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Tag Archives: online workshops
What is the First Pages Class?
This is the class that more people have enthused about afterwards than any other, in my experience. It’s team-taught. You give us the first 500 words of your novel. One of the instructors reads it aloud, then both discuss it.
Sounds pretty simple, no? Sure. It’s that simplicity that lets the instructors range across a wide array of tools and strategies.
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Class Notes: The Art of the Book Review
The first session of this class went well! Nisi Shawl was a terrific guest speaker.
In talking about reviews, we talked about good reviews and what they do. Here’s the notes from that. Continue reading
Posted in classes & workshops
Tagged art of the book review, book review, nisi shawl, online workshops, writing book reviews
1 Comment
The Writer’s Toolbox: What Goes In It?
A metaphor that I was exposed to at Clarion West (now nearly a decade ago) still works beautifully for me, and it’s one I use when teaching: the idea of the writer’s toolbox.
In my mind’s eye, it’s a big red metal tool chest, small enough to be carried around, large enough that you wouldn’t want to HAVE to carry it around all the time. Inside, drawers lift out to reveal neatly packed devices and tools, each in their own padded slot.
There’s a blade capable of lopping off awkward paragraphs, and sharper, tinier words designed for work at the sentence level, trimming beginnings till they catch a reader like a fish hook and pull them into the story. There’s a box of punctuation marks, with a special slot for the semicolons. There’s the intricate device of an unreliable narrator, calculated to wobble like a gyroscope yet still remain true to the story’s course. There’s a set of filters, each one a specific point of view, each letting you cast a section in a different light. And a layer of ornamental gadgetry: epigraphs and scraps of poetry. And a valuable gimlet, capable of drilling down to a character’s motivation: the question, “What does s/he WANT?”
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Posted in Writing
Tagged genre fiction, literary techniques, online workshops, writer's toolbox, writing F&SF
3 Comments
Final Version of the Postcard
So I wanted a postcard to put on con giveaway tables advertising my classes because I’m always trying to scare up new students. I know that once they take one class, they’re very likely to take more from me, which really pleases me, but the trick is getting them into that first one. Yeah, it's not particularly pro looking, but the colors are bright and pretty, so perhaps a few people will be intrigued enough to pick it up. Note that the postcard itself trims some of the edge off, so what you see here is not entirely representative of the final result.
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Posted in classes & workshops
Tagged advertising, classes, gimp, online workshops, postcards, publicity, vistaprint
3 Comments
If you’re interested in writing F&SF, flash fiction, or editing
If you're interested in the writing F&SF, flash fiction, or editing class – there are some slots still open (only 2 in F&SF). http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2012/01/04/online-classes-and-workshops-for-2012/
News: Offering an Online Workshop
Several people have been asking if I’d offer an online workshop and I’ve been thinking about how best to do that. So here goes. Please spread the word of this however you can. If I don’t get at least 3 students for a workshop, I’ll cancel it. Continue reading
