|
|
|
Winter 2009 Writing Workshops | ||||
| | ||||
| Please
note that there is a nonrefundable $25 registration fee per workshop Due to Metro North’s ongoing Hudson Line station rehabilitation project at our Philipse Manor station home, our Monday - Friday daytime workshops are occasionally moved to the Junior League of Westchester-on-Hudson, 35 South Broadway, Tarrytown. You will be notified as far in advance as possible if your class needs to be relocated on any given day. | ||||
| Winter Workshops for Adults
One and Two-Day Workshops
Winter Workshops for Young Writers
| |
|
Winter 2009 Writing Workshops for Adults Please note that, in addition to the adult workshop fees shown below, there is a $25 nonrefundable registration fee (per workshop) charged to registering students who are not members of the Writers’ Center (HVWC). Registration fees are waived for HVWC members. To register, click here. | |
| HOW
TO WRITE PAGE-TURNING FICTION 8
Thursdays, 7 - 9 pm We’ve all done it, stayed awake until three a.m. compulsively turning pages until we finish the book or our eyes betray us and we fall asleep. How do writers grab us like that and not let go? As writers ourselves we can learn from literary techniques of popular genres how to keep the story moving in a compelling fashion. Whether we write about the everyday dramas of ordinary life or the extreme situations of the detective novel or the pulse-pounding thriller, our work will benefit from consideration of how to develop compelling and sympathetic protagonists, disquieting antagonists, a unique voice, well-considered plots, conflict and tension. Our characters may or may not be seeking the Holy Grail, but everyday life with its quiet agonies and quiet satisfactions is equally sacred to the writer of intelligent fiction—and equally deserving of that special magic it takes to keep the reader turning “just one more page.” Status: started 1/29 | |
|
THE
SEVEN STAGES OF CREATIVITY: The Creative Process Uncovered 3 Tuesdays,
6:30 - 8:30 pm Second
session added: How are we inspired? Is there a method to our creativity? Can the creative processes have a formula? How does research inform the creative process? It has been argued that creativity has seven stages: orientation, preparation, analysis, ideation, incubation, synthesis, and evaluation. Each of these steps will be explored with complementary writing exercises. These seven steps of creativity will be a platform to structure the class and hopefully come to understand the mystery of inspiration, originality, and invention. We will examine other related theories such as trauma and creativity, spontaneity, chance, creativity as a voice for empowerment, and the function of freedom and lack of freedom to heighten artistic movement. Status: February session completed; March session started 3/10 | |
|
THE
ART OF THE ESSAY 8
Wednesdays, 7 - 9 pm More than any other kind of non-fiction writing, the essay offers the opportunity to express, in a short and conversational form, the whole range of thoughts and feelings, from intimacy and grief to joy and epiphany. This once-neglected form, now in renaissance, allows for the most satisfying and polished examination of ideas, beliefs, troubles and pleasures by writers beginning, renowned, and (like most of us) in between. Status: started 1/21 * please note that the January 28 class which was cancelled due to a snowstorm was rescheduled for February 18. | |
|
EXPERIMENTS
IN POETRY 8
Thursdays, 9:30 am - noon This workshop focuses on producing new poems based on the study of model texts. Though most class time will be spent responding to works-in-progress, we will also discuss issues of process and creativity. The session culminates in a reading and celebration of participants' work.
Status: started 1/22 | |
|
BORDER
CROSSINGS: A Multi-Genre Workshop 8
Thursdays, 12:30 - 3 pm This workshop allows you to experiment with several genres--poetry, nonfiction, fiction, and hybrid forms. You'll write and share brief assignments, read literary selections, discuss issues of craft and creativity, and receive general response on works-in-progress. The session culminates in a reading and celebration of participants' work.
