I’ll guide you in writing a short essay in one morning from the comfort of your own writing room. The short essay holds infinite possibilities for publishing, from a magazine-ready piece to a well-crafted post to meaningful newsletter copy to a short chapter in a book you’re working on. You can Zoom from idea to finished product in a matter of a few hours.
Let me say right away that this is probably not a workshop for beginners. This is going to be results-oriented & somewhat fast-paced, and you will want to already be writing, even if it’s in your journal (and maybe especially if it’s in your journal.)
Make yourself a thermos of tea and come to class with three ideas you’d like to work with.
You’ll make a storymap.
You’ll write a long scene (this will be where the major bit of writing takes place, but don’t be intimidated—we’ll ease our way to this place).
You’ll start to craft by doing a ton of revisions on this scene, shaping it as we work.
In between exercises, I will talk about driving lines, narrative arcs, and leads.
You’ll take away five solid ways to break narrative’s curse of boredom and write like a poet, meaning lyrically, with poetic, quotable lines.
During the last half-hour we will brainstorm places to publish.
Class includes handouts sent via email.
WHAT YOU GET:
1. You get an inspired space to ship the work.
2. You get me to motivate you to ship the work.
3. You get me to guide you every step of the way.
4. You get to leave with a short essay that’s either ready or close to being ready.
5. You get to feel like you did your job.
6. You get some useful handouts.
7. You get some publishing ideas.
8. You get to see other people, like you, working toward their goals & visions.
9. You get time to ask me questions.
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