Structure of the Workshops
- A workshop is an interactive series of lessons in the form of blog posts and/or audio lectures with Q&A, an assignment, and a critique.
- Each week I’ll post a lesson and an assignment to a blog (might also include an audio lecture and/or an ebook).
- Students will read and/or listen to the lesson in their own time, and ask any questions in the Comments section of the blog post. I will respond to all questions in the Comments section.
- Students are encouraged to complete the assignment and send it to me via email attachment within three days. (Assignments are not mandatory, but recommended to get the most out of the workshop.)
- I will work personally with each writer via email and send the critiqued assignments back before the end of the week.
- Each lesson will begin on the same day of the week. So if the workshop begins on a Monday, each new lesson will be posted on the following Monday.
Assignment-Rich, Interactive Workshops (Strictly limited to 10 participants in each workshop. Interaction consists of Q&A as well as personal assignments, critiqued and returned to each student.)
- Writing Into the Dark (writing, appropriate for fiction or memoir of any length)
- Employing the Persona (writing, appropriate for short fiction)
- Using Fiction Techniques to Bring Your Memoir to Life (writing)
- Writing the Poem (writing)
- How to Create a Stunning Ebook Cover (craft, technical, software required)
- How to Make Your Living as a Freelance Copyeditor (craft, technical)
Workshop Descriptions
“Writing Into the Dark Writing Intensive” — If you’re looking for no-excuse immersion in writing, this is the course you want. This is a great course for writing fiction of any length. Includes an in-depth look at Heinlein’s Rules, how to increase your productivity as a writer, how to set priorities, and much more. If you want to be a professional writer, this workshop is the best place to begin. Assignments (depending on the student’s interests) will be scenes and short stories or chapters of a novel (WIP) or memoir. This workshop is tentatively set for 8 weeks. $240
“Employing the Persona” — This is especially useful if you write in different genres or if you simply want to free yourself to write in a different voice or style. Although a persona certainly can write a novel (or a series of novels), for this course I’m encouraging the writing of short fiction so students can see first-hand how easy it is to move from one persona to another. Includes how to create (or meet) the persona, the difference between a pen name (pseudonym) and a persona, and a great deal more. Assignments will include bios, personal histories, and short stories in at least two voices and/or genres. At the end of the course the student should have at least two viable personas and at least one publishable collection of short stories. This workshop is tentatively set for 6 weeks. $180
“Writing Into the Dark and Employing the Persona” — a 12-week intensive, at the end of which you should have three collections (two short and one long). Includes all of the above. $360 (save $60)
“Using Fiction Techniques to Bring Your Memoir to Life” is somewhat self-explanatory, but which fiction techniques? This will include how to introduce your characters, giving each character his or her distinctive voice, when and how to narrate, when and how to use dialogue and a lot more. All writing assignments will be memoir written about a particular time frame (e.g., summer on the farm or in the city) or a particular event (e.g., county fair) or group of people. At the end of the course the student should have a publishable collection of memoir. This workshop is tentatively set for 6 weeks. $150
“Writing the Poem” is just that: a course on how to write poetry that will stand the test of time. This course will include 15 audio sessions of about 15 minutes each. Overall topics include the elements of structure, the elements of sound, the use of punctuation in poetry, the interplay of Line and Sentence, the effect on the reader of the sounds of letters and words, and a great deal more. Assignments will include poems in different styles. At the end of the course the student should have a publishable collection of poetry. This workshop is tentatively set for 6 weeks. $150