Spring 2015 Class Schedule

Posted: March 19th, 2015 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

SPRING 2015 CLASS SCHEDULE

SEMINARS

1-Day Seminar: Show & Tell (taught by Seth Fischer in Chinatown)

Sunday, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
April 26, 2021

SOLD OUT!

When you first hear it, “show, don’t tell” sounds like good writerly advice, but have you ever wondered how you’re supposed to tell a story without actually telling anyone anything? Have you ever felt like you lacked the tools to draft and revise your own writing with this advice in mind? This seminar will explore how to move past that old writing class cliché to think of your writing in terms of summary, scene, and story. Using examples from James Baldwin to Cheryl Strayed, students will explore how other writers have created successful scenes using dialogue, description, and action. They will delve into how these authors have written strong summary using tools like detail, voice, and precision. And they will examine how they wove summary and scene together to tell immersive, compelling stories. Before the seminar, students will do two short readings and one brief writing assignment, which can be either fiction or creative nonfiction. In the seminar, after exploring the readings, students will use this new knowledge to experiment with scene and summary through a series of writing and editing exercises.

This one-day seminar is open to students of all levels and to writers of both fiction and creative nonfiction. It will be held in Chinatown, where coffee, sparkling water, and light snacks will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$130 for new students; $120 for returning students

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

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2-Day Seminar: Who Tells the Story? Choosing and Controlling Point of View (taught by Darcy Vebber in Hancock Park)

Saturday and Sunday, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
May 9 and 10, 2015

Point of view is one of the first choices a writer has to make and everything about that choice will be important to the success of the story. How do writers decide to commit to first person or third (or even second, third person plural or omniscient)?  We’ll look at choices published writers have made and discuss how they relate to, help, or hinder the particular project. We’ll devise questions a writer might find helpful when trying to make her own commitment. The second part of the seminar will look at the craft questions that follow that decision. We’ll read advice on ways to consistently control what is seen and known, how this affects plot and tension, and how to avoid traps that certain choices can lead to. There will also be in-class exercises.

This two-day seminar is open to students of all levels. It will be held in Hancock Park, where coffee, sparkling water, and light snacks will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$170 for new students; $150 for returning students

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

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2-Day Seminar: The Novel From Beginning to End (taught by Ivy Pochoda in West Adams)  1 SPOT LEFT!

Two Saturdays, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
May 9, 2021 and May 16, 2021

What is a novel and what is my novel? First novelists often struggle with explaining their work in their own words. And they often fail to see their novels-in-progress as projects that will one day be complete! This two-day course will help beginning novelists categorize, explain, and outline their novels. We will look at different novel structures, various methods of outlining, and the best way to present ideas on the page. We will break students’ novels down into their component parts and trace character, story, and potential plot development from beginning to end. This course is open to anyone with a novel-in-progress regardless of the stage. Students will be asked to bring in a novel they find comparable to their own work, which they will present to the class. The second meeting will be dedicated to troubleshooting and deepening students’ outlines as well as writing successful pitch letters to agents.

This two-day seminar is open to students of all levels. It will be held in West Adams, where coffee, sparkling water, and light snacks will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$170 for new students; $150 for returning students

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

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2-Day Seminar: Improve Your Submission Game (taught by Chris Daley in Los Feliz)  1 SPOT LEFT!

Two Saturdays, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
May 23, 2021 and May 30, 2021

By the time this seminar is over, you will have 1) an overview of how, where, and what to submit, 2) a list of appropriate venues for your genre and style, 3) a bio that is concise and memorable, 4) an effective query letter (if you have a book-length project) or cover letter (for short-form prose and poetry), 5) a sense of when and where to pitch first, and 6) a greater sense of confidence about sending your work out into the world. This seminar is geared toward students who have at least one finished piece of work. You’ll be asked to bring a laptop or tablet for research and to prepare a record-keeping system for your submissions. Join us for two fun Saturdays of publication preparation.

This two-day seminar is open to students of all levels and to writers of all genres.  It will be held in Los Feliz, where coffee, sparkling water, and light snacks will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$170 for new students; $150 for returning students

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

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2-Day Seminar: Adapting Fairy Tales (taught by Clarissa Romano in Santa Monica)

Two Saturdays, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
June 6, 2021 and June 13, 2021

Fairy and folktales have weathered the ages for good reason—they are built of solid stuff, a combination of urgent narratives, vibrant characters, and exciting settings. Even the most imaginative fiction writer can benefit from emulating these time-tested tales. In this seminar, we will examine various folk tales and break them down into their parts and particulars, identifying useful motifs and elements. Selected readings include excerpts from folklorists such as Maria Tatar, Max Luthi, Vladimir Propp, Francesca Lia Block and Italo Calvino. After building an outline complete with original characters, themes and locations, students will begin writing an original adaptation.

