Introducing the Story
Short Fiction Writing Workshop for Beginners
$400 for seven weeks
Where do stories come from? How do we get our ideas? More importantly, what do we do with the bits in our notebooks, once we have written them down? This workshop teaches beginning writers to use freewriting, clustering, and other writing prompt tools to generate rich, complex, satisfying stories. It introduces the elements of fiction - character, plot, dialogue and setting - and provides the structure that is necessary for a sprouting story to take root and flourish. A variety of exercises stimulate and train the writing mind. The goal is to encourage a personal writing practice that students will continue after the workshop is finished.
The environment is non-intimidating and supportive, perfect for writers who would like to jump start their practice, explore technique, and create a useful foundation for their fiction writing. This course is open to all writers, even those who have not written fiction before.
Introducing the Story by Correspondence
Short Fiction Writing Workshop for Beginners
$300 for seven weeks - Introductory Special for January 2010
Writers living and working outside of Toronto - I developed this class
just for you!
Each week you will receive a course pack in the mail with a lesson, a reading, and a series of carefully selected writing exercises designed to illustrate the lesson. You will also be given an assignment each week.
The online component of the course will provide an arena for group discussion and feedback.
This course is perfect for writers who would like to invigorate their practice, explore technique, and create a useful foundation for their
fiction writing. This course is open to all writers, including those who
have not written fiction before.
Of course, Toronto students are welcome too!
Introducing the Workshop
Short Fiction Writing and Critiquing for Beginners
$350 for six weeks
You know you can write a story, but you seem to need a deadline to get it out of your head and onto the page. Or you’d simply appreciate a community of writers who will read your work critically to help you begin your editing process. In this workshop series, you will do some in-class writing exercises but you will work on your story from home, with a deadline set for the completed draft. The workshop sessions will be guided, the critique respectful of each writer’s unique voice. You’ll gain the valuable insight of fellow writers who understand the challenges of the writing life, and through the process of reading critically, you’ll deepen your relationship to your own writing.
Introducing Revision
Writing A Second Draft (Short Fiction)
$350 for six weeks; a final deadline within the seventh week
You've written your first draft and had it critiqued, and you have all of these great comments and suggestions on how to make it a stronger story, but you want some guidance on what to do next. Or you've put your story in a drawer to sit for a while and you're ready to look at it again. In other words: you are ready to start the rewriting process. This workshop experiments with the ways a writer can use influence as a powerful tool for revision. Each week, special exercises and assignments will get you to practice your revision on a deep level. Learn how to re-experience the source of your work and learn how to make your story more authentically itself.
When you register for this class, you'll be asked to submit a draft of the story you want to work on. After six weeks of class, you'll be given a deadline for your revision of this story, and I will critique the new version.
Writing Practice Class
$225 for eight weeks
Think of this as weekly writing coaching, but with a hot cup of tea. If you're finding it difficult to establish your own writing practice, this class can help. The whole idea is to get you writing. Shorter classes mean less time for my instruction, but consistent time and space for your writing. During the eight weeks, on your own time, you will write two short stories. Plus you'll be writing every week with a group of like-minded people. Informal and fun, with deadlines to motivate you.
