Winter 2005 Workshops at Writers & Books

Cross-Genre

Send It!

• WA5-B1
• Four Thursdays, February 3–24, 6:30–8:30 pm
• $72 W&B members / $80 general public
• Instructor: K. Howard

Empty your desk drawers of all those pieces you thought might someday get published. Take heart and gain confidence with others in the same place as you.

Send It! allows you to take completed but rough pieces of writing and polish them, along with helping you find an acceptable market for publication. In four weeks you’ll find a potential market for your work, write a query or submission letter, whip the piece into marketable format and send something (a finished piece or query letter) out the door.

Participants should bring copies of a finished piece of writing to the first class (any genre), and be prepared to spend some time each week completing short homework assignments.

The 2000-Word Club

• WA5-M41
• Eight Mondays, February 21 – April 11, 6:30–8:30 pm
• $139 W&B members / $159 general public
• Instructor: Len Messineo

This class allows students to write and share short fiction and/or creative non-fiction with an enthusiastic audience.

The focus of the workshop will be to study the techniques of fiction and creative non-fiction side by side in order to help students write timely, high impact, publishable narratives in 2000 words or less. The instructor will also focus on how and where to market your gems.

In addition to getting helpful feedback, Len hosts a fiction and creative non-fiction open mike reading to which all of his students are invited (optional), allowing class members to showcase their work.

Writing for the Internet

• WA5-B28
• One Saturday, April 16, 10 am–5 pm
• $49 W&B members / $55 general public
• Instructor: K. Howard

Do you often run across Web sites with incredibly poor writing and think, “I could do a better job than that?!” Well, you CAN.

In this workshop, participants will learn how to identify possible Internet markets for their writing, review correct styles for the Internet, work on sample writing exercises for specific markets, and learn how to sell their writing online—safely.

Students should have some familiarity with the Internet and search engines, and have some writing experience, but neither extensive knowledge in these areas nor Web design skills are necessary. (Plan on a one-hour lunch break.)

Travel Writing

• WA5-M51
• Six Mondays, March 14 – April 18, 6–8 pm
• $108 W&B members / $119 general public
• Instructor: Karen vanMeenen

Are you a traveler? Do you like to document your travels by writing in a journal and/or taking photographs?

In this workshop, students will learn how to research, document and write about their journeys. The class will read excerpts from the works of such masters as William Least Heat Moon, Bruce Chatwin, Paul Theroux, and John McPhee as well as fictionalized works from Tom Bodett, Paul Bowles, Virginia Woolf, and Jack Kerouac.

This course is appropriate for any travelers with an interest in writing and the tendency to observe the world around them, whether in Penfield or Peru . The instructor will discuss the following text in depth: The Best Travelers’ Tales, 2004.

Breaking Through That Writer’s Block

• WA5-M60
• Four Tuesdays, February 8–22, 6–8 pm
• $72 W&B members / $80 general public
• Instructor: Donna Marbach

Are you someone who knows you were meant to be a writer, but who just can’t seem to get started? Do you stare at your blank computer screen for hours only to end up playing Tetrus until 2:00 am ? Are you constantly finding excuses not to write? If so, this course is for you.

The instructor will help focus the distracted writer and jump-start the daydreaming one. Students will examine then obliterate the many excuses that prevent them from writing. Together, participants will work on behavioral strategies and personal goals in order to find the time and motivation to write, with the option of writing out of class by using prompts, pictures, games, and other devices to stimulate their creative juices.

Making Sense of the Sentence

• WA5-M26
• Two Saturdays, April 16 & 23, 10 am–1 pm
• $54 W&B members / $59 general public
• Instructor: Len Messineo

Gertrude Stein said, “A long complicated sentence should force itself upon you, make you know yourself know it.”

The sentence is the basic building block of prose and ties the story to the oral voice of the storyteller. In this class, students will look at expressive considerations in writing sentences, constructing clear, graceful lines and jagged fragments. The instructor will focus on how sentences serve as a vehicle for discovering what you don’t know you mean, and how sentences shape and enforce meaning in dialogue, scene, and exposition.

According to the instructor, “This is more a finger painting class than a grammar class,” open to discussion and experimentation. (2000-Word Club also recommended.)

Writers Groups: Can You Handle the Truth?

• WA5-M61
• One Saturday, January 29, 10 am–1 pm
• $29 W&B members / $33 general public
• Instructors: Carolyn Kourofsky, Kate Romansky, and Shelagh Hodson

Can a critique group improve your writing and help you get published? These experienced authors think so!

From first draft through submission, rejection, and publication, a supportive critique group can help the beginning or experienced author improve every manuscript. Learn how to read a manuscript critically and write a constructive critique. Discover what makes a critique group work (hint: it’s not just the writing), how to sidestep common problems, and whether an online critique group is right for you.

Network with other area writers and form a group of your own, or see who might be a good fit for your existing group.

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