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This page contains info. about membership and gift certificates, followed by course descriptions for every class. Note that in order to see the entire course description (including the teacher’s bio and student testimonials), you must click on the link that says: “Read the rest of this entry.”
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Cost: $50.00
If you would like to become a lifetime member of the Writing Salon (in order to receive the discounted rate on any class), simply add your membership purchase to the shopping cart, just as you would add a class, and then “continue shopping,” adding as many classes to the cart as you like, and being sure to select the member rate for each class before adding it to your shopping cart.
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Saturday, Oct. 9th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (with a break for lunch) $95 members/$110 non-members Berkeley
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“Not long ago I was feeling distant and unconnected from my writing,” says instructor Jamey Genna, “trying too hard to create a finished product even before I had more than a rough beginning. I was also encountering a lot of writing friends who were stalled in their work: novelists who had written the first 50 pages and then stopped themselves by doing constant revision; short story writers who had ideas for stories but no inspiring atmosphere or time to sit down and put pen to paper. I decided it might be time for me to: 1) put a hold on studying craft, 2) stop revising so much, and 3) get back to generating more new material.
Read the rest of this entry »
Saturday, Oct. 9th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (with a break for lunch) $95 members/$110 non-members San Francisco
Note: We also offer a 9-week version of this class, which many people take on a regular basis. It’s an excellent class for beginners or anyone else who wants to keep generating new material while exploring their voice as a writer.
We all have “writing voices,” but often we can’t really “hear” those voices ourselves, even when others can. In this class, you’ll learn to hear what’s unique about your writing voice, jumpstart your writing, and produce new work.
“What I want you to get out of this workshop,” says instructor Chris DeLorenzo, “is a sense of how your voice comes across as one-of-a-kind, and how writing can be fun and experimental. Only then can you learn to let go of self-conscious writing—writing that sounds the way you think it’s supposed to sound.”
Five Sundays, Oct. 10th-Nov. 7th, 2-4:30 p.m. Berkeley $185 members/$215 non-members
Special Package Deal: Take this SF class together with the SF “Starting Your Novel” class, and receive both classes (5 weeks plus 5 weeks, back to back) for the price of one 9-week class. Note: This discount applies only if you choose the “Intro to Fiction/Starting Your Novel ‘Combo’ option” when you register. If you take Intro to Fiction and then decide to take Starting Your Novel, the discount doesn’t apply.
We writers too often need others to tell us that our writing is good,” says instructor Junse Kim. “And this is where it all goes horribly wrong. We become impatient for praise, obsessed with completing a story before learning the basic skills we need to write it. It’s the equivalent of, say, an aspiring carpenter who has committed to building a beautiful house, yet doesn’t know how to hammer in a nail or saw a piece of wood.”
Six Sundays, 2:30-5 p.m: Oct. 10, Nov. 7, Dec. 5, Jan. 9, Feb. 6, March 6 $335 members/$365 others San Francisco
Prerequisite: Kathleen’s 5-week Memoir Writing class or Alison Luterman’s 9-week Write from Real Life class (or an equivalent class, taken elsewhere)
Have you embarked on the writing of memoir and find you need some guidance and encouragement? Are you wondering about ways to craft a memoir that is indeed shapely, intense, fascinating…and publishable? “The artful memoir isn’t easy to knock off,” says Kathleen McClung. “We need skill and nuance in narrating and musing on past events and feelings to make a cohesive whole. Memoirs that matter, that truly move readers, call for soul-searching and for mastery of essential literary elements—an engaging voice, vivid scenes and characters, a careful blend of action and reflection, a unifying thread/theme.”
9 Sundays, Oct. 10th-Dec. 12th (9 weeks, skip 10/31), 7-9:30 p.m. $335 members/$365 non-members San Francisco
“I hadn’t discovered yet what I would later find was an iron law of composition for me: the exasperatingly slow search among the words I had already written for the words which were to come, and the necessity for continuous revision…” —William Gass
Aspiring writers usually wend their ways to this workshop because “life isn’t slowing down,” isn’t offering them the space or the time to work on their fiction. They want to write, or they tinker with two-pages and never get around to completing the piece, or they have ideas rollicking through their brains that haven’t, as of yet, made it to the page. But they all come to class with one common goal: they want to write a compelling story.
