How much is enough to introduce the story and what is too much information? How do you manage the murky, meandering middle without getting sidetracked by beautifully written scenes…
Find out more »February 2021
Snowed Under a Blizzard of Unfinished Stories? (Online seminar)
Instructor: BettyJoyce Nash $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Weekend One: Saturday & Sunday, 2/20/21 & 2/21/21 | 10:00 am – 11:15 am Weekend Two: Saturday & Sunday, 2/27/21 & 2/28/21 | 10:00 am – 11:15 am How many days does a blizzard last? That's an unanswerable question, but this short story "blizzard" will span four days. Bring your blanket, bring your hot chocolate and bring a short story you want to polish for publication. We’ll examine point of view, character development, and story arc, but we’ll…
Find out more »March 2021
Advanced Fiction (Online course) – This class is full!
Instructor: Sharon Harrigan $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Mondays and Wednesdays, 1/11/21 – 3/3/21 | 9:30 am – 10:45 am Requirements: Students are asked to purchase Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction by Benjamin Percy. In this class, we will spend Mondays studying techniques that will make your fiction more engaging, gripping, and vivid. We will discuss selections from Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction by Benjamin Percy, as well as short stories and novel excerpts from Bret Anthony Johnston, Rebecca Makkai, and others. On…
Find out more »Writing The Pandemic Through SciFi: Plague Tales (Online seminar)- CANCELLED!
Instructor: Warren Rochelle $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Session One: Saturday, March 6, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Session Two: Sunday, March 7, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Imaginative responses to the pandemic are beginning to appear. But plague literature, plague fiction, has been around for a long time. Boccacio writes about the Black Death in The Decameron in 1349-1353. In 1722, Daniel Defoe published A Journal of the Plague Year, "the account of one man's experience of the year 1665, when the bubonic…
Find out more »Writing, Revising, Pitching: What is involved in this year-long novel class? (Free online seminar)
Instructor: Randall Klein FREE SEMINAR! Wednesday, 3/24/21 | 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm Writing, Revising, Pitching is an opportunity for writers to push through to completion or to revise and polish their novel with a supportive group of peers and an experienced instructor. Over the course of nine months, each writer will have two opportunities to workshop their full manuscript. In addition, the instructor will share his experience in the publishing industry to help writers take the next steps toward getting…
Find out more »April 2021
Hearing Voices: Narration and Dialogue in Fiction – Ongoing seminar
Instructor: Andrew Martin $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Session One: Saturday, March 27, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm Session Two: Saturday, April 3, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm Voice, in both narration and dialogue, is one of the most important elements of fiction, but also one of the most difficult to get right. How do we channel the voices we hear in our heads, and out in the world, into writing that is both artful and realistic? How do we…
Find out more »Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adult: What’s the best fit for your SciFi/Fantasy novel idea?
Instructor: Emily Thiede $40 Members | $45 Nonmembers Saturday, April 24, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Can you curse in YA? How long are MG novels? Are dragons "in" or "out?" If my main character is 17 years old, can my book still be for adults? What does "crossover" mean? In recent years, the publishing world has drawn some clear lines (and some less clear lines) between age-categories, so how can writers decide where their book idea might belong? In…
Find out more »May 2021
Advanced Fiction: Planning Your Plot Roller Coaster – Ongoing class
Instructor: Kristie Smeltzer $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3/23/21 – 5/13/21 | 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm Prerequisite: Students are required to submit a chapter or story for instructor review prior to acceptance to the class. A hallmark of good fiction is that it keeps readers turning the page, eager to see what happens next. As writers, we know that what needs to look effortless doesn't always come so easily. Creating a compelling plot that manages to…
Find out more »June 2021
The Facts of Fiction 1: Creating Compelling Characters
Instructor: Kristie Smeltzer $30 Members | $35 Nonmembers Saturday, June 5, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Seminar Series: The Facts of Fiction This June seminar series covers four of the core concepts for writing effective fiction. Writers may take the entire series or only specific sessions. Writers who sign up for all four seminars will receive a $5 credit for each seminar completed. The total credit will be applied after the last seminar. The credit may be used to offset registration fees…
