Index: Current Schedule - Comedy - Fiction - General - Literature - MFA - Nonfiction - Novel - Poetry - Screenwriting - Writing for Children
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
B101 WVU Orientation,facilitated by Melissa Anne Welcome to our writing community! This introductory workshop is designed to help members obtain a basic understanding of the concepts of Writers' Village University. Closing date: Saturday, May 19, 2012 Wednesday, May 16, 2012 B154 Finding Your Voice This course is both motivational and a learning experience. We will discover the voice we already have but, have misplaced through years of learning the ‘rules’. This course will cover rules that take away our voice, and discover the role of rules in finding our voice. Les Edgarton’s voice is loud and clear in this entertaining and educational book. Required Resources (texts, etc.): Finding Your Voice, by Les Edgarton Closing date: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 Wednesday, May 16, 2012 F224 Playwriting The smell of the greasepaint, the sound of the applause.... Live theatre is always a special treat. Writing for live performance is different from both screenwriting and from 'book' writing in many ways; in this class, we will explore the basics of dramatic writing. By the end of the class, the student will have completed a draft of a one-act play. Required Resources (texts, etc.): Writing Your First Play, by Roger Hall Closing date: Saturday, May 19, 2012 Wednesday, May 16, 2012 P150 Poetry Triggers - Nature Writing A Saturation Poem In order to start this exercise, you will need to take yourself outside, so print this out, grab a notebook, and go! Find yourself a spot in nature where you can sit undisturbed for roughly half an hour. Here are some suggestions: in a city park where you can view a garden, by a lake where you can view ducks or other wildlife, in a campsite, on a beach, preferably one that's relatively undeveloped, in any other spot where you have access to the natural world. Closing date: Saturday, May 19, 2012 Thursday, May 17, 2012 MFA 204 The Fiction Writer's Apprenticeship There's no one way to maintain discipline for the beginning writer. It can be things like setting a goal to write 10 pages a day or as the author of the text does: sit down and listen to the characters and try to see clearly and vividly what they're going to do next. Chase down any thought, any image, or any impression that arises during the creative process, even if it contradicts your most cherished ideas and beliefs. In the process of discovery you can find yourself in with the characters, their "world" Closing date: Saturday, May 19, 2012 Wednesday, May 23, 2012 C104 Comedy Writing: Working with Jokes Learn to write comedy by reading, researching and writing. Each workshop in the the series is designed to show a different facet of comedy writing. Even if you're not funny, you'll learn to be funny! Required Resources (texts, etc.): Comedy Writing Workbook by Gene Perret Closing date: Saturday, May 26, 2012 Wednesday, May 23, 2012 F152 Horror Writing To give the student of horror writing a perspective in the horror field, its history, develop an idea and terrifying characters while avoiding the clichés found in this field. By the end of the course, the student will have a completed first draft of a short story or be well on the way to writing a solid horror novel. Required Resources (texts, etc.): Writing Horror edited by Mort Castle ISBN: 0-89879-798-5 Closing date: Saturday, May 26, 2012 Wednesday, May 23, 2012 B114 Point of View & Related Topics Discuss and experiment with first and third person (limited omniscient) POVs and related topics such as distance, reliability, selection of view point character, etc. Required Resources (texts, etc.): Your favorite short novels. Closing date: Saturday, May 26, 2012 Thursday, May 24, 2012 MFA304 The Quatrain (Part 2) Metrical Poetry Series: Learn how to write poetry in all the major forms, from blank verse and quatrains to sonnets and villanelles. Step by step, easy to understand instructions for even the most beginning poets. Lyric poetry, verse that expresses the personal thoughts of the author, is ever present in literature. However, poetry has such a broad spectrum, telling stories in such varied forms from the epic to the ballads. Essential but non-intimidating instruction on meter and rhyme. Focused assignments detailing how to make your first attempt at a specific form Illuminating discussions on pop culture, figures of speech, difficult themes, and other important topics. An engaging overview of poetry's history, and why it's important to learn the traditional forms. Required text: Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons for Mastering Traditional Forms by William Baer. Closing date: Saturday, May 26, 2012 Wednesday, May 30, 2012 B103 Grammar,facilitated by Janet Smith This course is designed to be a refresher course on the basics of Grammar. We are covering the basic grammar rules taught in school that you may have either forgotten or are a bit rusty on. Through the various weeks we'll start with spelling, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs, through to sentence structures. Required Resources (texts, etc.): None. Closing date: Saturday, June 02, 2012 Wednesday, May 30, 2012 B172 Revision: Writing and Rewriting Fiction A practical approach to the process of editing and