Add the membership to your shopping cart, then click on "Continue Shopping" and add the class or classes that you want to take, being sure to select the "Member" payment option for each class that you choose; NOTE: if you don't MANUALLY select this option, you will be charged the non-member rate. When you are finished shopping, proceed to checkout.

You must use YOUR name on the checkout form, because your name is on the credit card you are using to make the purchase. However, you can put the gift recipient's name and email address in the spaces further down on the checkout form that ask for: "Name of Student, if Different from Person Paying" and "Email of Student, if Different from Person Paying." That way we will know who the gift certificate is for, for our records. But the automated purchase confirmation and receipt emails will go only to you, the purchaser. We don't send any emails to the gift recipient.

Gift recipients can simply call the Writing Salon to tell us which workshop they want to take, when they are ready. If they want to take a longer class, they can simply pay the additional amount.

"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."

This down-to-basics introduction to the world of magazine writing will cover: How to get ideas, determine your market, and write query letters that editors will read. "We'll go over the rules of the game (and when to break them)," Cary says. "We'll talk about getting rejected (and how to handle it), as well as getting accepted (and how to handle THAT!). We'll also discuss the ins and outs of dealing with editors, how to be a professional, and how to use one article to get an assignment for another one." This workshop will give you a keener understanding of the world of magazine writing, and tips on how to get started (or, if you've already started, to take yourself to the next level).

Cary Pepper has been a freelance writer for 30 years. He has published dozens of articles in such publications as The New York Times, TV Guide, Premiere, Advertising Age, Town and Country, and Mad. He is also an award-winning playwright whose work has been produced throughout the U.S. and in Europe. He has taught writing at Media Alliance, the San Francisco Art Institute, and privately.

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.

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.)

“We might talk about some basic elements of craft during class meetings,” says Jane, “but the main focus of this class will not be discussions of craft. The focus will be on finding the inspiration, motivation and self-discipline to keep writing and to keep generating raw material that you may eventually choose to rewrite, revise, and publish. It will also be about learning to recognize and appreciate the strength of your natural voice, before you have a chance to snuff it out by revising your work too hastily.”

Writers in all genres and at all levels of experience have participated in this class, and we have many Round Robin returnees who take the class year-round.

NOTE: Attendance at the first meeting is mandatory for newcomers and strongly encouraged for returning participants. Attendance at the final meeting is also strongly advised for ALL participants. In addition, every class member must commit to full participation on a daily basis.

Jane Underwood, founder of The Writing Salon, has been a writer, editor and teacher more than 30 years. Her poetry, prose, erotica, articles and essays have appeared in print and online periodicals (SF Chronicle, The Sun, Five Fingers Review, Quarterly West, Western Humanities Review, Libido, babycenter.com, Conversely.com, Salon.com), anthologies (The Ecstatic Moment, Yellow Silk, Ripe Fruit, Best Women’s Erotica, Nesting: It’s a Chick Thing), and on stage (Lilith Theater). She holds a masters degree in creative writing, has taught many creative writing classes, ranging from introductory classes to erotica writing to personal essay writing. She has been leading “Round Robin” groups for six years.

our characters need to speak, voice their opinions, woes, aspirations, biases, phobias, regrets. "We can write lovely exposition," says instructor Joshua Mohr, "but readers need to hear what our characters sound like, what their preoccupations are. That way they can sculpt their own conclusions about them." In this course, students will work on many in-class and take-home exercises to hone their ear for dialogue. "We’ll work on giving each character a nuanced voice," says Josh. "We’ll select the right words to push the plot forward, generate subtext, strip our dialogue down to its meaty essentials; when each line of dialogue bolsters the story, we’ll have established a connection between character and reader." Throughout the course, students will be exposed to a great array of dialogue, from traditional novel and short story examples, to memoir, to playwriting and screenwriting. "The larger net we cast," Josh says, "the better chance we'll land an example that resonates for each student."

Josh Mohr is the author of the novel Some Things that Meant the World to Me. His second novel, Termite Parade, is due out in June 2010. He has an MFA from the University of San Francisco, and also teaches through UC Berkeley’s ASUC studios and a local halfway house, and has also published numerous short stories, including one, “Dressing the Dead” that was featured in the New Short Fiction Series’ emerging American writers show in Los Angeles.

“Too much waiting can dampen the spirit,” says instructor Julie Bruck. “There are other ways to get in touch with your creative muse, ways that we’ll explore in today’s workshop.”

