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Saturday, July 11th, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Berkeley $55 members/$65 non-members
Note: We also offer a popular 9-week version of this class, which many people take on a regular basis. It’s an excellent class for beginners or for anyone else who wants to keep generating new, raw material while exploring their writer’s voice.
We all have unique “writing voices,” but often we can’t really “hear” those voices ourselves, even when others can. This half-day workshop will aim to help you hear the sound of your authentic writing voice, because once you feel secure with the individuality of your voice, you’ll grow immeasurably as a writer.
“What I want you to get out of this morning exploration,” says instructor Chris DeLorenzo, “is a sense of how your voice comes across as one-of-a-kind. Only then can you learn to let go of self-conscious writing—writing that sounds the way you think it’s supposed to sound.”
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Saturday, July 11th, 2:30-5:30 p.m. San Francisco $55 members/$65 non-members
“When U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan decided to take up poetry,” says instructor Julie Bruck, “she began by picking tarot cards at random, writing a poem to each until she’d exhausted the deck. This, she said, was a way for her to discover her themes. By her own account, her process hasn’t changed much, but there’s a thrill that goes into unwrapping her short, highly-compressed poems that is a direct transmission of the play that goes into their making.
Saturday, July 11th, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. San Francisco $55 members/ $65 non-members
If you’re writing a book and hope to have it published, you’ll be that much more successful if you understand how the publishing industry works and what editors and agents want. Join instructor Dianne Jacob at this primer that looks at how to get happily published. In today’s rapidly changing world, what exactly does the book industry want?
1 Saturday afternoon (July 11th, 2-4:30) plus 8 Wednesday evenings July 15th-Sept. 2nd, 7-9:30 p.m. Berkeley $335 members/$365 others
NOTE: Usually this class runs for nine consecutive evenings, but due to a small scheduling glitch, this sesssion we are holding the first class on Saturday afternoon.
We all have unique “writing voices,” but often we can’t really “hear” those voices ourselves, even when others can. This workshop will aim to help you hear the sound of your authentic writing voice, because once you feel secure with the individuality of your voice, you’ll grow immeasurably as a writer. “What I want you to explore,” says Chris DeLorenzo, “is a sense of the ways in which your voice comes across as one-of-a-kind. 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, July 12-Aug. 9, 2-4:30 p.m. Berkeley $185 members/$215 non-members
Special Package Deal: Take this Berkeley class together with the Berkeley “Starting Your Novel” class (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.
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.”
Five Mondays, July 13th-Aug. 10th, 7-9:30 p.m. San Francisco $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.
Nine Sundays, July 12-Sept. 13 (skip 9/6), 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.
Six Sundays, July 12-Dec. 13, 2-4:30 p.m. Once a month dates: 7/12, 8/9, 9/13, 10/11, 11/8, 12/13 $335 members/$365 non-members San Francisco
“Inspiration” wrote Madeleine L’Engle, “usually comes during work, rather than before it,” but dedicated time for writing is often the first thing sacrificed to the demands of a busy life. “Students at the Writing Salon often say that that a firm deadline or a community of other writers in which to share writing feels vital to their work,” says instructor Julie Bruck, “but that can be difficult to maintain with a packed schedule, especially after your 5 or 9 week class has ended.”
This poetry continuation class offers both structure and community for the long haul, and is designed for people who have previously taken the minimum of Julie’s 9-week “Fearless Poetry” workshop–or the equivalent– in poetry.
Five Sundays, July 12th-Aug. 9th, 7-9:30 p.m. Berkeley $185 members/$215 others
SPECIAL PACKAGE DEAL: Take this 5-week class along with the 5-week class, “Creativity Jolt,” which follows it, and receive both classes for the price of one 9-week class. Please Note: This special applies only if you choose the Intro to Creative Writing/Creativity Jolt “Combo” option when registering.