revising, starting with a discussion on why revision is necessary. Then we’ll go through revising openings, looking for the essential, revising endings, and revising for style and readability. Required Resources (texts, etc.): Textbook: Revision, by David Michael Kaplan Closing date: Saturday, June 02, 2012 Wednesday, May 30, 2012 F218 Writing Boosters - Recipe #4 Choose two characters. Build a story around them that ends in the setting that you chose. Choose two activities to be part of the story. Choose a theme or tone and stick with it. Choose a POV and stick with it. Post your result on the workshop board. Closing date: Saturday, June 02, 2012 Wednesday, May 30, 2012 F134 Mythic Structure Part 3 "The Hero's Journey has served storytellers and their listeners since the very first stories were told, and it shows no signs of wearing out. Let's begin the Writer's Journey together to explore these ideas. I hope you find them useful as magic keys to the world of story and the labyrinth of life." -- Christopher Vogler Prerequisite: Mythic Structure Part 1 Required Resources (texts, etc.): The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, by Christopher Vogler Closing date: Saturday, June 02, 2012 Thursday, May 31, 2012 MFA 206 Minor Characters Successfully translating the minor characters of humanity into fiction is one of the hallmarks of a good writer. Closing date: Saturday, June 02, 2012 Wednesday, June 06, 2012 B114 Point of View & Related Topics Discuss and experiment with first and third person (limited omniscient) POVs and related topics such as distance, reliability, selection of view point character, etc. Required Resources (texts, etc.): Your favorite short novels. Closing date: Saturday, June 09, 2012 Wednesday, June 06, 2012 F112 Character Development This course will guide the student toward a better understanding of what makes our characters tick. Lessons cover Character Shaping, Improvisations, Unity of Opposites and Motivation. Required Resources (texts, etc.): Art of Dramatic Writing, by Lajos Egri, available at Writers' Village Bookstore or through your local bookstore. Closing date: Saturday, June 09, 2012 Wednesday, June 06, 2012 P202 Poetry Triggers - What's in a Name? Rewriting is an important part of the poetry writing process. Use our Rewriting Suggestions to help you polish your poems. Closing date: Saturday, June 09, 2012 Wednesday, June 06, 2012 B107 Writers Way Part 1 facilitated by Janet Smith A 12-week course in three parts dealing with creative blocks (writer's block if you will) through spiritual exercises releasing our creative energy. Using the basic principles as set forth in Julia Cameron's, The Artist's Way, we will travel on a mystic journey toward creative recovery. Part of this recovery will be accomplished through our daily journal or 'Morning Pages'. We will learn to protect and nurture our inner artist and squelch our Censor or 'logic brain' who is our second, third and fourth thoughts, and ultimately detach ourselves from this Censor to arrive at the creative freedom we're looking for. This is a 12-week course of self-discovery. Required Resources (texts, etc.): The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron, ISBN: 1585421464; 10th anniversary edition (February 28, 2002) Older editions of this Closing date: Saturday, June 09, 2012 Thursday, June 07, 2012 MFA 207 Setting and Character There's a distinction that's often made in discussions of place—that is, the difference between interior and exterior setting. Interior setting has come to mean, basically, an indoor place. Most beginning writers do a pretty good job of interior setting because they understand that the objects people own comment on them, at times even define them. Even beginners understand and accept the basic principles of interior setting—that a person who owns an ice bucket and silver cocktail shaker is different from someone who owns a claw-footed tub for bathing. Closing date: Saturday, June 09, 2012 Wednesday, June 13, 2012 B101 WVU Orientation,facilitated by Melissa Anne Welcome to our writing community! This introductory workshop is designed to help members obtain a basic understanding of the concepts of Writers' Village University. Closing date: Saturday, June 16, 2012 Wednesday, June 13, 2012 C108 Comedy Workshop: Working with Captions Learn to write comedy by reading, researching and writing. Each workshop in the the series is designed to show a different facet of comedy writing. Even if you're not funny, you'll learn to be funny! Required Resources (texts, etc.): Comedy Writing Workbook by Gene Perret Closing date: Saturday, June 16, 2012 Wednesday, June 13, 2012 F222 Writing Boosters - Brainstorming for Smells The Writing Booster Workshops have been developed to assist writers in tapping their creativity. If you're suffering with writer's block, desiring to explore and find new topics to write about or simply looking for some writing exercises to get the creative juices flowing and stretch yourself as a writer, these workshops will provide the material. Closing date: Saturday, June 16, 2012 Wednesday, June 13, 2012 N116 Writing for Magazines Part 3 Prerequisite N114 Writing for Magazines is designed to help members gain marketable skills writing for magazines. Required Resources (texts, etc.): Writing for Magazines: A Beginner's Guide by Cheryl Sloan Wray / Paperback / Published 1996 Closing date: Saturday, June 