5 Mondays, Oct. 11th-Nov. 8th, 7-9:30 p.m. San Francisco $185 members/$215 non-members
5 Mondays, Oct. 11th-Nov. 8th, 7-9:30 p.m Berkeley $185 members/$215 non-members
“The greatest stories we read as children still live large in our memories,” says Lindsey Alexander. “From Charlotte’s Web to Harry Potter to Where the Wild Things Are, the books we discover as children shape us, inspire us to read on, and maybe even turn us into writers.”
If you’re eager to share a story with the next generation of readers, this workshop will stoke your creative fire, hone your writing craft, and give you invaluable insight into the world of children’s publishing. Whether you’re interested in picture books, chapter books, or young adult novels, this class will help you to begin new projects or further develop projects that you’ve already begun.
5 Tuesdays, Oct. 12-Nov. 9, 7-9:30 p.m. $185 members/$215 non-members San Francisco
“Suspense writers, present and future: Remember you are in good company. Dostoyevsky, Wilkie Collins, Henry James, Edgar Allan Poe…there are hacks in every kind of literary field…Aim at being a genius.” —Patricia Highsmith
In this workshop, you’ll hone your skills at writing commercial fiction—romance/chicklit, mystery/detective, science fiction/fantasy—that aren’t always given the credit they deserve. “If ghosts and witches, lost loves and conflict were good enough for Homer, Shakespeare, and Dante,” says Nick Mamatas, “they’re good enough for me. A genre is like a toolbox—good writers go beyond formula and use the tools of their trade to build and make real what nobody else could imagine.”
5 Tuesdays, Oct. 12th-Nov. 9th, 7-9:30 p.m. Berkeley $185 members/$215 others
Writing about physical illness, emotional pain, childhood trauma, addiction, and other difficult circumstances can present writers with some unique challenges, and also some unique opportunities. How can we ensure that deeply personal writing will be compelling and even luminous for our readers? How can we avoid getting mired in emotional or linguistic ruts? That’s where both the craft and the courage come in!
“When we dive consciously and skillfully into personally difficult material, whatever the genre, we can deepen our ability to see and hold complexity, name truth, and, ultimately, connect with our readers – as well as with ourselves – more powerfully,” says instructor Ruth L. Schwartz.
9 Wednesdays, Oct. 13-Dec. 15 (9 weeks, skip 11/24), 7-9:30 p.m. $335 members/$365 non-members Berkeley
This class will help you plunge into the personal themes that make your real life stories uniquely yours. For the first four weeks, instructor Alison Luterman will lead carefully crafted writing exercises designed to elicit the undertones and overtones that give events resonance and elevate anecdotes into the realm of art. The latter weeks will be dedicated to refining and then workshopping the pieces you have begun, bringing them to the next level of craft.
9 Wednesdays, Oct. 13-Dec. 15 (9 weeks, skip 11/24), 7-9:30 p.m. $335 members/$365 others San Francisco
The exercises in this class focus on producing writing with concrete details, description and dialogue, along with a healthy dose of playfulness to balance the serious stuff.
9 Thursdays, Oct. 14-Dec. 16 (skip Nov. 25), 7-9:30 p.m. $335 members/$365 non-members
In this busy, over-stimulating world it can be difficult to set aside the time to write—even if it’s the thing we want to do more than anything else. Working with a supportive teacher and a group of enthusiastic peers can help balance the solitude demanded by writing. And meeting regularly with fellow writers also helps us increase our commitment and hone our writing skills.
In this class students will submit their work for feedback and be guided through the process of revision. They’ll learn about the strengths of their short stories or novel excerpts and they’ll receive input on what needs more work. Students will also discuss the various aspects of craft, and look at some pieces from published writers such as Alice Munro, T.C. Boyle, Edwidge Danticat, and Elizabeth Strout. A few short exercises may also be assigned to help students generate new work and put into practice what they learn in class.
Oct. 14-Dec. 19, 8 Thursdays & 1 Sunday (Dec. 19), 7-9:30 p.m. $335 members/$365 non-members San Francisco
This workshop is intended for people who want to jump start their poetry practice and to keep the engine oiled. You’ll do plenty of writing and reading, and have lively discussions about both the craft and the process of poetry. The weekly homework assignments (workshopped the following week) are designed to provide fresh angles of approach that can suprise, even startle, both the writer and his/her readers. “We all get stuck in ruts,” Julie says, “and the class offers ways of digging ourselves out, whether we use these strategies to simply get started at writing or to revise a particularly challenging poem.”