“You think to yourself, “There are poems and stories inside of me, just waiting to come out,” but you’re not at all sure where to begin or how to find the time. “Beginning writers sometimes believe,” says instructor Heather Kirn, “that a creative writer is someone who’s published a heap of stories or poems or memoirs. But you’re a creative writer if you write creatively, period.
“Creative writers observe the world with keen curiosity. They explore the desires, trials, and jubilations of people, whether real or imaginary. They mine the past for fascinating memories and hold them up to the light like multi-faceted gems. And they do this while also following the delightful sounds and rhythms of language. All it takes is a willingness to try, to play, to experiment . . . to see what’s inside of you.”
Five Tuesdays, July 14th-Aug. 18th (skip July 21st), 7-9:30 p.m. $185 members/$215 non-members San Francisco
Special “Package” Deal: Take this class together with the “Writing Magazine Articles” class that comes after it, and receive both classes (5 weeks plus 5 weeks, back to back) for the price of one 9-week class. Please note that this special does not apply unless you choose the “Breaking into Magazine Writing/Writing Magazine Articles “Combo” option when you register.
“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.”
Five Tuesdays, July 14th-Aug. 11th, 7-9:30 p.m. $185 members/$215 non-members Berkeley
The basic premise behind almost every successful feature film can be stated in one simple sentence: Someone we care about wants something badly and is having a terrible time getting it. “Pretty simple, right?” says instructor Terrel Seltzer. “But how do you make a character sympathetic? How do you establish a compelling desire? How do you structure rising tension so that the Hollywood Reader keeps turning the page? That’s the art and the craft of screenwriting.”
In this class, every aspect of writing your screenplay will be explored in the following five stages:
Nine Thursdays, July 16th-Sept. 10, 7-9:30 p.m. San Francisco $335 members/$365 non-members
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.”
Nine Thursdays, July 16th-Sept. 10th, 7-9:30 p.m. Berkeley $335 members/$365 non-members
You know the basics of craft. You know that a story has to have a strong plot, good characters, vivid attention to details and specifics. You know it needs a beginning, middle, and end. But what more does it need? What special something must be drawn out in order to make it interesting and meaningful to people other than you?
Six Fridays (once a month): July 17, Aug. 14, Sept. 11, Oct. 9, Nov. 6, Dec. 4, 7-9:30 p.m. $335 members/$365 non-members San Francisco
ATTENTION: THIS CLASS IS NOW FULL. Alternative option: Josh’s 9-week fiction workshop (which many people opt to take more than once) until this one is offered again.
Everyone has an idea for a novel, a memoir, or a story collection. But where do we find the time to actually get the words on the page? Between our jobs and families and fatigue, where is this elusive patch of time to write books? “Life pulls us in so many directions that our creative projects can be the first to suffer,” says instructor Joshua Mohr. “This continuation class will help you finally get those narratives written.”
The class will focus on generating pages, pages, and more pages. You’ll meet once a month for a “state of the union” session, but the bulk of the course will take place between meetings. Through weekly email appointments with Josh and your page-partner, you’ll receive support to keep the momentum going. There will also be bi-weekly e-submissions, in which students send their next chunk of material out for feedback. “The class covers six months,” Josh says. “So if you stick to the page mandates, you’ll have a huge chunk of material done by the end of class.”
Saturday, July 18th, 2:30-5:30 p.m. Berkeley $55 members/$65 non-members
So you’ve been working on a poem. And working on it. And working on it. You know it needs something, but you don’t know what. Or maybe you’ve taken it to the point where you feel ready to see how it reads to other people. Or maybe you’ve been writing entirely on your own and now it’s time to step outside that box by sharing your work with others.
If all or part of this sounds like you, then you’re ready for a workshop. This short but sweet workshop is an opportunity to get your feet wet. Far from being a free-for-all where opinions are fired back and forth willy nilly, it will provide a safe, supportive setting, with rules and guidelines. You’ll learn how to read and respond to other people’s poems, and how to receive responses to your own. At the end of the afternoon, you’ll have sharper eyes, sharper ears, and be that much closer to finishing your poem.
