Autumn 2002 Workshops at Writers & Books

Exploring Novel Elements

Now With Two Sessions per Workshop!

Writing a novel, or even a short story, can be vexing to the technically challenged. Let our capable instructors lighten the technical load by offering in-depth explanations of exactly what makes a novel work.

This Fall Writers & Books will again offer the following novel elements workshops, but unlike previous workshops, we’re expanding to two Saturdays. In each of these workshops, the first session will be lecture and Q&A, and the second will allow the participant to put what they’ve learned into practice.

Dialogue students will write dialogue, POV students will address POV, and so on, all under the watchful eye of the instructor, who will provide an in-depth critique during the second class. Please note that if you wish to attend only the lecture and Q&A, you’re welcome to do that.

Plot and Setting

• #F3104D
• Instructor: Pat Ryan [ bio ]
• Two Saturdays, September 28 and October 5, 10 am–1 pm
• Pricing:
  • First Saturday only (Lecture and Q&A)
    • $34 W&B Members/$43 General Public.
  • Both Saturdays (Lecture and Q&A plus Writing and Critique)
    • $62 W&B Members/ $79 General Public
• Limit: 15

“Writing is easy,” according to Gene Fowler. “All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.”

Or, alternatively, you could take this workshop, which explores—and demystifies—the process of turning an idea into an actual novel. It’s a complex process that can seem overwhelming to the aspiring writer unversed in certain time-honored principles of story structure—principles common to nearly all fiction, from heroic romances to arcane literary novels.

Whether you intend to embrace or divert from these classic guidelines, a working familiarity with them is essential to understanding what readers and editors expect when they open up a novel.

Expanding on this subject as taught in her Novel Writing Workshop, Patricia Ryan will also address the importance of establishing a credible and compelling sense of time and place in which to play out the events of your story.

Dialogue: You Talkin’ to me?

• #F3104A
• Instructor: Lois H. Gresh [ bio ]
• Two Saturdays, October 12 and 19, 10 am–1 pm
• Pricing:
  • First Saturday only (Lecture and Q&A)
    • $34 W&B Members/$43 General Public
  • Both Saturdays (Lecture and Q&A plus Writing and Critique)
    • $62 W&B Members/$79 General Public
• Limit: 15

Why does some dialogue seem to leap off the page while other exchanges often fall flat, sound stilted or just plain wrong? What’s the secret to making characters really talk to each other?

If you struggle with dialogue or just want to polish your skills, join us for a two-day workshop on writing dialogue. We’ll examine several examples from published works and then move on to writing exercises that hone your skills.

Who’s on First: Effective Use of Point of View

• #F3104B
• Instructor: Marcos Donnelly [ bio ]
• Two Saturdays, October 26 and November 2, 10 am–1 pm
• Pricing:
  • First Saturday only (Lecture and Q&A)
    • $34 W&B Members/$43 General Public
  • Both Saturdays (Lecture and Q&A plus Writing and Critique)
    • $62 W&B Members/$79 General Public
• Limit: 15

Through whose eyes is your novel or short story being experienced? Whose skin does your reader inhabit as he takes your fictional journey?

For fiction writers, few decisions are more consequential than those involving point of view.

• Should you go with first person?
• Third person cinematic?
• Third person deep?
• Authorial-omniscient?
• Can you mix points of view?
• What’s the best way to leap from one character’s head to another’s?
• How colloquial can your narrative be?

The POV you choose to employ, and how deftly you exploit its variations and possibilities, is crucial to crafting a story with real emotional impact.

Characters: Where Do They Come From and What are They Doing in My Story?

• #F3104C
• Instructor: T. Lucien Wright [ bio ]
• Two Saturdays, November 9 and 16, 10 am–1 pm
• Pricing:
  • First Saturday only (Lecture and Q&A)
    • $34 W&B Members/$43 General Public
  • Both Saturdays (Lecture and Q&A plus Writing and Critique)
    • $62 W&B Members/$79 General Public
• Limit: 15

A novel is only as strong as the characters that populate it. In this workshop we’ll discover:

• Where do they come from?
• What can they do for your novel?
• How many should I have?
• Does an antagonist really have to be despicable and a protagonist likeable?

These are only a few of the questions that beginning novelists ask themselves. If you’ve asked yourself one or more of these questions—and others—then maybe a three-hour workshop is just what the book doctor ordered.

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