“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
– Ernest Hemingway
Whether you’re a beginner, pro, or somewhere in between, we have the class for you.
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The Long Haul: Your Book Project Support Team“Embarking on a book-length project is like swimming across the Pacific,” says instructor Alison Luterman. “You definitely want a support team in a boat riding alongside you, with sandwiches and shark repellent...more
Instructor: Alison Luterman
March 30 - June 083 Saturdays2:00pm - 5:00pm
Berkeley, CA -
Creative Writing Boot Camp: A One-Day IntensiveLearning the craft of writing takes a lot of time. With so many demands on your energy you’d like to take some shortcuts. You want to take the fast track to becoming a better writer. This workshop is designed to help you do just that...more
Instructor: Elaine Beale
April 061 Saturday10:00am - 4:00pm
Berkeley, CA -
Creative Writing Boot CampDon’t have the time to commit to a multi-week class but want to develop essential creative writing skills in one inspiring and productive session? This is the class for you. This one-day intensive boot camp will help you sharpen your writing skills in a fun and encouraging environment...more
Instructor: Heather June Gibbons
April 061 Saturday10:00am - 4:00pm
San Francisco, CA -
Daily Write Round RobinJane Underwood had a unique vision when she developed the Round Robin class. By combining several elements—partnering, repetition, practice, feedback, and dedication—she created not just a writing course, but an actual community, one that has continued and grown for over a decade....more
Instructor: Kathy Garlick
April 07 - May 196 WeeksAll Day
Online -
Let’s Begin Here: Approaching Craft in Fiction Through Character, Dialogue & SceneIn order to write, one must read constantly, observe the world well, and take seriously the craft of writing. During this five-week course, we will focus on the last of these, the craft of writing...more
Instructor: Lori Ostlund
April 07 - May 055 Sundays10:30am - 1:00pm
San Francisco, CA -
Intro to Screenwriting: Lights, Camera, Action!“Are you sitting on a fantastic story idea for the screen?” asks instructor Kerry Muir. “In Intro to Screenwriting, get ready to set that idea into motion.” In this five-week class, you will learn the fundamentals of narrative screenwriting in a low stress, supportive environment...more
Instructor: Kerry Muir
April 07 - May 055 Sundays7:00pm - 9:30pm
Berkeley, CA -
Intro to Fiction: Laying the FoundationIn 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...more
Instructor: Junse Kim
April 08 - May 065 Mondays7:00pm - 9:30pm
Berkeley, CA -
Your Story, Your Life: Intro to Memoir & Personal Essays“By writing memoir and personal essays, we give form to our histories and make something of meaning and beauty that is uniquely ours,” says instructor Katharine Harer. “I love this genre because you can be yourself, complete with your idiosyncrasies, strong opinions, flashes of wisdom and crazy moments...more
Instructor: Katharine Harer
April 08 - May 065 Mondays7:00pm - 9:30pm
San Francisco, CA -
Intro to Fiction: Laying the FoundationIn 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...more
Instructor: Junse Kim
April 09 - May 075 Tuesdays7:00pm - 9:30pm
San Francisco, CA -
Write from Real Life: Personal Essays & MemoirsIn this class you will plunge into the personal themes that make your real life stories uniquely yours. In the first half of this class, instructor Alison Luterman will give you writing exercises carefully designed to elicit the undertones and overtones that elevate events and anecdotes into the realm of art...more
Instructor: Alison Luterman
April 09 - June 049 Tuesdays7:00pm - 9:30pm
Berkeley, CA -
Getting Your Toes Wet: An Introduction to Memoir WritingDo you feel you have a story inside you, but you’re a little leery of getting thrown in the deep end? In this class, you’ll gently wade into the vast sea of memories and experiences you’ve been carrying around for your whole life...more
Instructor: Alison Luterman
April 10 - May 085 Wednesdays7:00pm - 9:30pm
Berkeley, CA -
Intro to the Lyric Essay: Unwrapping the FormIn this 5-week class, we’ll immerse ourselves in this exciting form of creative nonfiction. We’ll read a variety of pieces that fall into this category, looking at how the authors take risks that surprise and move us...more
Instructor: Rob Williams
April 10 - May 085 Wednesdays7:00pm - 9:30pm
San Francisco, CA -