Saturday, July 18th, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. San Francisco $95 members/$110 non-members
“I swear, if have to read another script that begins with a hero waking up in the morning after a pan of the junk in his room, I’ll gag.” – quote from Hollywood Reader One.
Uh-oh, is that the opening you just wrote for your script? What are the other “red flags” that cause a Reader to toss a script by page 10? “If character introductions are not done artfully, the odds of anything else in the script being great are slim.” – quote from Hollywood Reader Two.
So, how DO you write a screenplay these very same Readers will recommend? “Here’s the good news,” says Terrel, “it doesn’t have to be perfect. But you want to write a page-turner that keeps the Reader reading, and there are tried and true ways to help make that happen.”
Sundays, July 19 & Sept. 20, 2-4:30 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.’ This class 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 of this class 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.”
The 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. Round Robin’ers aim to do three things: 1) write regularly, 2) enjoy and explore the process of writing freely and playfully (discovering what you have to say in the act of saying it), and 3) “partner” on a rotating basis with classmates. (”Partnering” will be explained at the first meeting.)
Nine Mondays, July 20th-Sept. 21 (skip 9/7), 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.
“Every one of us is neck-deep in the middle of our own long and winding stories, stories that, when shared, can help us bridge the gap between ourselves and the rest of the world,” says Alison. “What’s wonderful about finding and honing these stories - about being a writer, in fact, is that…
Nine Wednesdays, July 22nd-Sept. 16th, 7-9:30 p.m. $335 members/$365 others San Francisco
Think you want to write, but not sure where to start? “Good news,” says Jenny Pritchett, “it’s all about you!” In this fun, fast-paced class for beginners, you’ll use your own experiences and observations – your unique movement through the world – as jumping-off points to investigate all types of writing: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, memoir, humor, essays and more.
“We’ll address the intersection of reality and imagination,” says Jenny, “with a little reading, weekly writing exercises, handouts and discussion to get your pens (and brains!) flexing. We’ll play with basic elements of craft, such as concrete detail — is it a car, or a 1968 Buick Skylark? We’ll learn how to see more clearly with our eyes closed — and then stamp our imaginary visions onto paper. And we’ll explore the fundamental questions of all creative writing: What is story? What is conflict? What is voice? And, most importantly, What is my voice?”
Six Fridays: July 24, Aug. 21, Sept. 18, Oct. 16, Nov. 13, Dec. 11, 7-9:30 p.m; $335 members/$365 others; San Francisco
(Are you a beginner? Check out Karen’s other class, Starting Your Novel)
Congratulations! You’ve started your novel. You have a sense of your main character and some ideas of the plot, maybe even a full plot outline. You’ve written a few pages, gotten some feedback, and know what your strengths are. Now the challenge is: TO KEEP GOING AND NOT GIVE UP.
“Most of us need help with that,” says instructor Karen Bjorneby. “We need someone in our corner, gently enforcing some discipline while at the same time encouraging us. We need someone to kick ideas around with. We need help with craft, someone to help us make sure our story is coming together. And we need to be around others who are in the same boat.” So come join a group of other people who can help you with discipline, encouragement, focus and craft. “You’ll check in with me once a week,” says Karen, “giving progress reports and letting me know if you’re having any difficulties I can help with. You’ll also have a writing partner with whom to swap pages and exchange gentle critiques. At the monthly meetings, I’ll give you craft exercises to help solve the problems I see people having, and twice during the six-month period, you’ll have the chance to have a chapter read and discussed by the group as a whole, and to receive written feedback from me.”
Saturday, July 25th, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Berkeley $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. “We’ll also discuss ways to generate other travel-related sources of income, such as writing press releases and doing guidebook research. Whether you’re writing about your neighborhood or rafting down the Zambezi, you can develop specialty travel angles that open up publishing avenues beyond the Sunday Travel Section—and still pay well. So come launch your career as a travel writer!”
