Posted on

Write, Critique. Rinse, Repeat: New Online Course

person-woman-hotel-laptopIn a busy world, I have grown to love online classes–taking them and teaching them. There’s a camaraderie that develops in spending time together each week, sharing stories, discussing the work. And there’s inspiration in numbers to tackle that difficult subject or press on with revisions on that stubborn essay. All of this at arms length when life keeps us too busy to steal away for a morning conference, a weekend retreat, or a semester-long course.

With that in mind, I’ve got a new online opportunity on the horizon for you! Details are below, but suffice it to say this one promises incentive for new work, space for critique, and a possibility for community. It begins May 1st; registration is now open. Sign up, sharpen your pencil (or dust off your keyboard), and get ready to write!

photo

Write, Critique. Rinse, Repeat
a writing-intensive and critique-focused course

May 1-May 28, 2016
$90 for new students
$85 for returning students

In this four-week online course, you will generate several new pieces of work and receive feedback from your peers in quick turnaround. Weekly lessons will touch briefly on certain aspects of story (such as beginnings, characters, theme) and include tips for critique on these specifics. By the end of the course, you will have grown your portfolio and your community of writers, as well as have a list of resources for further study.

Registration is now open via PayPal below.
Deadline to sign up is April 23rd and seats are limited!

WCRR 2016 Fees
Previous course taken:




Posted on

Loved. Lost. Found. The Reading

image: Loved. Lost. Found. the anthologyLast Saturday, nine women and men over the age of 70 gathered in front of a room at Harwood Place in Wauwatosa to share essays and poems they’d written during the past year.

They looked entirely at ease, despite the looming podium and microphone. I, on the other hand, trotted back and forth before the event began, shuffling papers, asking if anyone wanted water, working up a good sweat and rapid pulse. I could have used some of their serenity (even if they were faking it).

But while our levels of anxiety differed and our ages spanned miles apart, there was so much more that connected us that day.

Jacqui Banaszynski says, “Stories are parables. . . . Stories are history. . . . Each one stands in for a larger message…a guidepost on our collective journey.” When people gather together, writers or not, it doesn’t matter where we come from. Our stories–our histories–connect us. Each of us is daughter or son, husband or wife, old hat at this or novice at that. In the essays and poems read from the podium last Saturday, we heard about first loves, found objects, and failed knitting attempts. I am generations apart from the Harwood Place Writers, but I can relate.

This event is one of the highlights of my year and one of the reasons I continue to lead their class. These writers come to the table every month with open minds, tales to share, and a genuine fellowship that begins with a smile.

IMG_3285Congratulations to the Harwood Place Writers on another year of fantastic stories!

 

Posted on

Redirect >> Flash Nonfiction: The Online Course

Qwert_getting-funky-300x300There are certain stories my gut wants me to put down on paper.

But, I’ve struggled to transform the power of certain memories into words on the page. My early drafts read long and convoluted and nothing like what I envisioned: a brief moment of connection, where I take the hand of the reader say, Let me tell you this one thing, and ask, Can you relate?

I’m on Cadmium Read today talking about the flash nonfiction course I will be teaching online.

Pop on over, read the introduction to the course, and find out what we’ll discuss during those four weeks. Then, register through the Cadmium Read shopping cart. The course begins April 5th, the fee is only $65, and the experience won’t be the same without YOU.

01CadHeader-1024x147