Find out more »The Facts of Fiction 2: Nailing the Narrative Arc
Instructor: Kristie Smeltzer $30 Members | $35 Nonmembers Saturday, June 12, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Seminar Series: The Facts of Fiction This June seminar series covers four of the core concepts for writing effective fiction. Writers may take the entire series or only specific sessions. Writers who sign up for all four seminars will receive a $5 credit for each seminar completed. The total credit will be applied after the last seminar. The credit may be used to offset registration fees…
Find out more »The Facts of Fiction 3: Balancing Backstory and Action
Instructor: Kristie Smeltzer $30 Members | $35 Nonmembers Saturday, June 19, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Seminar Series: The Facts of Fiction This June seminar series covers four of the core concepts for writing effective fiction. Writers may take the entire series or only specific sessions. Writers who sign up for all four seminars will receive a $5 credit for each seminar completed. The total credit will be applied after the last seminar. The credit may be used to offset registration fees…
Find out more »The Facts of Fiction 4: Drafting Authentic Dialogue
Instructor: Kristie Smeltzer $30 Members | $35 Nonmembers Saturday, June 26, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Seminar Series: The Facts of Fiction This June seminar series covers four of the core concepts for writing effective fiction. Writers may take the entire series or only specific sessions. Writers who sign up for all four seminars will receive a $5 credit for each seminar completed. The total credit will be applied after the last seminar. The credit may be used to offset registration fees…
Find out more »July 2021
Advanced Fiction: First Novels, First Pages (class is full!)
Instructor: Bruce Holsinger $100 Members | $108 Nonmembers Tuesdays, 6/1/21 - 7/6/21 | 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm Class Requirement: Students are required to submit a one-paragraph description and the first ten pages of their novels to the instructor for approval to enroll in the class. Please email samples to programs@writerhouse.org. As any agent or editor will tell you, a fiction submission can stand or fall on the strength of the first page. Does the page resonate with a voice…
Find out more »August 2021
Character Development Campout (Online class) – Class Canceled!
Instructor: Kristie Smeltzer $95 Members | $105 Nonmembers Monday, 8/2/21 – Thursday, 8/5/21 | 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Saturday & Sunday, 8/7/21 and 8/8/21, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm (Six class meetings in one week) Grab your writing gear and get ready for an immersive character development experience. Writers will spend six sessions over a week encamped with colleagues as we focus on refining characters until they feel so real that we’ll know how they like their s’mores. Heck,…
Find out more »Putting the Pen to the Page: Drafting Your Novel in One Year (Ongoing class)
Instructor: Kristen-Paige Madonia $1,399* Members | $1,399* Nonmembers Select Tuesdays, 1/5/21 - 8/31/21** | 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM *Payment plans 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 their way through the…
Find out more »November 2021
Elements of Fiction – Online class
Instructor: Sharon Harrigan $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays, 10/5/21 – 11/23/21 | 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm NOTE: CLASS WILL NOT MEET ON NOV. 9. A MAKEUP SESSION HAS BEEN SCHEDULED FOR NOV. 30. For the first part of each class, we will analyze a short story that is emblematic of a particular writing technique. The stories will be an eclectic assortment of literary fiction, with a focus on contemporary writers. For the second part of class, we will…
Find out more »December 2021
Developing Compelling Characters and Choosing the Right Point of View – Online class
Instructor: Kristie Smeltzer $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10/5/21 – 12/2/21 | 6:00 pm - 7:15 pm NOTE: This class will not meet the week of Thanksgiving, the week of November 22. The last week of classes will be held the following week, the week of November 29. When we're doing our job well as writers, fiction readers get attached to the characters we create. Whether they love our characters, love to hate them, or just find…
Find out more »January 2022
Writing, Revising, Pitching: Getting Your Novel Out of the Drawer and Off to Market (Ongoing class)
Instructor: Randall Klein$1349* Members | $1349* NonmembersSelect Wednesdays 4/28/21 – 1/12/22 | 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM*Payment plans of $322 per quarter will be available to students accepted into this program. NOTE: This class will meet via Zoom. 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…
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