Saturday, Oct. 16th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. San Francisco $95 members/$110 non-members
In just about any writing class, you will hear these words: “Show don’t tell!” But how do you do that? “Ground your readers in their senses,” says Jane Underwood. “Run from abstractions, straight into the arms of all that is concrete — peaches, hurricanes, airplane roars, empty drawers, itching wounds.
During this day of sensory exploration, we’ll explore ways to come up with juicy images and details — descriptions that dance and breathe, scenes that taste and smell, characters that sing and shout, stories that are soft as the nape of a baby’s neck…or hard as a tack.
Saturday, Oct. 16th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Berkeley $95 members/$110 non-members
Mysteries are one of the most popular and diverse genres in fiction today. They sell by the millions and hundreds of authors have established long and successful careers in mystery writing. The contemporary mystery offers immense opportunities for the creation of quirky protagonists, unusual settings, stories with social or political relevance, and even for books that put new twists on the genre or that seem to defy the demands of the genre altogether. Nevertheless, writing a mystery demands certain key skills and a knowledge of what works in this particular area of fiction.
Two Sundays, Oct. 17 & Dec. 19, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m (plus daily online) $195 members/$225 non-members San Francisco
“The imagination,” said novelist Dean Koontz, ‘is like a muscle: The more you use it, the better it performs and the quicker you get ideas of higher caliber.’ The Round Robin is based on the same premise,” says instructor Jane Underwood. “The more you use your writing muscles, the more you will tone and strengthen them. The primary focus is PRACTICE. Every day you will practice your writing, in the same way that a piano student practices the piano or a swimmer swims laps.”
This class is structured around a carefully facilitated exchange of daily emailed writings (based on prompts provided by Jane) among all class members, plus two in-class meetings.
Nine Sundays, Oct. 17-Dec. 19 (skip Nov. 21), 7-9:30 pm $335 members/$365 non-members Berkeley
“At some point, every produced screenwriter, whether working in Hollywood or in the Independents, wrote a “calling card” script – the one that got them noticed and out of the slush pile on to the production list,” says Terrel Seltzer. “In this class I’ll give practical, de-mystifying advice from a veteran screenwriter’s experience, focusing on three crucial elements to help aspiring writers get a foot in the door: 1) Concepts that sell: the need for a “strange attractor,” which is often called “the high concept idea,” 2) Characters that actors will vie to play: “structuring both the outer journey (physical plot) and the inner journey (emotional arc) of your protagonist hero, and 3) Conflict: how to get it, because a screenplay has to have it (and most beginner’s scripts don’t).
Saturday, Oct. 23rd, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. San Francisco $95 members/$110 non-members
Do you love to travel? Keep a travel journal? Why not take the next step and turn your daily scribbles into salable articles? You can do this by learning two things: 1) how to improve your storytelling abilities, and 2) how to market your work.
“I’ll lead you through the steps of writing a travel story and then targeting and querying your markets (short story anthologies, newspapers, magazines and ezines),” says instructor Lisa Alpine.
Saturday, Oct. 23rd, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Berkeley $95 members/$110 non-members
What do Gayle Brandeis, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, Gretchen Rubin, Samantha Wilde, Carolyn Rubenstein, Kimberly Wilson, Lisa Sonora Beam, Temra Costa, Bryant Terry, Beth Kanter, and Keri Smith have in common? They are all published authors who blog.
“One of the best ways to try out new ideas and build an audience for your writing is to start a blog,” says instructor Britt Bravo. “The first thing a publisher is going to ask you is, ‘Do you have a platform?’ A blog, combined with other social media tools like Twitter and Facebook, is a great way to build it.”