If you’re new to poetry, bring yourself. If you’re already writing poems, ditto. Either way, bring writing supplies. During this poetic foray, you’ll write and talk and read—and do it all again. “You won’t need to risk life and limb and West Nile in a field,” says Julie, “and it won’t be scary. You can head for home for lunch with a headful of new ideas and enough inspiration to launch you in some new and exciting directions.”

Julie Bruck has taught at several Canadian universities, and been a resident faculty member at The Robert Frost Place. She has an MFA from Warren Wilson, and has published two collections, The Woman Downstairs (1993) and The End of Travel (1999). Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker, Ploughshares, and Ms. A Montreal native, she has lived in San Francisco for twelve years.

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."

The class is suitable for a wide spectrum of people. "We've had students with an interest in poetry but no experience writing it, and others with MFA's from Iowa, and it's always been a good mix", says Julie. "The focus of the class is generative--to get everybody going and excited about doing new work, to take away strategies that can help with their current and future writing--and to have a great time while we're at it."

Julie Bruck has taught at several Canadian universities, and was a resident faculty member at The Robert Frost Place. She has an MFA from Warren Wilson, fellowships from The MacDowell Colony and the Canada Council, and has published two collections, The Woman Downstairs (1993) and The End of Travel (1999). A third book is in the works. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, and Ms. New poems are forthcoming in The New Yorker and The Malahat Review. A Montreal native, she has lived in San Francisco for eleven years.

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.

In this workshop-intensive course, every student will bring in stories (at least two) for their peers to discuss, critique, and deconstruct, in positive, nurturing ways. Everyone is here to learn, to improve, and the workshop environment is key for a writer to understand all aspects of story-telling. “Writers need readers,” says instructor Joshua Mohr. “We need other eyes to help us identify our story’s strengths. But just as important as praise is hearing what readers are not responding to. This is how we grow, hone a style and voice, and in the end, publish.”

The class will also emphasize revision tactics: how to take a flawed draft and renovate it. “Each student will complete an entire revision,” says Josh, “and will finish the course with a broader understanding of the hard work necessary to take a sloppy, first draft and turn it into literature.”

NOTE: Many students who have taken Junse Kim’s 5-week “Intro to Fiction” class will take this class next, and some people enroll in this class more than once because it’s a great way to keep the momentum going. Another “keep going” option is Josh’s “Fiction Continuation” workshop, which meets once a month for six months, instead of once a week for 9 weeks.

Josh Mohr is the author of the novel Some Things that Meant the World to Me. His second novel, Termite Parade, is due out in June 2010. He has an MFA from the University of San Francisco, and also teaches through UC Berkeley’s ASUC studios and a local halfway house, and has also published numerous short stories, including one, “Dressing the Dead” that was featured in the New Short Fiction Series’ emerging American writers show in Los Angeles.

“Writing is like rock climbing,” says Todd Chapman, “except that we're scaling blank pages instead of rock faces, exploring the temperature and texture of language, images, stories as we feel our way along. We challenge and surprise ourselves, and find that, at least for a short while, we are moving differently through the world."

In this class, Todd will lead you through an investigation of different kinds of creative writing: fiction, poetry, memoir, essays and more. He'll get you wondering about things, such as: How does Mark Doty make sentences come alive when discussing a 17th century Dutch painting? or Why, when we read Gretel Ehrlich’s descriptions of sheep herding in Wyoming, do we breath and dream her landscapes? and What is promising and powerful in my own writing, and how can I jumpstart or energize a story, essay, or poem?

"We’ll seek inspiration by reading and discussing a diverse range of work," says Todd. "Through writing exercises and take-home prompts, we’ll practice drawing the world of experience with our senses. What can we observe in the touch of a new lover, or in the heat off a skateboard’s wheel? Is there a physical component to sadness?

Todd will help you learn how to unearth material (sometimes from your own lives) and begin transforming that material into our own original work. He’ll also help you begin to cultivate a particular kind of faith — faith in the process that is necessary for anyone who wants to write.

Todd Chapman holds an MFA degree in fiction writing, with a focus in teaching creative writing. He also teaches creative writing at City College's Fort Mason Arts Center. His short stories, poetry, and narrative nonfiction have appeared in Watchword Press, Hyphen—Asian American Magazine, and Fiction Attic. He's currently writing a novel and polishing a collection of short stories.

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.”

In this class, you’ll develop concrete skills and narrative techniques through fun writing exercises designed to help you master your craft. At the end of five weeks, you’ll have a better grip on how to use these techniques (for developing character, setting and plot) as tools for building your story. The class will also analyze other narrative genres, from movie scenes to comic books, to analyze storytelling skills you can apply to your fiction writing.