16, 2012 Thursday, June 14, 2012 MFA 208 Difficult Characters We must feel sympathy for a character, and here the word "sympathy" is not merely a synonym for "like," but more in terms of "understanding." If we as writers understand our characters, even the unlikable ones, if we understand their motivations, and convey this understanding to the reader, then perhaps we will come to understand something more about the mysteries of human behavior and aspiration, not the givens we already grasp, not the people and borders we know well. Closing date: Saturday, June 16, 2012 Wednesday, June 20, 2012 B113 Constructive Feedback, facilitated by Melissa Anne Feedback can be one of the most effective learning tools that a writer has. It is important that writers learn the correct way to give and receive constructive feedback. Closing date: Saturday, June 23, 2012 Wednesday, June 20, 2012 F108 Creativity in a Box There are reasons for imposing creative limitations, such as word counts and working within the established conventions of today's market. This two-week seminar is designed to illustrate a point and is not necessarily a formula for writing fiction. Closing date: Saturday, June 23, 2012 Wednesday, June 20, 2012 N104 Writing Short Non-Fiction Part 1 Writing Short Non-fiction is designed to help our members gain marketable skills writing essays, anecdotes, mini-profiles, opinion pieces, humor, reviews and brighteners. Closing date: Saturday, June 23, 2012 Wednesday, June 20, 2012 P204 Poetry Triggers - Using Beginning Lines as Poetry Starters The Poetry Triggers Workshops were developed by members of P123, the Senior Poets Workshop, to challenge and prompt poets to write, whether they are suffering from writer's block, desiring to explore and find new topics, seeking to expand their craftsmanship or simply looking for some writing exercises to get the creative juices flowing between longer courses. Closing date: Saturday, June 23, 2012 Thursday, June 21, 2012 MFA 209 Point of View Basics Point of view is one of the most basic elements in the craft of fiction. Through this medium, storytellers see, hear, feel, smell, taste, and from particular consciousnesses as well as from specific spatial and temporal perspectives. Since most contemporary fiction involves a growth of perception among characters and readers, the selection of viewpoint is crucial. Who is telling what story? Through this point of view the narrator shapes content. Closing date: Saturday, June 23, 2012 Wednesday, June 27, 2012 B142 Blockbusters Blockbusters are, in fact, individual exercises designed to break through the blocks that occasionally plague all writers. If left untreated, such blocks may become so prolonged that they eventually encourage the writer to abandon a perfectly good idea, or work-in-progress. Closing date: Saturday, June 30, 2012 cancelled (Wednesday, June 27, 2012) F236 Romancing the Plot Doctor This course has been cancelled due to the book no longer being available. Closing date: Saturday, June 30, 2012 Wednesday, June 27, 2012 N132 So, You Want to be a Travel Writer A step-by-step workshop on traveling writing. From research, to query letter, to writing the article, this course will lead us down the road to becoming a travel writer. Required Resources (texts, etc.): The Travel Writer's Handbook, by Louise Purwin Zobel Closing date: Saturday, June 30, 2012 Wednesday, June 27, 2012 F102: Romance Writing Part A The objective of the Romance course is to understand and learn how to write your own Romance novel in 12 weeks. This will be done in a step-by-step procedure. The first part of the course is to learn the history behind romance writing, fine-tune our research capabilities and learn our characters inside out. The fourth lesson will concentrate on knowing how to hook the reader. There will be a one-week break, and during this break the student will do more research, writing and studying of the genre of choice along with some scene writing. There will be online readings as well. Closing date: Saturday, June 30, 2012 Wednesday, June 27, 2012 F300 Crafting Stories for Children There is an art to storytelling- especially for children. Once the basic principles are mastered, thee are no boundaries, a good story flows from the understanding of writing and structure, character development and plot. Throughout history, storytelling is ever present. Later those same stories would go on to be written, from the original stories to present ,not much has changed; and to share that writing with children gives them a glimpse into the past, can educate them, and even open new worlds. Storytelling is both an art and craft. Art involves instinct with a n appreciation for formal structure. The craft involves the technique and process that we will further explain. Intertwine these two elements together in just the right manner and you have the potential to move people. Required Text: Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children By: Nancy Lamb Closing date: Saturday, June 30, 2012 Thursday, June 28, 2012 MFA 210 The Art of First Person First person seduces. It mimics the insistent voice of the self-dramatized, the cathartic unstaged soliloquy of private diaries and journals, unintended for public consumption. But if we follow it into fiction, it becomes the voice of someone less familiar, even unknown, appearing with intimate urgency. Closing date: Saturday, June 30, 2012