Saturday, Oct. 30th, 10 am – 4 pm San Francisco $95 members/$110 non-members
“I’ve done stories on everything from home computers to a profile of the Emmy Award-winning sound engineer who worked on Basic Instinct,” says Cary Pepper. “But my favorite was the one I did about a new reading program for kindergartners; the kids pulled me right into the class, and I learned more that one day than I ever learned in kindergarten. That’s one of the things I love most about magazine writing — it’s a constant learning process. It gives you a license to probe into the world. It’s also the most accessible way to break into professional writing. Even when you have no publishing credits, if you come up with the right idea, and pitch it to the right editor at the right time, you can get the assignment.” Read the rest of this entry »
Saturday, Oct. 30th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Berkeley $95 members/$110 non-members
Whether you’re intrigued by Norse settlements, your own grandmother’s journey to America, or an imaginary character from a far-away time, historical fiction can be an enchanting new outlet for your writing. This introductory workshop will help you discover the unique requirements of writing historical fiction, and set you up for a successful journey into a popular new genre.
Says instructor Jess Wells, “We’ll look into how to research and when to stop researching, how to create credible characters without arcane dialogue and, most importantly, how to choose a historical era that excites your imagination. I’ve chosen to focus on the Middle Ages because I’m fascinated by inventions that change the way people live, and this era was filled with watershed moments. Of course, the gorgeous fabrics and remarkable settings don’t hurt, either.”
Saturday, Nov. 6th, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. San Francisco $95 members/$110 non-members
“Every single writing job I have landed: film, television no matter what, came out of writing for the theater,” says instructor Patricia Cotter. “It’s one of the few mediums where the writer is in charge of the story; it’s your vision and your voice. Okay, true story: A couple of years ago I wrote a one act play which was produced in a tiny seventy seven seat black box theater. One night Dustin Hoffman happened to come to the show (What? Huh?). He saw it, loved it and hired me to write a film with him. That experience reinforced the belief that theater is the best showcase for a new voice. Plus? It’s a blast. And getting your play in front of an audience is completely attainable – write a play, rent a room and invite people. It really is that easy. Okay, well you do actually have to write your play…but I can help with that.”
Saturday, Nov. 6th, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Berkeley $95 members/$110 non-members
Had a difficult time making time to write even though you know you want to? Perhaps you feel uninspired or don’t quite know what it is you want to write about. Or maybe you need a boost to your creativity that will help your words flow.
“We live such busy lives,” says instructor Elaine Beale. “Demands come at us from all directions. It can be very challenging to make the time to write. Besides, writing creatively requires a level of inner stillness and disconnection from the busyness that surrounds us. Sometimes we simply need to take a day to reconnect with our creative selves. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Saturdays, Nov. 13-Dec. 18 (skip Nov. 27), 2-4:30 p.m. $185 members/$215 others San Francisco
Note: This is a beginner’s class. If you have already started a memoir and want guidance at an intermediate level, Kathleen also offers a Memoir Writing “Continuation” class.
Memoir is not reserved only for the rich and famous. In fact, beautiful and haunting memoirs—books and essays—grow out of our ordinary lives, carefully observed. Both the distant past and the not-so-long ago can be mined, remembered and re-created skillfully in writing. This class is a guide to the mining and refining process. “The gold of memoir,” says instructor Kathleen McClung, “combines the gifts of a novelist—vivid characters and settings, lively and suspenseful narration—with a poet’s introspection and close attention to language.
Five Saturdays, Nov. 13-Dec. 18 (skip Nov. 27) 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. $185 members/$215 non-members San Francisco
“I’ve done stories on everything from home computers — back when only three companies were making them — to a portrait of the Sherman House (a landmark hotel that survived the 1906 earthquake) to a profile of the Emmy Award-winning sound engineer who worked on Basic Instinct,” says Cary Pepper. “But my favorite piece is probably the one I did about a new reading program for kindergartners; the kids pulled me right into the class and I learned more that one day than I ever learned in kindergarten. That’s one of the things I love most about magazine writing — it’s a constant learning process. It gives you a license to probe into how the world — and the people in it — work. It’s also the most accessible way to break into professional writing. Even when you have no publishing credits, if you come up with the right idea, and pitch it to the right editor at the right time, you can get the assignment.”
5 Saturdays, Nov. 13th-Dec. 18 (skip 11/27), 10:30 a.m-1 p.m. $185 members/$215 non-members Berkeley
“I believe that anyone can learn to write well and really enjoy the process,” says Aurora Brackett. “Writing isn’t a gift bestowed by magic. It’s a practice. And in the busy lives we lead it is hard to make time to practice. This class will give you that time.”