This two-day seminar will take place in Santa Monica, where coffee, sparkling water, and light snacks will be provided.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$170 for new students; $150 for returning students

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

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POETRY

Mixed Levels Poetry (taught by Elline Lipkin in Glendale)

Tuesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 28, 2021 to June 16, 2021

SOLD OUT!

This eight-week workshop will focus on how to cultivate a practice of poetry—on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis as students integrate awareness, writing, and observation into their lives. The instructor will introduce poems that celebrate the everyday and deepen attention through use of metaphor, simile, or other poetic devices as students investigate and practice craft techniques. Writing exercises will focus on building an ongoing practice, creating poetic community, and new uses for poetry. Weekly workshopping of poems will help students to understand the mechanics of how a poem works and more about their own creative process.

This course will take place in Glendale, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$390 for new students; $350 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students.)

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

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FICTION

Fiction I (taught by Neelanjana Banerjee in Silverlake)  

Thursdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 30, 2021 to July 2, 2021 (no class May 28 and June 4, 2021)

SOLD OUT!

This eight-week course will introduce beginning writers to the basic techniques of fiction writing such as characterization, dramatization, dialogue, point of view, and so on. In class, students will discuss published fiction from a craft perspective and do writing exercises designed to tackle particular techniques. Each week students will have short writing assignments to do outside of class, which will be turned in for feedback from the instructor. As this course is designed for beginning writers, there won’t be any formal workshopping. The class is also open to more experienced writers who simply want to brush up on the basics.

This class will take place in Silverlake, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$390 for new students; $350 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students.)

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

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Fiction II (taught by Kate Maruyama at Incarnation Community Center in Glendale)  4 SPOTS LEFT!

Wednesdays, 7:00 to 9:00 pm
April 29, 2021 to June 17, 2021

This eight-week intermediate level class is designed for both short story writers and novelists. For the first four weeks, students will do in-class writing exercises and discuss published short fiction and novel excerpts from a craft perspective. The class will cover such topics as characterization, pacing, point of view, structure, voice, and scene, and there will be short take-home writing assignments designed to help students progress with their manuscripts. For the final four weeks of the course, students will be workshopped in a serious environment meant to challenge and inspire every member of the class. Each student will have the opportunity to workshop either one short story manuscript or one novel excerpt (maximum 25 pages).

This class will take place in Glendale, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$390 for new students; $350 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students.)

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

***

Mixed Levels Fiction (taught by Scott Cheshire in Brentwood)  5 SPOTS LEFT!

Wednesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
May 6, 2021 to June 24, 2021

This eight-week mixed-levels class is designed for both short story writers and novelists. For the first four weeks, you will do in-class writing exercises and discuss published short fiction and novel excerpts from a craft perspective. You will cover such topics as characterization, pacing, point of view, structure, voice, and scene, and there will be short take-home writing assignments designed to help you progress with your manuscript.  In the final four weeks of the course, you will be expected to turn in either a short story manuscript or a novel excerpt (maximum 25 pages), to be critiqued by the instructor.  Students will also share excerpts and works-in-progress with the group in a workshop environment designed to inspire and challenge every member of the class.

This class will take place in Brentwood, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$390 for new students; $350 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students.)

***

Genre Fiction Workshop: World-building, Structure, and Suspense (taught by Kate Maruyama at Incarnation Community Center in Glendale)  4 SPOTS LEFT!

Mondays, 7:00 to 9:00 pm
April 27, 2021 to June 22, 2021 (no class May 25)

This eight-week intermediate level class is designed for writers working in genre fiction: science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime, and mystery. This class is open to writers drafting short stories or novels. We will look at genre texts, short stories, and novel excerpts to examine elements of genre: what works and what doesn’t and what devices are useful to take back to your own work. We will also go over practical tools of world-building, worldview, character view, consistency, rules, tension, and other elements that will fully immerse your readers in the genre experience.

There will be take home exercises to help you progress with your work and, starting week three, the class will workshop up to ten pages of each student’s work.

This class will take place in Glendale, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$390 for new students; $350 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students.)

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

***

Novel I (taught by Margaret Wappler at Pop-Hop Books in Highland Park)  4 SPOTS LEFT!

Thursdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
May 14, 2021 to July 16, 2021

In this ten-week course, students will develop their novels and write the first 40 pages. Students will spend the first few weeks doing writing exercises and discussing craft and technique from a novelist’s perspective. All assignments, both in- and out-of-class, will ask students to think deeply about their projects and aesthetic goals. There will be a weekly page-count requirement to keep everyone on task. The final weeks of the course will be devoted to workshopping student novel excerpts in an intense yet compassionate environment designed to challenge and inspire all members of the class.

This class will take place in Highland Park, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$420 for all students (Payment plans available to returning students.)

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

***

Novel II (taught by Seth Fischer in Mid-City/Beverly Grove)

Thursdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
May 7, 2021 to July 9, 2021

SOLD OUT!

This class is designed for students with at least 40 pages of a first draft. In this ten-week course, students will develop their novels with the goal of writing 40 new pages. The class will spend the first few weeks doing writing exercises and discussing craft and technique from a novelist’s perspective. All assignments, both in- and out-of-class, will encourage students to develop strong new work that falls in line with their aesthetic goals. There will be a weekly page-count requirement to keep students on task, and there will also be time set aside in class to work. The final weeks of the course will be devoted to workshopping student novel excerpts in an intense yet compassionate environment designed to challenge and inspire all members of the class.

This class will take place in Mid-City/Beverly Grove, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$420 for all students (Payment plans available to returning students.)

Students must apply to this workshop unless they have been previously enrolled in Novel I. Contact us at enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com for more information.

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8-Week Fiction Writing Group (taught by Amelia Morris in Echo Park)

Sundays, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
May 3, 2021 to June 28, 2021 (no class May 24, 2021)

1 SPOT LEFT!

In this course, students will have the opportunity to be a part of a fiction writers’ group facilitated by a published writer. Within a supportive environment, students will share new and in-process work, write from prompts, take home ideas for new stories, talk about writing, and ask questions about craft, creation, and process. We will form our own writing community, giving and receiving feedback from one another, all while having a good time. This is not a lecture class, nor will there be class assignments.

This group will take place in Echo Park, where tea, sparkling water, and light snacks will be served.

Enrollment Limit: 8 students
Price: $260 for all students

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

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NONFICTION

Nonfiction I (taught by Margaret Wappler in Mt. Washington)  3 SPOTS LEFT!

Tuesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
May 12, 2021 to June 30, 2021

In this eight-week course, students will read, discuss, and draft essays (or chapters) that will explore the genre(s) of personal narrative and memoir. The readings will be selected to stimulate essay ideas and suggest techniques for engaging personal and creative expression. There will be in-class and homework exercises that address topics such as persona, audience, story, description, memory and truth, and ethical considerations specific to the genre. Students will have the chance to workshop their writing in a serious environment meant to challenge and inspire each member of the class.

This class will take place in Mt. Washington, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$390 for new students; $350 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students.)

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

***

Nonfiction II (taught by Chris Daley in Los Feliz) 1 SPOT LEFT!    

Thursdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
April 30, 2021 to June 18, 2021

This eight-week intermediate level course is designed for writers who have a clear idea of the persona, audience, and purpose driving their work. There will be some assigned readings, but the focus will be on bringing projects toward completion through a process of drafting, feedback, and revision in a challenging but supportive environment. Weekly in-class and homework exercises will help students develop their projects and consider issues of submission, performance, and/or publication. Writers will have the opportunity to submit work for feedback from the instructor and other students twice. A memoir or essay collection project underway or previous enrollment in Nonfiction I is encouraged.

This class will take place in Los Feliz, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$390 for new students; $350 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students.)

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

***

Mixed Levels Nonfiction (taught by Dawn Dorland Perry in Mar Vista)  6 SPOTS LEFT!

Thursdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
May 7, 2021 to June 25, 2021

This eight-week mixed-levels course is designed for personal essayists, memoirists, and those writing nonfiction more broadly, with a focus on the mercurial narrative self. In the first four weeks, through assigned reading, we will consider the wide range of narrative possibilities in nonfiction, cover aspects of craft, and share short weekly writing assignments together in the group. In the second four weeks, you will have the opportunity to workshop a complete draft of an essay or memoir excerpt (maximum 20 pages) and to receive instructor feedback on a second draft. This workshop offers an opportunity to both experiment and to refine your nonfiction writing. Suitable for writers either in the early stages of developing a project or those willing to try new techniques for existing material.

This class will take place in Mar Vista, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$390 for new students; $350 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students.)

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

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