The Fiction Gym: A Workshop Focused on Craft“Good writing is about empathy—how writers understand their characters and how the reader comes to share that understanding,” says instructor Cary Groner. “This course is designed to develop that empathy through exercises and assignments, then strengthen the writer’s craft through drafting and revision of a story...more
Instructor: Cary Groner
April 11 - June 069 Thursdays7:00pm - 9:30pm
Berkeley, CA -
Make It New: Poetry Revision Workshop“Revising gives us an opportunity to see our work in a new light,” says instructor Brian Tierney. “Sometimes you take a poem off its tracks and discover a whole different route; sometimes you need to fix the wheel, or the engine, or the headlight...more
Instructor: Brian Tierney
April 11 - May 095 Thursdays7:00pm - 9:30pm
San Francisco, CA -
The Elusive Art of Comedy Writing“It’s one thing to tell a funny story to your friends over drinks, but to be funny on the page is an art unto itself,” says comedy writer Kate Montgomery. “Comedy is fragile and demanding. With drama, you can get away with so much. With comedy, one extra word can ruin the laugh...more
Instructor: Kate Montgomery
April 131 Saturday10:00am - 4:00pm
Berkeley, CA -
Start ‘Write’ Now!“Writers write, simple as that,” says instructor Kevin Dublin. “In this one-day workshop, my goal is for you to tap into the writing mind, to fill it up with your stories, your words...more
Instructor: Kevin Dublin
April 131 Saturday10:00am - 4:00pm
San Francisco, CA -
Making Poetry out of Our Lives: A Poetry Workshop“Reading and writing poetry have long been occasions for self-exploration,” says instructor Brian Tierney. “Poems uncover and recover; they engage memory and personal history, bringing them back to life with new meanings and new understandings...more
Instructor: Brian Tierney
April 14 - May 125 Sundays10:30am - 1:00pm
Berkeley, CA -
Memoir Master ClassThe focus of the workshop is to encourage and guide experienced writers in creating, revising, and potentially publishing short, stand-alone works of memoir...more
Instructor: Kathleen McClung
April 14 - June 236 Sundays2:00pm - 5:00pm
San Francisco, CA -
Take the Next Steps: A Prose WorkshopYou’ve taken some introductory classes, feel like you know the basics of creative writing craft, and have generated some promising short stories, or chapters of a novel or memoir,” says instructor Elaine Beale. “If you’re looking for a workshop that will help you take your writing to the next level, then this is the place for you...more
Instructor: Elaine Beale
April 14 - June 166 Sundays2:00pm - 5:00pm
Berkeley, CA -
The Craft of Creating Picture Books: Where Text and Image MeetPicture books provide one of the most exciting and innovative spaces for play in the book world today. Genres collide, stories become graphic novels, and nonfiction dances from the page in lyrical twists and twirls...more
Instructor: Laura Atkins
April 201 Saturday10:00am - 4:00pm
Berkeley, CA -
Screenwriting Boot Camp“The best way to learn anything is to DO it,” says instructor Kate Montgomery. “In this daylong boot camp, you’ll get the chance to throw yourself into the mix, to pick up screenwriting basics and apply them right away...more
Instructor: Kate Montgomery
April 201 Saturday10:00am - 4:00pm
San Francisco, CA -
Tiny Kingdoms: Writing and Publishing the VERY Short StoryBig things can come in small packages—their own perfect beauty tied to their size. The short short story is literary proof that great fiction can come in a small package...more
Instructor: Andy Touhy
April 271 Saturday10:00am - 4:00pm
Berkeley, CA -
Flash Memoir“Since brevity is the soul of wit,” join us for a day of reading and writing flash memoir. A close cousin to flash fiction, this genre zeroes in on brief-but-significant moments from our real lives and requires lean, precise language...more
Instructor: Kathleen McClung
April 271 Saturday10:00am - 4:00pm
San Francisco, CA -
Creative Writing Workshop: The Process Is EverythingThis online creative writing workshop will enable class members to deepen reflection on their own work, receive focused feedback from classmates and instructor, and inspire development toward class members’ finest hopes for their writing projects...more
Instructor: Kathy Garlick
April 28 - June 096 WeeksAll Day
Online -
Sweet Talk: The Joy of Writing Dialogue“Whether you write fiction, memoir or nonfiction, the same rule applies: when your dialogue clicks, your story springs to life,” says instructor Kerry Muir...more
Instructor: Kerry Muir
May 041 Saturday10:00am - 4:00pm
Berkeley, CA -
