Creative Writing Winter 2021 Series
Practice & Imitation

maclaine and daughter.jpg
 

 When: Saturday 16–18:30 (CET) starting 30 Jan

Tuesday Day 11–13:30 (CET) starting 2 Feb

Tuesday Eve  17–19:30 (CET) starting 2 Feb

Wednesday 17–19:30 (CET) starting 3 Feb  

Where: Online

Number of Sessions: 8 @ 2.5 hours/each

Maximum Participants per group: 6


Series Description / Series Goal

We will...

  • Maintain and extend our creative writing practice

  • Strengthen our writer’s voice through studying the craft of published authors

    • Making a detailed study of a piece’s construction will help us improve our own reading and provide invaluable practice in the interweaving of content, form, and rhythm in our own writing

    • Develop efficient ways of establishing essential aspects of a narrative — character, stakes, scene, and more

  • Refine our own style through careful attention to our work by posing the questions to ourselves that we ask of the pieces we read and hear from our fellow participants

  • Develop our overall craft, from reading and writing to editing 

  • Follow clear guidelines to offer and receive constructive feedback that fuels creative momentum

  • Nurture and maintain camaraderie and a sense of community

  • Move toward submission of works-in-progress for detailed review and finished pieces for inclusion in a printed collection 

  • Discover ways to collaborate further

Course Content

  1. In advance of each class, writers will receive a short excerpt from the work of an established writer - from classic to contemporary - with a particular focus on dialogue.

  2. *During the first class, we will review and establish the set of feedback guidelines we’ll be following throughout this series.

  3. The first hour of each class will consist of Creative Writing Practice exercises with which you are already accustomed. 

  4. During the second hour, following a short break, we’ll examine and collectively work to understand what the author has achieved by reverse-engineering the craft and stylistic features of the story’s construction, as well as the sound and diction of the featured writer and the context/time in which they wrote. 

  5. We’ll then try our hand at writing in the featured writer’s distinctive style through a series of exercises/prompts in an effort to capture particular aspects such as rhythms of speech, point-of-view, description.  

  6. Before the conclusion of each week’s class, participants will have an opportunity to read any work further developed from the previous week’s style exercises and receive facilitated peer feedback according to established guidelines.

  7. By the end of this workshop, we will have at least 1 or 2 final pieces to share. 


Please RSVP and you will be sent a separate invoice: mollybrowncreative@gmail.com
Be sure to give me your first and second time-slot preferences. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Best,
Molly