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Creative Writing Classes & Seminars

Looking for a place to express your inner writer? In each of our three yearly sessions (winter/spring, summer, and fall), we offer creative writing classes on weekday evenings, weekday mornings, and the daytime on weekends. Classes range from those geared for novice writers or those with some writing experience who are looking for a structured environment in which to bloom to those geared for intermediate, advanced, or professional writers.

We offer classes for adults as well as pre-teen and teen writers. Genres and topics offered include a variety of creative writing classes in poetry, fiction, flash fiction, memoir and creative nonfiction, screenwriting, playwriting, storytelling, comic books and graphic novels, songwriting, food writing, science fiction, fantasy, children’s book writing, journaling, and multi-genre writing, as well as seminars in writers craft, research, and professional development.

Class size is usually capped at 8 or 9 students—classes with different maximum sizes are indicated in the class listing. We teach short seminars that meet once all the way to longer workshops that meet up to eight times.

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March 2023

Discover Your Core Story: Define It In Three Words

Your core story has nothing to do with your chosen genre or the fictional landscapes you love. It has everything to do with the themes, conflicts and emotions that compel you. Discovering your core story will empower you because you will realize you can take it anywhere. Join us and reach your core.

March 26 @ 1:00 pm EDT - 3:30 pm EDT

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April 2023

How to Write Non-Human Characters

Characters are the lifeblood of any work of fiction, but only in speculative fiction are they not always human. This workshop will explore what it takes to develop complex, interesting characters within a speculative context. How can a character from another world still be relatable to readers? How does the world they come from tie into character creation? What makes an alien truly alien? In this workshop, we'll explore all these questions and more through discussion, examples, and imaginative writing…

April 1 @ 10:00 am EDT - 12:30 pm EDT

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Writing Fanfiction

In recent years, fanfiction--that is, unofficial stories about the characters and worlds from popular media--has exploded into the mainstream. More and more professional writers are now coming out as fanfic writers too, many published novels have their origins as fanfiction works, and some have even argued that certain literary classics, such as Paradise Lost, are really fanfiction at heart. The boom in popularity reveals what fiction writers have known for a long time: fanfiction is an immense source of inspiration…

April 1 @ 1:00 pm EDT - 3:30 pm EDT

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Turn Your Fragments into Stories

“I can always think of great situations, but how do I turn them into a story?” We all have a collection of ideas and even notes toward a story that somehow never come to fruition. We recognize compelling moments when we see them: a homeless person treated callously by a passerby; a child lost on a crowded street and reaching out to the wrong stranger; a spaceship landing in a suburban neighborhood which can only be seen by one family.…

April 8 @ 1:00 pm EDT - 3:30 pm EDT

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Writing Flash Fiction: Brief, With Feeling

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” This six-word story, supposedly written by Ernest Hemingway, is often used to demonstrate how a whole story can be embedded in a small moment—in this case, a classified ad. In our two-meeting workshop, we’ll look at a number of pieces of flash fiction in order to uncover the deeper stories embedded within. Then, after considering a number of possible opening lines for our own works of flash fiction, we’ll dive in. Time will be…

Sundays, April 16 - April 30 @ 1:00 pm EDT - 3:30 pm EDT

3 sessions
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Me, Myself, and I: Writing First Person POV

Let’s face it. Writing from the first person is a heck of a lot of fun. Akin to the dramatic monologue, to stand-up comedy, to one-person shows (monodramas), it can lead writers into markets they might not have considered. The ”I” sees all. Learning to write from this point of view is not just a matter of using a given pronoun. In this seminar, you will learn how to: choose your revelatory character; manipulate the distances the “I” creates between…

April 22 @ 1:00 pm EDT - 3:30 pm EDT

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Writing Romance

Romance is one of the most popular--and most lucrative--literary genres, but it’s also one of the most creative! From edgy romantic suspense to sweet second-chance romance there’s something in the romance genre for everyone, even if they don’t realize it yet. This seminar will introduce participants to the basics of the romance genre, with a special focus on the structure of a typical romance novel, including character arcs and, of course, the romance arc—so if you’re a non-romance writer looking…

April 29 @ 10:00 am EDT - 12:30 pm EDT

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The Fool’s Journey: A Generative Tarot Workshop

The Tarot--the iconic deck of beautifully illustrated playing cards--has seen a bit of a resurgence in recent years. While the Tarot has historically been used to both play games and divine the future, the cards' intricate designs and deep-rooted archetypes also make them the perfect prompts for stuck writers. In this generative workshop, we’ll dust off those decks we bought for the artwork and put them to good use in helping us create new ideas, explore unique story structures, and…

April 29 @ 1:00 pm EDT - 3:30 pm EDT

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Writing for Children

This seminar is for writers who want an introduction to writing for children. The class will begin with an overview of recently published children’s books, including picture books, early readers, chapter books, middle grade books, and graphic novels for children. Drawing on her experience as an agented and traditionally-published children’s book author, the instructor will offer advice on the choices that should be made on form, genre, age category, and point-of-view when writing for children. Students will respond to prompts…

April 30 @ 1:00 pm EDT - 3:30 pm EDT

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May 2023

Recognizing and Using Mythological Archetypes

Let’s explore the power of mythology and how subconscious tenets based on ancient myth pepper not only the symbols we use, but our plot points and themes. Most writers know mythology, but having a better understanding of its evolution and its sometimes startling connections to today--as well as how to recognize and utilize inherent mythological elements--will strengthen writing of any genre. We will traverse oral tradition, ancient mythology, and universal archetypes, applying these concepts to our own, contemporary pieces.

May 7 @ 1:00 pm EDT - 3:30 pm EDT

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Accessibility for Those with Disabilities

The Muse Writers Center strives to be a fully accessible facility. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns or would like to request an accommodation.