Saturday, July 25th, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. San Francisco $95 members/$110 non-members
What is true and what do we “create” from our reminiscences? “It is not the factual truth of our memories that is necessary for crafting them into memoir,” says instructor Maureen Murdock, “but the emotional truth of our experience that reveals the underlying patterns of our lives. Beginning with the concept that memory is a particular angle of perception that shapes our sense of identity, we will examine how the memories we tell establish our sense of self.”
In this workshop you will look at elements of memoir writing such as narrative voice, types of memoir, and the self-reflection necessary to move a memory into the realm of memoir. Please come prepared to write in class. Designed for both experienced memoir writers and those just getting started.
Saturday, August 1st, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Berkeley $95 members/$110 non-members
With mainstream publications like The Washington Post moving entire sections from print to the Web, and with the explosion of new, online-only publications like The Huffington Post and The Daily Beast (as well as online-only parts of established publications like The New Yorker), the Internet is quickly becoming a venue that writers cannot ignore. For experienced writers, the Web is packed with paying venues looking for content. At the same time, writers just starting out will find the Web a great place to generate clips and make connections with both Web-only and print periodicals.
“Much as I love to read on dead trees,” says instructor Scott Esposito, “I’m a huge Web booster because there are piles and piles of tack-sharp writing there, and it seems like I stumble on a great new venue every week. It’s exciting take part in developing this medium that’s going to be so central to writing and reading in the future.”
Saturday, Aug. 1st, 2:30-5:30 p.m. San Francisco $55 members/$65 others
SPECIAL PACKAGE DEAL: Take this afternoon class along with Kathleen’s morning “Crafting Childhood” class and receive a discount: $95/members; $115 non-members. Please Note: The special discount applies only if you choose the “Crafting Childhood/Pets and Wildlife Combo” option when registering.
Our ancestors painted animal pictures on cave walls thousands of years ago. Now, in this era of blogging, podcasting, and twittering, animals — from the cats, dogs, and birds of city living to the howler monkeys, moon jellies, and Tasmanian devils of faraway places — still fascinate writers and artists.
“Animals speak to our most primal selves,” says instructor Kathleen McClung. “Our creative challenge is to give them words in our stories, novels, essays, and memoirs—our best words, best sentences.”
Saturday, Aug. 1st, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. San Francisco $55 members/$65 others
SPECIAL PACKAGE DEAL: Take this morning class along with Kathleen’s afternoon class, “Pets and Wildlife in Fiction and Memoir,” and receive a discount: $95/members; $115 non-members. Note: The discount applies only if you choose the “Crafting Childhood/Pets and Wildlife Combo” option when registering.
Writing truthfully and artfully about our early childhood—before age 12—calls for a fine balance of skill and compassion, memory and imagination. This mini-workshop, designed for both beginning and experienced writers, will provide practice and guidance to illuminate and enrich creative projects exploring the events, people, places, and inner worlds of childhood.
“My goal is to help memoirists, fiction writers, and poets write faithfully and evocatively about the girls and boys that they — or their fictional characters — once were,” says instructor Kathleen McClung. Read the rest of this entry »
Sunday, Aug. 2nd, 10 a.m-4 p.m. San Francisco $95 members/$110 others
“No iron can pierce the heart with such force as a period put just at the right place.” —Isaac Babel
Flash fiction is an exciting and nuanced genre full of opportunities and surprises. The stories, though diminutive in length, must still contain all the elements of narrative construction. How does a writer compress plot and characterization into a few hundred words? Is it possible to elicit an emotional response in a reader in merely two or three pages?
“Every writer should be concerned about economy, should deliberate over word choice,” says instructor Josh Mohr. “Whether a short story writer or novelist, we should be scrutinizing every clause, making sure each syllable earns its space. In a sense, flash is the perfect genre to hone revision techniques.