UPCOMING CLASSES
February 2019
Evening Creative Nonfiction (This class is full!)
Instructor: Jay Kauffmann $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays, 1/15/19 - 3/5/19 | 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 »Evening Poetry: Before the Poem
Instructor: John Most $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Tuesdays, 1/15/19 - 3/5/19 | 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM In this class, which is open to all poets, we will spend most of our time writing and workshopping new poems. In addition to writing new poems, each week we will look at what different poets do before the poem, whether it is taking notes, researching, reading, or absolutely nothing. About the Instructor: John Most earned his PhD in media philosophy from…
Find out more »Finding Your Story’s Sweet Spot: What Does Your Character Want?
Instructor: BettyJoyce Nash$189 Members | $210 NonmembersWednesdays, 1/16/19 - 3/6/19 | 6:30 PM – 9:00 PMFinding your story’s “sweet spot” requires identifying your character’s longing. What drives every word and deed, creating the necessary conflict that motivates readers to turn pages? In early drafts we often can’t answer the simple question: What specific, tangible “want” makes this character act this way?In class, we'll discuss published short stories such as Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies” and Ethan Canin’s “Pitch Memory,” among…
Find out more »Screenwriting 101
Instructor: Michael Cordell $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Wednesdays, 1/16/19 - 3/6/19 | 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM Learn the fundamentals of screenwriting to increase the odds of getting your script read. This class will cover 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). Students will also have the opportunity to submit a story outline or the first ten pages 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 »Brown Bag Craft Expo
Instructor: Jody Hesler $95 Members | $105 Nonmembers Thursdays, 1/17/19 - 3/7/19 | 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Through interactive writing and reading exercises, we will explore basic story elements – such as narrative tension, scene, and dialog – with an eye toward how the pieces of story fit together and how we manipulate them to set readers’ expectations in our work. Whether you’re new to thinking about craft, or you want to brush up on what some of the…
Find out more »Advanced Fiction: Building Dramatic Tension
Instructor: Kristie Smeltzer $189 Members | $210 Nonmembers Thursdays, 1/17/19 - 3/7/19 | 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM Do you aim to have readers dashing through your short fiction or unable to put your novel down after finishing a chapter? This workshop class will focus on developing dramatic tension, that quality in effective fiction that keeps readers moving from page to page. Participants will have the opportunity for two workshops of their writing as well as other feedback opportunities. Students…
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 »March 2019
Deftly Delivering Dynamic Dialogue
Instructor: Doug Lawson $60 Members | $65 Nonmembers Saturday, 3/2/19 | 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM How your characters speak (or don’t speak) is a key way your readers will get to know them. Are they eloquent? Overly articulate? Academic? Or are they subtle, scheming, a quiet keeper of dark secrets? The way they talk will help reveal them—if you’re thoughtful about it. In this seminar we will focus on key ways of thinking about dialogue patterns, some core techniques…
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