We all have stories to tell, whether we’ve never written anything before, or we’re dusting off the old writing muscles and getting back in the game. This class is a foundational course to get started or begin writing fiction again. We will learn and explore all of the essential fundamentals of the craft of fiction writing. We will discover and begin to understand how to write an active scene, define a character, and move your story from A to B,…

Songwriting is an ancient form--one of the earliest means of passing on oral history. Over thousands of years, it has evolved into a many faceted art-form, a source of entertainment, catharsis or escapism. In this workshop, we will explore the songwriting process through listening, writing and editing. We will examine songs from a variety of genres and time periods to investigate what it is that makes a song “stick” with us or not. Through both individual and collaborative efforts, we…

We all have stories to tell, whether we’ve never written anything before, or we’re dusting off the old writing muscles and getting back in the game. This class is a foundational course to get started or begin writing fiction again. We will learn and explore all of the essential fundamentals of the craft of fiction writing. We will discover and begin to understand how to write an active scene, define a character, and move your story from A to B,…

This course is designed as both an introduction for students who are new to screenwriting, and as continuity for those who have already started writing a screenplay and wish to further develop their scripts. No matter your level of experience, everyone will benefit from the groups’ members sharing their experiences they encounter. Class activities will include: discussing and developing story ideas, and sharing comments and suggesting solutions; an introduction to the three-act structure and the critical importance of the first…

Thinking of starting a blog? It’s a great way to get your writing out into the world and build an audience. In this class we will explore how to start a blog and examine ways to keep a blog fresh and successful. Learn best practices for writing headlines, finding topics, crafting strong blog posts, promoting your blog and more.

Are you starting a novel? Perhaps you're trying to bulldoze through one, without solid ideas of why and how the story unfolds. Or maybe you've already written a draft, but you're beset with problems trying to bring it all together. Many suffer under the false belief that something as complicated as a novel can be created without solid planning. But you can't build a house by winging it, slapping down boards wherever you like. You can't build the roof first,…

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this seminar will help writers tap into a different type of creativity. We will take a quick break from structured writing and combine words with visual elements, also looking at other artists’ journals. This semester, we will try simple art techniques to explore our stream of consciousness and talk about how this can be incorporated in our writing practice. 

A literary generative writing class for all writers of all levels (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, flash-fiction), we’ll read about/discuss three writers featured in Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers by Taisia Kitaiskaia, illustrated by Katy Horan. We’ll discuss their lives and craft and write in response (genre of choice) to prompts and images from the text. This seminar is part literature and part generative. It’s for anyone who believes writing and crafting a world is magical.  “Why would we…