Writers in Progress, the Valley’s literary arts center, is pleased to offer a variety of weekly and one-day writing workshops this fall. Whether you are an experienced writer or just beginning, our workshops offer the inspiration, instruction on craft and professional editorial feedback to bring your projects to the next level. All workshops take place in our lovely Florence studio, include refreshments and are limited to 8 writing in your life this fall!
Weekly Workshops:
Writing From Life with Dori Ostermiller: This workshop will inspire you to make significant creative leaps in a supportive environment. Through exercises, group discussion and creative exploration, we will access life experience, generate fresh material and deepen our commitment to the writing life. Open to writers of all levels and genres. Professional manuscript critique included. Mondays, 6:00 – 9:00 pm12-week Fall Session begins September 17 ($450/ $405 WIP alums)
The Craft of Fiction I & II, with Dori Ostermiller: Two10-week workshops designed to help fiction writers recharge and refine their craft. At each meeting, we’ll engage in focused writing, explore an element of craft, and discuss members’ work. COF I will cover narrative perspective, character development, dialogue, setting and plot. COF II will focus on the more subtle aspects of craft: voice, prose style, theme, mechanics and revision. Make substantial progress on your writing projects! Thursdays, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Craft of Fiction I starts September 27, 2007 ($425/$382 WIP alums)
Craft of Fiction II starts February 6, 2008 ($425/$382 WIP alums)
Fall Poetry Workshop, with DM Gordon: This six-week workshop, open to poets of all levels, will give writers the opportunity to imagine, stretch, and generate new material for the first four weeks. Then, in the last two weeks, we’ll come together for a thorough, supportive peer-editing workshop. Emphasis will be on the joy of writing and reading.
Thursdays, 6:30 – 9:30 pm
6-week Fall Session begins October 4 ($225/$202 WIP alums)
One-day Workshops:
Creating Characters that Breathe, with Dori Ostermiller: Authentic characters that ‘live and breathe’ on the page are perhaps the most essential ingredients of good fiction. This fun, inspiring and supportive workshop will focus on the four fundamental methods of characterization. Come create someone new, or become more intimate with a character you’ve already met. Delicious lunch included.
Saturday, August 25, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm ($120/$108 WIP alums)
Performing Your Work for an Audience, With Mark Zeller: This popular all-day workshop will bring your writing to life through the spoken word, in a process that will surprise and inspire you. Drawn from his broad experience as an actor and theater director, Mark’s exercises will allow you to subtly enhance the drama and energy of your prose, or clarify the meaning and spirit of your poetry as you learn to read effectively for an audience. Whether you have one reading in your future or many, this workshop will change the way you relate to your work! This is a brown bag workshop. Saturday, September 15, 9:30 – 5:00 with an hour for lunch ($120/$108 WIP alums)
NEW: Writing Around the Corner – Setting Stories in Your Hometown, with Author Suzanne Strempek Shea: An enlightening, one-day workshop on working with familiar settings for your narratives. We’ll explore some of the pros and cons of writing about the place – and people – you know best, whether you’re a native or transplant. We’ll also look at what other authors have done with setting: both in their own back yards and across the globe. This is a brown bag workshop. Saturday, October 27, 9:30 – 5:00 with an hour for lunch ($120/$108 WIP alums)
NEW: Putting words in their mouths – making your fictional dialogue work, with Jacqueline Sheehan: Dialogue is essential to fiction, and successful dialogue should work on several levels-to bring your characters to life, create tension, reveal subtext, and move your narrative forward. In this one-day workshop, we’ll play with a handful of techniques for making our fictional people talk so readers will listen. This is a brown-bag workshop. Saturday, November 3, 9:30 – 4:30 ($120/$108 WIP alums)
For more information, contact dorio@writersinprogress.com, call (413) 582-0101, or visit www.writersinprogress.com.
