WINTER 2023 WORKSHOPS and EVENTS
Each class meets online on Saturdays, 9:30-3:30 pm (except where noted) , with a 45 min. lunch break. Classes are $90, or $80 for Workshop members (except where noted). Financial assistance in exchange for volunteer hours is available for low-income writers! Registration is in advance only.
PLEASE NOTE:
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Donate Now! Then email us at writersw@gmail.com with your name and workshop title,
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APRIL 23: WRITING YOUR MEMOIRS with Karen Ackerson
Participants will learn how to turn personal and family experiences into a compelling memoir for family and friends, or for publication. In-class writing exercises will help to identify life-changing events, to be used as the backbone of a memoir. Discussion will include creating a sense of place, dialogue, and enhancing one's writing style. Ackerson, a biographer and Senior Editor at The Renbourne Editorial Agency,
has taught workshops throughout the Southeast for over twenty years. She is writing her own memoirs about her world-wide adventures; and interviews with award-winning writers such as Vonnegut,
le Carre, Welty, Matthiessen et al. Meets Sat, 9:30-3:30.
APRIL 29: BACKYARD WITERS GROUP
(see below for more information)
MAY 7: SCREENPLAY WRITING WORKSHOP with Nathan Ross Freeman
Participants will learn all aspects of writing the screenplay, including formatting, characterization, sequence structures, and how to adapt any genre to a screenplay. Freeman’s credits include the feature films Gem and Mr. Bones, the official selection of major film festivals; Hannah Elias; and Authoring Action, awarded 2010 Best Documentary in the U.K. He has taught workshops all over the Southeast, including UNC-Charlotte and Salem College. Meets Sat, 9:30-3:30.
MAY 12-15: WRITERS' RETREAT AT FOLLY BEACH, SC
(see below for more information)
MAY 27: BACKYARD WRITERS GROUP
(see below for more information)
JUNE 4: FICTION WRITING with Elizabeth Genovise
(DTBA)
JUNE 11: REVISING YOUR WORK - IN PERSON AND ONLINE!!
with Karen Ackerson
Writers of fiction and non-fiction books and stories will learn how to edit and revise their works before submitting to an agent or publisher. Techniques will be taught on how to grab the reader's interest by eliminating unnecessary details, building tension, and fine-tuning dialogue and descriptions. Participants may bring five pages (double-spaced) to the class for discussion. Ackerson is Senior Editor at The Renbourne Editorial Agency (www.renbourne.com), and has edited hundreds of novels, memoirs and creative non-fiction stories. Meets Sat, 9:30-3:30.
UPCOMING CLASSES
TIME TO TELL YOUR LIFE STORY with Deborah Wilbrink
Whether autobiography or memoir, your story deserves a creative, professional telling that will uplift the author and readers. Practice a different writing technique for each of your personal story elements: setting, character, plot and conflict, theme and life lessons/morals, and resolution. Jumpstart your motivation and skills and enjoy voluntary sharing. Wilbrink is author of Time to Tell Your Personal & Family History and has taught for the Osher Institute at Vanderbilt University and the National Federation of Genealogical Societies. A ghostwriter and editor specializing in memoir, she has assisted in completing over 45 books with her company, Perfect Memoirs. Meets Saturday, 10-3:30.
WRITING FROM THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD with Nina Hart
Writers will learn innovative ways to generate fresh material, avoid writer’s block, and tap into their creative side. The class will be guided towards accessing the inner voice through KaizenMuse Creativity methods, evocative “timed writes”, and lively class readings and discussions. Hart is a writer and creativity coach trained in the Kaizen Muse method. She is also certified by the Gateless Method – “a method of teaching the art and craft of writing using creative brain science, allowing writers to access the creative genius inside”.
Her first collection of short stories, Somewhere in a Town You Never Knew Existed, was a finalist in Foreword Review Book of the Year Award. Meets Saturday, 10-3:30
CREATIVE NON-FICTION WRITING with Glenn Proctor
Being able to write about life’s challenges and successes is cathartic, and for many, an opening to a new understanding of self, family and circumstances. Prior to the workshop, participants should write a short mission statement: what you want out of the class, and the type of writing you’re interested in. Proctor has taught journalism at Kent State, Washington & Lee, Northwestern, and shared the Pulitzer Prize at the Akron Beacon Journal. Meets Sat, 10-3:30.
WRITE YOUR LIFE with Richard Krawiec
In this supportive writing-intensive class, participants will learn how to draw on the "material" of their lives to write and revise memoirs, stories, or plays. Elements covered include time compression and expansion, theme, recognizing your purpose, and developing your piece professionally.
Krawiec is the founder of Jacar Press, and the author of numerous books such as "Breakdown: A Father's Story", "Faith in What?", and "Time Sharing". His work is published in numerous journals including Shenandoah, Florida Review, and N.C. Literary Review.
HOW TO WRITE A GREAT STORY with Samantha Shad
A well written, effective story has a particular shape, rhythm, and set of elements. Bring a story you are working on, or join us in finding new ones. We’ll work on the development of these stories and apply knowledge of character, conflict, and structure to increase the impact of the writing. Through in-class writing, we’ll consider ways to increase the reader’s engagement with your story. Shad is the author of the upcoming The Write To Happiness. She has taught story and structure at UCLA, Duke University, and the American Film Institute.