NOTE: We used to advise people to take this class BEFORE taking the 9-week Fiction Workshop. However, we’ve discovered that some people have found it just as valuable to take the 9-week Fiction Workshop first, and this one second! In fact, Junse has had quite a few MFA creative writing graduates who take this “intro” class, even though they aren’t beginners. So it’s really up to you. We don’t have any strict rules about it.

Junse Kim, like many Writing Salon students, didn’t begin to pursue a writing life until well after graduating from college. Before ever taking a writing class, he worked as a concert promoter, Peace Corps volunteer, managerial consultant, scriptwriter, nonprofit fundraiser, and “full-time” temp. He has since received a Pushcart Prize (for his short story Yangban), a Faulkner Award, and the Philip Roth Residence in Creative Writing at Bucknell University. His fiction and creative nonfiction have been published in the Ontario Review, ZYZZYVA, and Cimarron Review, as well as two anthologies: Pushcart Prize XXVII and Echoes Upon Echoes: New Korean American Writing.

How do I clear away the clutter and get to the heart of my story? And how exactly am I going to end the book?

“Bring your doubts and questions, inklings and hunches, along with a one-page overview of your project and curiosity about other memoirists’ work-in-progress,” says Kathleen McClung. “Over wine & cheese, we’ll engage in constructive and personalized shop talk and do some targeted troubleshooting for each person’s memoir. At the end of our evening ’salon,’ you’ll leave with renewed momentum, fresh perspectives, and an expanded network of writing colleagues.

Kathleen McClung is at work on a new book. She is well acquainted with doubt and specializes in lightening it for fellow writers. She has mentored hundreds of writers at Skyline College, the Writing Salon, and other colleges, and she has taught/advised student teachers in the credential program at Mills College. Kathleen has also edited books at small presses including UCSF Nursing Press, Food First Books, and Westview Press. Her memoir, fiction, and poetry have been published in Spirituality & Health, The Rambler, Hawaii Pacific Review, Poetry Northwest, Tiny Lights, Hot Flashes, City Works, off our backs, and elsewhere, and her work has received awards from the Soul-Making Literary Competition, Memoirs Ink, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Writers Digest, the National Society of Arts & Letters, and the Academy of American Poets.

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.

“In this class we’ll focus on finding and shaping evocative stories from our own lives, stories that build from our specific and unique life events and move toward resonant, universal themes. Through readings, discussions, and writing exercises, we’ll explore the basic elements of memoir: selecting key moments and passages, scene-setting and dialogue, using fresh sensory detail, reflecting and musing on the meanings of our experiences so that our work “speaks” to readers. We will find and fine-tune our own distinctive writing voices, essential for this genre.

Class participants will have opportunities to try their hand at writing and sharing short memoir pieces and will be guided in giving and receiving encouraging, constructive feedback for ways to develop/deepen the writing. Readings will include excerpts from Judith Barrington’s Writing the Memoir and Tristine Rainer’s Your Life as Story, as well as work by a variety of contemporary memoirists.”

Kathleen McClung has mentored hundreds of writers at Skyline College, the Writing Salon, and other colleges, and she has taught/advised student teachers in the credential program at Mills College. She has also edited books at small presses including UCSF Nursing Press, Food First Books, and Westview Press. Her memoir, fiction, and poetry have been published in Spirituality & Health, The Rambler, Hawaii Pacific Review, Poetry Northwest, Tiny Lights, Hot Flashes, off our backs and elsewhere, and her work has received awards from the Soul-Making Literary Competition, Memoirs Ink., San Francisco Bay Guardian, Writers Digest, the National Society of Arts & Letters, and the Academy of American Poets.

“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.”

This class is designed to engage and support writers in the challenge of telling their truest stories with language that shimmers on the page. Kathleen will provide readings, writing exercises, and constructive group critiques. She will advise on the memoirist’s rights and responsibilities and the paradox of preserving solitude and nourishing community.

Between classes, participants will exchange pages with workshop partners and check-in once with Kathleen. By the end of the class, memoirists will have a wider repertoire of techniques, new colleagues and connections, more richly layered writing, and more resilience for future projects.