For five weeks you will live as writers, paying attention to the world around you and translating your experience (and imaginations) into language. “Our classroom will be a creativity laboratory,” says Aurora. “We’ll do writing exercises, read aloud, look at art, listen to music, study maps and old photographs, tell jokes and make up fables. We’ll read stories, poems and personal essays and take them apart to see how they work. You’ll learn to take notes and to pay attention to detail as you go through your days — observing crowds in airports, the facial expressions of a Safeway cashier, a story overheard on the bus. The exercises and assignments I give will help you put it all together: vivid details, imagination, structure and voice.
5 Saturdays, Nov. 13-Dec. 18 (skip 11/27), 2-4:30 p.m. Berkeley $185 members/$215 non-members
Whether you’re intrigued by Norse settlements, your own grandmother’s journey to America, or an imaginary character from a far-away time, historical fiction can be an enchanting new outlet for your writing, transporting you and your writing into worlds that are incredibly fun to create. This introductory workshop will clue you in to the unique requirements for writing historical fiction, and set you up for a successful journey into this increasingly popular genre.
“You can’t just throw a tapestry over the flat screen TV in your scene and call it historical,” says instructor Jess Wells. “There are real differences between modern life and life in the past, which require real differences in your writing. That challenge, to me, is the greatest thing about this genre: it’s like a three-dimensional chess game – the bottom layer is the character’s story, the middle layer is the unique historical setting and events, and the top layer is the language.
5 Sundays, Nov. 14-Dec. 12, 2-4:30 p.m. Berkeley $185 members/$215 non-members
Special “Package” Deal: Take this Berkeley class together with the Berkeley “Intro to Fiction” class (5 weeks plus 5 weeks, back to back) for the price of one 9-week class. Please Note: This special applies only if you choose the “Intro to Fiction/Starting Your Novel ‘Combo’ option” when you register.
You want to write a novel, or you are writing a novel, but maybe you shy away from talking about it with your co-workers, neighbors or brother-in-law (you know the way he rolls his eyes and calls you a dreamer). So come to this workshop instead, where you’ll meet other people who are doing what you’re doing, or want to do. “We’ll talk about your idea, how to make sure it has enough weight to carry a novel,” say Karen Bjorneby. “We’ll talk about your character and make sure she’s so compelling we all can’t wait to find out what she’ll do next. . . Read the rest of this entry »
5 Mondays, Nov. 15th-Dec. 13th, 7-9:30 p.m. $185 members/$215 non-members San Francisco
Special “Package” Deal: Take this class together with the San Francisco “Intro to Fiction” class, and receive both classes (5 weeks plus 5 weeks, back to back) for the price of one 9-week class. Note: This discount applies only if you choose the “Intro to Fiction/Starting Your Novel ‘Combo option” when you register.
You want to write a novel, or you are writing a novel, so come to this workshop where you’ll meet other people who are doing what you’re doing, or want to do. “We’ll talk about your idea – how to make sure it has enough weight to carry a novel,” say Karen Bjorneby. “We’ll talk about your character and make sure she’s so compelling we all can’t wait to find out what she’ll do next. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Mondays, Nov. 15-Dec. 13: 7-9:30 p.m. $185 members/$215 non-members Berkeley
5 Tuesdays, Nov. 16th-Dec. 14th, 7-9:30 p.m. Berkeley $185 members/$215 non-members
“Many beginning students come to a poetry class hoping for quick critiques and suggestions for revision. There are times when it’s right to want this, but not until you’re nearing the final draft,” says Alison Luterman. ” The first ten, twenty or hundred times writing and revising the poem are a discovery process. What more is there underneath the poem? What leaps can you make? What gems can you uncover?
5 Tuesdays, Nov. 16-Dec. 14 (5 weeks) 7-9:30 p.m. $185 members/$215 non-members San Francisco
You want to write but…you’re afraid. Or too tired. Or uninspired. Or don’t have the time. Or ________________ (fill in the blank with your own favorite “but”).
Here’s what I suggest you do: Just get your buts to class! That’s it! Once you’re here, I’ll help you achieve the following goals: 1) to start (or get back to) your writing, 2) to experiment with new ways to approach and vary that writing, 3) to write with more ease, and 4) to write with a better ear for hearing and appreciating your innate writer’s voice (yes, you do have one; it already exists).