Beginning Your Novel
$325 | 6 classes | Mondays, 6:30-8:00pm, April 27-June 1
With so much competition for readers’ time and attention, readers (including agents and editors) make a decision within the first 25 pages whether to continue reading. You have to grab them by the imagination from the first line. The beginnings of stories have never been more important in hooking readers and leading them through the story. This six-week intensive session focuses on crafting the best possible first chapter, starting with the first sentence, introducing the central conflict, and revealing your main characters as they head toward the point of no return.
Developing a Non-Fiction Book proposal
$200 | 3 classes | Saturdays, 8:45-10:45am, May 9, May 23, & May 30
To get your memoir, biography, cookbook, or other work of creative nonfiction out into the world, you will need to prepare an eye-catching and well-written proposal, as well as a synopsis and query letters to capture the attention of agents and editors. This three-week workshop details how to craft all three into highly polished pieces that get you from idea to a request for more.
Consider the (Short) Story
$325 | 6 classes | Mondays, 6:30-8:00pm, July 13-August 17
The best way to learn about writing is by reading deeply and understanding the choices an author makes. In this six-week class, student-writers will take deep, luxurious dives into seven classic and contemporary short stories, pieces of poetry and flash fiction, and literary journalism. The slow, intentional readings of these works and the subsequent discussions will reveal the underpinnings of story and serve as inspiration for students’ writing prompts and assignments.
Each class will begin with a 15-minute free-writing session followed by a one-hour discussion on that week’s assigned reading and an in-class exercise. Each class will end with a short writing assignment and reading for the following week.
Beginning and advanced students are welcome in this class. Students may use an in-progress project as the basis for the writing assignments or start fresh.
Building Characters
$250 | 4 classes | Saturdays, 9:00-10:45am, August 15-29 & September 12
Why do some characters like To Kill a Mockingbird’s Atticus and Scout Finch, Lonesome Dove’s Augustus “Gus” McCrae, and Charlotte the Spider stay with us long after we’ve read the last page and returned the book to its shelf?
Because those authors and others like them crafted three-dimensional characters with rich interior lives, authentic dialogue and unique traits that make them live off the page and in our hearts and minds.
This immersive four-week course will help you build memorable characters that move around in your stories as if they were literally alive, driving their stories forward with desires, secrets, missed opportunities, and second chances.
Creative Nonfiction
$325 | 6 classes | Mondays, 6:30-8:00pm, September 14-October 19
Creative, narrative, or literary nonfiction covers many writing forms, from essay to biography to memoir. This course focuses on the particular nuances of marrying fact, observation and memory with the elements of literary storytelling to craft vivid prose. In this six-week course, students will explore memoir, travel writing, food writing, personal essay, critique, history, biography, as students develop their voice for nonfiction storytelling.
The Path to Traditional Publishing
$50 | 1 class | Sunday, 6:30-18:30pm, September 20
Aspiring authors, please join young adult author and bookseller Cindy L. Otis, and author and editor Amy Paige Condon for a panel discussion about the pathways to traditional publishing. From the varying preparations for fiction and nonfiction publishing to searching for and selecting an agent to determining the best deal for your book, the panel will offer practical advice for each step of the process and beyond.
Revising Your Manuscript
$180 | 3 classes | Saturdays, 9:00-10:45am, October 10-24
So, you’ve written your first draft of a novel or a nonfiction book or a longform narrative article for a literary journal or magazine. Now comes the revision process.
How do you even begin to take what you’ve written and read it from a developmental perspective, for clarity, for grammar, for polish? Each of these steps requires a different approach and the ability to surrender your darlings. This three-week course helps guide you through different revision processes so that the manuscript you finally submit is in its best possible shape.