MEMORY & MYTH: A PRIMAL SOURCE for POEMS with Jan Harrington
Our early memories and family relationships can be lifting-off points for complex, many-layered poems. We'll look closely at poems from well-known poets and consider voice, form, points of view, image, metaphor, and irony. Through writing exercises, you'll generate ideas for your own poems and strategies for developing them. Harrington's book of poems, Waiting for the Hurricane, won the '17 N.C. Poetry Society award. Her poems have appeared in anthologies including Kent State University Press, New Southerner Anthology, and The Homestead Review.
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WE OFFER ONLINE OR IN-PERSON PRIVATE TUTORIALS AT A CONVENIENT DATE AND TIME FOR YOU!
EMAIL writersw@gmail.com FOR DETAILS.
EVENTS
MAY 12-15, 2022: ANNUAL WRITERS' RETREAT AT FOLLY BEACH, SC
10% DISCOUNT IF YOU REGISTER BY APRIL 20!!
CARPOOLING AVAILABLE FROM ASHEVILLE AREA!
(You get an extra night free if you provide a car – I need a driver! Karen A.)
Our annual retreat will be held in person (limit: 7 participants, vaccinated), and on-line.
Open to writers who want to get away from it all to write and review each other's work.
We'll meet outside on a large porch twice a day, for two hours each time.
The all-inclusive cost (except meals) is $675 for a private room in a spacious house. A shared room is $550 per person. The commuter rate is $60 per day. To attend classes online, the cost is only $295.
Please email writersw@gmail.com asap to reserve your place, and pay the $250 deposit by clicking here: Donate Now!
BACKYARD WRITERS' GROUP- IN PERSON!!
Members who are interested in monthly meetings (social, literary or critique) are invited to our writers' group & potluck which meets on the last Friday of each month from 5-7 pm, at 387 Beaucatcher Rd, Asheville.
Members' guests, as well as prospective members, are welcome. There is no charge. Please bring a covered dish and beverage! Members are also welcome to read their writing (5 pp or 3 poems) to share with the group for critique. It should be revised and edited. Please email your work ahead of time to writersw@gmail.com.
Please RSVP at least 48 hrs. in advance by emailing writersw@gmail.com.
PAST WORKSHOPS
WRITE YOUR LIFE with Richard Krawiec
The class will learn how to draw on the "material" of their lives to write and revise memoirs, stories, or plays. Elements covered include time compression and expansion, theme, and developing your piece professionally.
Previous students will learn new material. Krawiec is the founder of Jacar Press, and the author of numerous books such as "Breakdown: A Father's Story", "Faith in What?" and "Time Sharing". His works are published in numerous journals including Shenandoah, Florida Review, and N.C. Literary Review.
WRITING FOR YOUNG READERS - IN PERSON! with Karen Ackerson
Writers of children’s stories and books will learn how to develop characters, conflict and dialogue appropriate for both children and tweens. Techniques will be taught on how to grab the reader's interest by eliminating unnecessary details, building tension, and fine-tuning dialogue and descriptions. Participants may bring five pages (double-spaced) to the class for discussion.
Ackerson has taught workshops for over 25 years and is Senior Editor at The Renbourne Editorial Agency (www.renbourne.com).
FINDING YOUR POETIC VOICE with Bruce Spang
Poets Tony Hoagland and Mary Oliver had a unique take on the world - one a keen observer of the social foibles and absurdities of our times, the other a powerful observer of the natural world. The class will examine their poems and strategies for seeing the world with new eyes, and learn how to develop one’s own unique voice through in-class writing.
Spang is the former Poet Laureate of Portland, ME. He has published numerous books of poetry including All You’ll Derive: A Caregiver’s Journey; To the Promised Land Grocery; and Boy at the Screen Door.
WRITING YOUR MEMOIRS with Karen Ackerson
Participants will learn how to turn personal and family experiences into a compelling memoir for family and friends, or for publication. In-class writing exercises will help to identify life-changing events, to be used as the backbone of a memoir. Discussion will include creating a sense of place, dialogue, and enhancing one's writing style. Ackerson, a biographer and Senior Editor at The Renbourne Editorial Agency, has taught workshops throughout the Southeast for over twenty years. She is writing her own memoirs about her world-wide adventures; and interviews with award-winning writers such as Vonnegut, le Carre, Welty, Matthiessen et al.
AN AGENT’S TIPS ON GETTING PUBLISHED with Andrea Hurst
Whether you are interested in pursuing the traditional route or self-publishing, this workshop will cover the most effective steps to assure your chances for success. Writers of both fiction and non-fiction books will learn tips including the process of querying agents and publishers, and writing the book proposal. Hurst has over 25 years’ experience in book publishing, and is a bestselling Amazon author of The Guestbook; an instructor for MFA creative writing programs; and a webinar presenter for Writers’ Digest.
POETRY WORKSHOP: MEMORY AND MYTH (1-4 pm) with Jan Harrington
Learn how to transform the events of your life into successful poems that resonate with readers. Through prompts and exercises, you’ll generate drafts of poems and strategies for developing them. Harrington’s book Waiting for the Hurricane, won the 2017 the N.C. Poetry Society award. Her poems appear in numerous journals including Tar River Poetry and N.C. Literary Review. Meets 1-4 pm; and costs $65/$60 members.
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Where to find us:
PLEASE NOTE: ALL classes will be meeting online EXCEPT WHERE NOTED. |
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