CLASSES
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words – Or at Least a Few Verses: Creating Ekphrastic Poems
Saturday, September 19, 2020
taught by Joshua Bridgwater Hamilton
3 pm to 4:30 pm
via Zoom
An ekphrastic composition is a piece of writing that takes a pre-existing work of art, such as a painting, sculpture, installation, or even a video, and uses it as the central subject for its content and message.
Sometimes, putting ourselves into the scene of a completely different context – such as that of a painting from a different era or place – can help us gain perspective on our own situations. Especially at a time when our activity and travel have been drastically curtailed by a pandemic, ekphrastic writing gives us an opportunity to get out of our own head for a brief moment and “travel” to some other world through the vehicle of art.
Finishing School:
The Happy Ending to that Writing Project You Can't Seem to Get Done
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
hosted by Alyson Greene
7 pm to 8 pm
via Zoom
Click here to register for this free event.
Registration closes 1 hour before event starts.
Trouble finding the time to work on your novel, memoir, or screenplay? Come to this informational meeting to see if Finishing School is for you. This is not a critique group or a class, but a group for accountability and support in writing longer pieces and/or creating consistent habits. Using the book Finishing School by Cary Tennis and Danelle Morton, we'll discuss the emotional pitfalls preventing us from finishing, set goals, and work with accountability partners to keep ourselves on track.
Claiming the Soulless: Breathing Life Into Your Characters
Saturday, October 10, 2020
taught by Michael Quintana
3 pm to 4:30 pm
via Zoom
Click here to register for this free class.
Ever wonder why some characters are unforgettable, while others slip from your mind? Or why Dorothy from Oz feels more personable to you than Gloria from accounting? In this class, we will be exploring some of the ways you can breathe life into your characters, make them more dynamic, and — dare I say? — life-like.
Revising for Resonance: Using Word Palettes in Poetry
Saturday, November 14, 2020
taught by Alan Berecka
3 pm to 4:30 pm
via Zoom
Click here to register for this free class.
Internal resonance is a force in engineering that is avoided at all costs. However, the reverberation of sounds and images within a poem that can create an added richness. This reverberation from images can be created through the application of what I like to call word palettes. In this workshop we will explore the idea of word palettes and how they can be used to build stronger poems, especially in the process of revision.
Oh Humbug: Crafting a Character's Motivation
Saturday, December 12, 2020
taught by Kent Lenz
3 pm to 4:30 pm
via Zoom
Click here to register for this free class.
Christmas can be magical or a living nightmare. In our real lives, we all have a reason to love or hate the holiday season, but characters on the page have their own lives, and they need their own personal motivations for what they say, think, and do within a scene. In this character development writing class, we’ll read and learn from examples to help our own characters navigate through the holiday season.