Status: started 1/22 | |
|
HOW
TO PLAN, WRITE, AND DEVELOP A BOOK 6
Mondays, 1:30 - 4:30 pm* Whether you’re a nonfiction author, memoirist, or novelist, and whether you have a book almost finished or merely a concept for one, this 6 week class will help you get to know your book—what it is about, how to structure it, how to finish it! You’ll learn a step-by-step plan (including timetables, chapter grids, story-boarding, and other techniques) and ways to flow chapters, find holes in your material that need filling, organize research and concepts, and construct plots. You’ll also learn how to package your book for agents and publishers and gain essential tips on editing and evaluating your book at all stages. Status: started 1/26 *Note:
Ms. Moore will also run workshops for returning students only, | |
| MEMOIR
WRITING 8
Tuesdays, January 27 - March 24 (skips February 17) Writing is a solitary endeavor, and feedback is crucial to developing your voice and honing your style. Whether you are in the process of writing a memoir or just getting started, this workshop provides a supportive and constructive environment in which you will read your work aloud each week and receive responses. Your subjects may range from early childhood memories to the transforming events of adulthood, and finished pieces may be short or book-length. Several workshop members have published their work in The New York Times and various literary journals. For writers of all levels. Status: started 1/27 | |
|
TRUE
FICTION: BREATHING LIFE INTO OUR STORIES Saturdays,
10:30 - 12:30 / 2 sessions (take 1 or both): Someone once said that fiction is a lie that tells the truth. If fiction-writing is basically “making things up”, how can we make things up that feel true? What is it that turns a character from a bunch of random ink-marks on a page into a flesh and blood human being? How can we change our stories from something other people will merely read about into something they will experience? In this workshop, we will explore practical techniques for breathing life into fiction and finding the truth in our stories. Status: session A completed; session B started 3/7 | |
|
Winter 2009 One and Two-Day Workshops Please note that, in addition to the one and two-day workshop fees shown below, there is a $15 nonrefundable registration fee (per workshop) charged to registering students who are not members of the Writers’ Center (HVWC). Registration fees are waived for HVWC members. To register, click here. | |
|
Point
of Departure: THE SNOW QUEEN Sunday, January 25 The classic fairy tale of the snow queen will be the point of departure for our writing. Using the inspiration of winter, ice, snow and Russian folklore and associating into theory and imagery, we will create our own narratives. Our own winter landscape will become activated and imagined with writing exercises in this one-day workshop. Please
be familiar with Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen. Status: completed | |
|
Point
of Departure: Presidents' Day Sunday, February 15 In this workshop we will consider the organizational skills needed to get a project off the ground, out of the drawer, completed or moved on to the next phase. Finley will give examples and exercises of developing ideas to realization. Point of Departure is a series of one day workshops led by Karen Finley that will focus on a theme, story or subject. Status: cancelled | |
| CREATING
MEMORABLE CHARACTERS Friday,
February 27 Characters lie at the heart of all great stories. They are what directs plot. Whether you write for adults or children, this one-day intensive workshop will help explore ways to develop fictional characters using writing exercises that will help writers enhance characters they are already working on or help them to create new ones. Status: completed
| |
| SERIOUSLY
SCARY STORIES Sunday,
March 8 People have a powerful and undying desire to hear—and tell—scary stories. Unfortunately, many so called "horror" or "supernatural" stories rely on outworn cliches that have lost their bite. No wonder many "serious" writers are reluctant to admit their desire to dip into the dark side. In this special four-hour intensive workshop, we will examine the art of the scary story from a craft-based perspective, looking at works by classic masters of the genre such as M.R. James as well as contemporary practitioners like Douglas Clegg who are bringing new ideas and new life to the genre. We will also do writing exercises that will open up the darker side of your imagination and get you started on your own "seriously scary" story. Bring a bag lunch, if you'd like. Status: completed | |
| Winter 2009 Workshops for Young Writers Please note that, in addition to the youth workshop fees shown below, there is a $15 nonrefundable registration fee (per workshop) charged to registering students who are not members of the Writers’ Center (HVWC). Registration fees are waived for HVWC members. To register, click here. | |
| LEARNING
TO SEE™: CREATIVE WRITING FOR TEENS AGE 14+ 8
Saturdays, January 24 - March 21 (skips
February 14) Eight workshop sessions in which writers age 14 and up can refine their “writer’s eye” and find their own voices. Participants will be challenged to use their imaginations and every sense of their being to get beyond the surface of things and to put on paper the stories and ideas that come to them. They will also celebrate the sound of words and the images they create. “It’s not like school,” says Connor-Bey, and the small groups allow for maximum individualization. Status: started 1/24 | |
| CREATIVE
WRITING FOR THIRD, FOURTH & FIFTH GRADERS 8
Thursdays, January 22 - March 26 (skips February 12 & 19) Each day you take in the world around you—a fly perched on a leaf, the smell of spaghetti sauce bubbling on the stove, the sound of traffic rushing by on the street outside our window. How do use these things to create stories and poems? This class will help stimulate your senses, imagination, and emotions, and allow you to try out various writing techniques and share ideas in a comfortable atmosphere. (Note that some sessions will be taught by Kate Gallagher and others will be taught by Charlotte Walsh.) Status: started 1/22 | |
|
To register, click here For information on any of our instructors, click here For further information on any of our workshop offerings, call the HVWC at (914) 332-5953 or email us at info@writerscenter.org. Due to Metro North’s ongoing Hudson Line station rehabilitation project at our Philipse Manor station home, our Monday - Friday daytime workshops are occasionally moved to the Junior League of Westchester-on-Hudson, 35 South Broadway, Tarrytown. You will be notified as far in advance as possible if your class needs to be relocated on any given day. | |
|
|
| Notes: HVWC = The Hudson Valley Writers' Center, 300 Riverside Drive, Sleepy Hollow, NY. Classes and worshops are held in the restored Philipse Manor railroad station. For travel directions, visit our Directions page or see train schedules at Metro-North's Hudson River Line. Junior League = The Junior League of Westchester-on-Hudson, 35 South Broadway, Tarrytown, New York. Due to Metro North’s ongoing Hudson Line station rehabilitation project at our Philipse Manor station home, our Monday - Friday daytime workshops are occasionally moved to the Junior League. The building is located at the intersection of South Broadway (Route 9) and West Elizabeth Street, north of the Tappan Zee Bridge.
For further information about any of these classes or workshops, call the Writers' Center at 914-332-5953. The Hudson Valley Writers' Center - Home Page
|