Kathleen McClung has mentored hundreds of writers at Skyline College, the Writing Salon, and other colleges, and she has taught/advised student teachers in the credential program at Mills College. She has also edited books at small presses including UCSF Nursing Press, Food First Books, and Westview Press. Her memoir, fiction, and poetry have been published in Spirituality & Health, The Rambler, Hawaii Pacific Review, Poetry Northwest, Tiny Lights, Hot Flashes, off our backs and elsewhere, and her work has received awards from the Soul-Making Literary Competition, Memoirs Ink., San Francisco Bay Guardian, Writers Digest, the National Society of Arts & Letters, and the Academy of American Poets.

"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. In 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 as hard as the metal of a car about to crash.

Whether you write fiction or poetry, screenplays or essays, memoirs or magazine pieces, you've got to master the craft of creating visceral scenes, palpable descriptions, and sensory explanations. This is BASIC creative writing 101 for beginners — and 1001 for seasoned pros. No one is exempt. This is how you get your words not only into your readers' minds but into their hearts.

Jane Underwood, founder and director of the Writing Salon, has been a writer, editor and teacher for more than 30 years (and also teaches the "Daily Write Round Robin," which has been going strong for more than six years now). Her poetry, prose, erotica, articles and essays have appeared in numerous print and online periodicals (SF Chronicle, The Sun, babycenter.com, Five Fingers Review, Western Humanities Review, HOW(ever), Salon.com), anthologies (The Ecstatic Moment, Yellow Silk, Ripe Fruit, Best Women's Erotica), as well as on stage (Lilith Theater). She has a masters in creative writing, and is also an avid photographer with a special affection for fallen leaves, decaying walls and quirky San Francisco stairways.

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. . . what changes is she going to go through along the way? We’ll talk about plot; how are you going to make enough things happen? Or how are you going to keep from being melodramatic? We’ll talk about structure—how do you organize this huge thing and not get overwhelmed?

"We’ll share tips on the process, on getting the pages written, on keeping going, on when to go back and revise and when to keep moving ahead. And of course we’ll be talking about the nuts and bolts of craft—making your scenes work and your voice sing."

With the help of various writing exercises, class members will work on developing written plot summaries, making sure there’s enough action and enough character development. "Our goal is to get you so close to your main character you’ll know all his secrets, hopes, fears, dreams...better than his own therapist would!" says Karen "We’ll also do writing exercises to help you connect with your setting. And we’ll share what you've written, so that you'll get feedback on your craft, your style, and on that special quality you bring to your writing that makes it uniquely yours."

Karen Bjorneby started writing by participating in workshops just like this one. She is the author of Hurricane Season: Stories from the Eye of the Storm, which received a Foreword Honorable Mention as best independent/university press short story collection of the year at Book Expo America. She has received a Pushcart Special Mention, two other Pushcart nominations, a National Magazine Award nomination, and she was named a Tennessee Williams Scholar at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in nearly two dozen publications including The Threepenny Review, The North American Review, New Letters, StoryQuarterly, Confrontation, The New Orleans Review, The Nebraska Review, and The Sun. She is currently at work on her own novel and is "very familiar with the pitfalls along the way, having fallen into several of them myself."

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!”

Lisa Alpine: Curiosity about what is beyond the curve of the horizon has fueled Lisa Alpine’s voyaging since she left home at 18 to live in Paris. She has owned an import company (Dream Weaver Imports in San Francisco), published a newspaper (The Fax in Marin County, CA), written a travel column for 12 years for the Pacific Sun, and taught dance and writing workshops around the world for two decades. She is the Global Getaways columnist for Examiner.com. Her travel essays appear in numerous anthologies, including I Should Have Stayed Home, Hyena’s Laughed at Me and Now I Know Why, and Lonely Planet’s Tales From Nowhere. She is often a guest speaker at numerous travel writer conferences, and is a member of the Wild Writing Women and Bay Area Travel Writers.

(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."

In this class Cary will provide a nuts-and-bolts workshop on how to write your article after you've gotten that assignment. "We'll analyze elements of craft such as structure, flow, and language. Students will write an article on a topic of their choice, bring it in, and we’ll break down the specifics of each one. We’ll also discuss editing: its power as well as its pitfalls." The main focus of this class will be not on how to pitch, market or sell your work (although these things will be briefly discussed), but on how to actually write an article.

Cary Pepper has been a freelance writer for 30 years. He has published dozens of articles in such publications as The New York Times, TV Guide, Premiere, Advertising Age, Town and Country, and Mad. He is also an award-winning playwright whose work has been produced throughout the U.S. and in Europe. He has taught writing at Media Alliance, the San Francisco Art Institute, and privately.