On Point: Crafting a Short-Form Point of View Piece“What drives many of us to write is the simple human need to express ourselves,” says instructor David Jacobson. “There may be no better way to meet that need than by presenting a point of view...more
Instructor: David Jacobson
May 041 Saturday10:00am - 4:00pm
San Francisco, CA -
Through the Looking Glass: Applying the Cinematographer’s Lens to Written NarrativesWhat movies have served as touchstones, guideposts, or talismans in your personal and creative life? How has the cinema influenced you as a writer? In this five-week course, we’ll explore the fertile connection between cinema and written narrative...more
Instructor: Kerry Muir
May 11 - June 155 Saturdays10:30am - 1:00pm
Berkeley, CA -
Sudden Stories: Five Weeks of FlashHow short can a story be? Consider Ernest Hemingway’s six-word classic: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” A tale told quickly can offer untold riches, which swell inside a reader long after the telling...more
Instructor: Andy Touhy
May 11 - June 155 Saturdays10:30am - 1:00pm
San Francisco, CA -
Intro to Creative Writing“Each of us has a story to tell, but finding the words and voice for that story is an art and craft specific to each individual,” says instructor Kathy Garlick. “This class is designed for writers who may be uncovering and sharing that story for the first time...more
Instructor: Kathy Garlick
May 11 - June 155 Saturdays2:00pm - 4:30pm
San Francisco, CA -
Navigating Point of View: 5 Weeks of “Moving in Close” on 3rd Person-CloseOne of the first decisions we must make as we begin a new story is about what point of view (POV) we will narrate from. Do we want the intimacy (and restrictions) of 1st person? The perceived credibility (and distance) of 3rd person? Or the flexibility (and navigation issues) of 3rd person-close...more
Instructor: Lori Ostlund
May 12 - June 165 Sundays10:30am - 1:00pm
San Francisco, CA -
Writing from the Edge: Accessing Our Own Hard-to-Tell Tales“Vivid writing takes its power from the author’s inner conflict, particularly when it comes to describing difficult material,” says instructor Allison Landa. “This class will give you the tools you need to share your own hard-to-tell tales....more
Instructor: Allison Landa
May 12 - June 165 Sundays7:00pm - 9:30pm
Berkeley, CA -
Revision Boot Camp: From Trash to Treasure“Everyone, at every level,” says instructor Andy Touhy, “needs a second pair of eyes, a guiding hand, and an array of re-visioning techniques when it comes to next steps with raw or overcooked material.” So in this five-week course, we’re going to have a re-vision party...more
Instructor: Andy Touhy
May 13 - June 175 Mondays7:00pm - 9:30pm
Berkeley, CA -
The Writer’s Toolkit: Strategies for Better Creative Writing in Any GenreHeather says, “Each week in this five-week class, we will cover one area of craft, such as imagery or tension, focusing on practical strategies—we might even call them tricks—to bring our stories, reflections, and worlds to life...more
Instructor: Heather June Gibbons
May 14 - June 115 Tuesdays7:00pm - 9:30pm
San Francisco, CA -
Intro to Creative Writing: Fun with the Fundamentals“Everyone is talented, original and has something important to say,” states Brenda Ueland at the beginning of her celebrated book, If You Want to Write. “I happen to agree with Ueland,” says Elaine Beale. “And when I teach at The Writing Salon, I see her assertion proved again and again...more
Instructor: Elaine Beale
May 15 - June 125 Wednesdays7:00pm - 9:30pm
Berkeley, CA -
Fiction Workshop: Enrich Your DraftsYou’ve spent hours alone wrestling with your fiction and now you’re craving some constructive, insightful feedback from a supportive group of fellow writers. It’s time to dip your toe into the workshop...more
Instructor: Steve Mitchel
May 15 - June 125 Wednesdays7:00pm - 9:30pm
San Francisco, CA -
Fearless Poetry WorkshopNow celebrating its 15th year at The Writing Salon, this workshop draws people who want to jumpstart their poetry practice and to keep the engine oiled. You’ll do plenty of writing and reading, and we’ll have lively discussions about both the craft and the process(es) of poetry...more
Instructor: Julie Bruck
May 16 - June 135 Thursdays7:00pm - 9:30pm
San Francisco, CA -
Daily Write June Round RobinJane Underwood had a unique vision when she developed the Round Robin class. By combining several elements—partnering, repetition, practice, feedback, and dedication—she created not just a writing course, but an actual community, one that has continued and grown for over a decade....more
Instructor: Kathy Garlick
June 02 - June 233 WeeksAll Day
Online