Summer 2002 Workshops at Writers & Books

Mixed Genres & Creative Process

Writing Aerobics - Summer Session

• Instructors: Various Writers & Books Instructors (See schedule below.)
• Eight Saturdays, starting July 13, 10-11:45 a.m.
• Pricing:
  • Full "Season Pass"
    • $100 General Public
    • $79 W&B Members
  • Four passes usable at any time during the series
    • $70 General Public
    • $55 W&B Members
  • Single session drop-in
    • $22 General Public
    • $18 W&B Members

Get in the writing habit! Start each weekend with stimulating exercises given by many of the gifted writers who teach at Writers & Books. Exercises can be used to generate fiction, nonfiction, poetry or drama. The emphasis is on generating work. We may also share our work to encourage each other. Other workshops might be more appropriate if you're seeking critique in order to rewrite. This class is for getting oxygen to the writing brain and heart!

Writing Aerobics Schedule:

1. July 13, T.M. Wright [ bio]
2. July 20, Patricia Schwartz [ bio]
3. July 27, Leah Ruekberg [ bio]
4. August 3, Donna Marbach [ bio]
5. August 10, Camy Sorbello [ bio]
6. August 17, Nick DiChario [ bio]
7. August 24, Sarah Freligh [ bio]
8. August 31, Karen vanMeenen [ bio ]

Beyond Aerobics

• Instructor: Robbi Hess [ bio ]
• Two Saturdays, July 27 and August 3, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• $58 General Public/$46 W&B Members
• Limit 12

You’ve been taking Writing Aerobics and you have a snippet of a story begun during one of those two-hour sessions. Or perhaps you just have an idea, a starter sentence that you want to take further.

Beyond Aerobics will explore the “five whys” of storytelling as a way to expand what you have started. During class we will work on our pieces, expand them, research markets and learn the basics of query letters and manuscript preparation.

Also, be prepared for a fifteen-minute springboard exercise to get those creative juices flowing.

Storytelling Basics

• Instructor: Leah Ruekberg [ bio ]
• Four Thursdays, starting August 1, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
• $83 General Public/$66 W&B Members
• Limit: 12

Have you ever wanted to tell stories but didn’t know where to begin, or didn’t know how? This class will provide the basics.

1. Learn to tell a folk tale in one hour
2. Learn how to use the actor’s tool kit-imagination, voice and body.
3. Learn where to find stories to tell.

We will also practice telling our stories to a live audience and at the end of class you will have the opportunity, if you desire, to tell a story to a live audience in W&B’s Verb Café.

Writing for the World Wide Web

• Instructor: Kathryn Howard [ bio ]
• Six Tuesdays, starting July 16, 6-8:30 p.m.
• $139 General Public/$110 W&B Members
• Limit: 6

• What’s the difference in writing and editing online content vs. print?
• How do you find sites that accept submissions in your genre?
• Is it smart to post your poems or fiction on a bulletin board, and why?
• What about copyright issues on the 'Net?
• Aren’t most e-zines fly-by-night and can you trust anyone to pay you for your work online?
• Can you be a content person without knowing anything about web-site design or coding HTML?
• Are there jobs on the Internet for serious writers and how much do they pay?
• What are the turn-around times for online work, as opposed to print deadlines?

These and many other topics will be covered in this six-week workshop. Participants MUST have Internet access and be willing to spend a few hours a week doing selective searches, research, and writing in order to maximize the full potential of this course.

Prior Web experience is NOT a prerequisite. Some ready-to-publish writing is helpful.

Being Barter Bold: Working On the Web For Peanuts (and massages, and clothes, and books, and....)

• Instructor: Kathryn Howard [ bio ]
• Saturday, August 17, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
• $56 General Public/$44 W&B Members
• Limit: 6

You’ve seen them—horribly written web-sites dealing with familiar topics that you know you could do a better job writing. So why don’t you? But don’t write for cash—try the barter system. Write or edit web sites and get their goods or services in exchange. All it takes is a little chutzpah and some savvy marketing skills.

In this course, you’ll learn how to spot a poorly written site that is ripe for the picking; how to write a quick and compelling query email; how to actually re-work existing copy into web palatable works of art; and what is reasonable to request in return for your work.

Participants should be somewhat familiar with the Internet in order to properly understand Web concepts and practices.

The Creative Spirit

• Instructor: Anaïs Salibian [ bio ]
• Six Wednesdays, starting July 17, 6-8:30 p.m.
• $146 General Public/$117 W&B Members
• Limit 12

Beginning and experienced writers alike face the Fear of the Blank Page, usually followed by Fear of Destructive Criticism. This workshop is for anyone who wants to write anything (fiction, essays, poetry, anything), anyone who loves or hates to write, or who's stuck with writer's block.

You will:

• Do timed, in-class free writing exercises to access your deep creative self
• Read aloud, and, if you choose, receive supportive feedback
• Develop the practice of writing regularly in your life >

Inspired by others' creativity, we'll write about what Anaïs considers The Three Spiritual Questions:

1. Who are we?
2. Where are we?
3. What are we doing here?

Those wishing to may participate in a special reading of their work in the Verb Café, W&B, on July 28 at 7 p.m.

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