A New Era Begins: Writing Intensives and More

Hi Folks,

Now that I’ve retired as a copyeditor and resigned my position as General Manager of the Universe, I have more time for my own writing. Fortunately, I can also focus on teaching writing to those who are serious about becoming professional writers.

Most of my mechanics and techniques seminars (the ones I’ve taught all these years in Tucson, Bisbee, Green Valley and Willcox) are available online in my Audio Lecture Series. If you want to learn in-depth how to write dialogue or dialect or how to create characters or tame your overreaching narrator, that’s where you need to start.

But if you want to go beyond the mechanics and learn to make or augment your living as a professional writer, read on.

I’m developing a series of interactive online workshops. Each workshop will be six weeks long, each will include six “meetings” and five assignments. Each workshop will be limited to 10 participants, and I will work individually with each participant through emails and by critiquing his or her assignments. (The assignments will not be not mandatory, of course, but recommended to get the full benefit of the workshop.) At the end of some of these workshops, you will have written five more chapters in your novel (Yes, in six weeks), or you will have a five-story collection of short fiction or memoir. But much more than that, you will have gained confidence in yourself as a writer.

Initially I expect the online seminar topics will include these:

  • Writing Into the Dark (a technique used by the most prolific professional writers)
  • Employing the Persona (a technique that enables you to give power to your voices… all of them)
  • Writing the Descriptive Short Story (learn to write a story that’s difficult to stop reading)
  • Using Fiction Techniques to Bring Your Memoir to Life (dialogue, dialect, descriptive narrative)
  • Writing the Poem (this is not theory, but writing)

I’ll add other topics as time goes by. Each writing workshop will include 5 or more assignments and critiques, enabling you to learn what you’re doing right, what you could improve, and specifically how to improve it.

But it will take time to create the online workshops.

In the meantime, I’ve decided to offer a series of one-day workshop intensives on some of the same topics. By “intensive” I mean during six hours of instruction from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (an hour for lunch) you’ll receive a LOT of information, and all of it will be essential to your knowledge as a writer. This will be a day chock full of “aha moments.”

I’ll offer these one-day intesives in Benson, Arizona. Each intensive includes at least one critiqued assignment and costs 1/2 as much as the online version. Plus you get all the information in one fast-paced day.

The first intensive is scheduled for Saturday, October 18: “Writing Into the Dark.”

“Writing Into the Dark” is an invaluable, Zen-like technique and possibly the best-kept secret in writing. I am not exaggerating. This knowledge actually changed my life as a writer. If you want to dramatically increase your productivity and actually enjoy the writing process, this is the course you want. This will move you a giant leap closer to being a professional writer. If you already know the mechanics (if you’ve attended my earlier seminars), this course will get you there.
 
This day-long intensive will cover retraining yourself regarding how you think about writing and how you practice writing, learning to trust yourself and your process, setting priorities, an in-depth explanation of the technique itself (what it is and what it is not). Also includes busting some myths that actually quash the desire to write, silencing your critical mind so you can Just Write the Story, being IN the story (not ABOVE the story), increasing your productivity, and the importance of Heinlein’s Rules.
 
The workshop includes at least one critiqued assignment (short story, chapter of a novel [WIP], or memoir, depending on the your interests). The students will complete the assignment within a few days and send it to me via email. I’ll critique it and send it back. (The assignment is not mandatory, but recommended to get the full benefit of the course.)
The cost for this intensive (including the assignment and critique) is $120, payable in cash on the day of the course or in advance via PayPal.
Class size is limited to 10 participants, and I expect it to fill up quickly.
 
Reservations are first-come, first-served. To reserve your seat or for more information, email me at harveystanbrough@yahoo.com.

Those of you who are too far away to attend, hang in there. The online version is coming probably early next year. But if you live anywhere from Phoenix south to Mexico or east to Las Cruces, this trip would be well worth your time.

Perhaps best of all, I’m not teaching these workshops to make money. I’m offering them for those who want to learn. If a workshop makes (it takes only two or three participants to make a workshop, maximum 10) that’s great. I love teaching, and I love watching those little lights of understanding flick on. But if a workshop doesn’t make, that’s okay too. I’ll stay at my desk and write. 🙂

Finally, I still have a few seats available in my next Pro-Level Writing Seminar Group, which will meet in Benson beginning in January. There will be ten meetings, during which I will teach you everything I know about writing as well as a good deal about self-editing and publishing. Again, I have only a few seats left and there is an application process, so if you’re interested, please email me at harveystanbrough@yahoo.com on or before September 30.

On September 30 my regular blog posts will return with how to Safeguard Your Credibility as a writer. ‘Til then, happy writing!

Harvey