Tag Archive for: class

WORDPLAY CLASS: First Page, Last Polish (part of The Loft’s Wordplay festival)

Your opening is the first thing an agent or editor will read—and you don’t want it to be the last. But you’ve seen your own first page so often that its strengths, flaws, gaps, and even typos are invisible to you now. So often, all we can think to do to polish it up is add more descriptors—perhaps the last thing it needs. In this class we’ll hone the crucial elements of reader orientation, clarity, intrigue, promise, diction, and perspective—the things that make a reader keep reading, or move on. We’ll also talk about how to get a story really going, even in its first paragraphs, without sounding desperate—something harder than it seems.

on July 5 2023· Tagged: class, Online Class, The Loft, virtual, Wordplay, Wordplay Festival, workshop

Northwestern Summer Writers’ Conference: The Origins of The Original

The Northwestern University Summer Writers’ Conference is back! This year, the conference is entirely online again so you can join us from anywhere in the world. Details are forthcoming. In the meantime, please save the dates!

The conference is hosted by the Northwestern University School of Professional Studies MA in Writing and  MFA in Prose and Poetry programs.

on July 9 2022· Tagged: class, conference, conferences, course, education, Northwester Summer Writers' Conference, northwestern, online, Rebecca Makkai, virtual event, workshop, writing, Writing Workshop

The Porch: The Origins of the Original with Visiting Writer Rebecca Makkai

When we sit down to write, the first words, scenes, characters, conflicts, and settings we come up with are often the least original ones of which we’re capable. Digging past the obvious, the stock (and even the products of the collective unconscious), we might finally arrive at stories that are strikingly new and memorable. In this class we’ll cover some key elements of originality — specificity, idiosyncrasy, complexity, repetition, and change — and talk about accessing them both in drafting and revision.

on April 30 2022· Tagged: author talk, character building, class, digital event, discussion, education, lesson, online, Online Class, online event, Online Learning, online workshop, Rebecca Makkai, The Porch, virtual class, virtual event, virtual workshop, workshop, writing class, Writing Workshop, zoom

Speakeasy Workshop: Reading Like A Writer

Wednesdays September 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th join me to learn to read like a writer. In this discussion- and lecture-based class, we’ll use short assigned texts to become stronger and more engaging writers. This workshop has four sessions.

on September 29 2021· Tagged: class, discussion, Online Class, online workshop, Read Like A Writer, speakeasy, Speakeasy workshop, workshop, Writing Workshop

Speakeasy Workshop: Reading Like A Writer

on September 22 2021· Tagged: class, discussion, Online Class, online workshop, Read Like A Writer, speakeasy, Speakeasy workshop, workshop, Writing Workshop

Speakeasy Workshop: Reading Like A Writer

on September 15 2021· Tagged: class, discussion, Online Class, online workshop, Read Like A Writer, speakeasy, Speakeasy workshop, workshop

Speakeasy Workshop: Reading Like A Writer

on September 8 2021· Tagged: class, discussion, Online Class, online workshop, Read Like A Writer, speakeasy, workshop, Writing Workshop

Hugo House Workshop: “Blind Date”

Member Price: $135

Non-Member Price: $150

Minimum Class Size: 10 / Maximum Class Size: 20

on June 24 2021· Tagged: Blind Date, class, Hugo House, Online Class, Online Learning, Storytelling Workshop, workshop, Writing Workshop

Lighthouse Lit Fest: Interiority Complex

The great advantage of prose (over theater, film, and life) is that we’re privy to characters’ interior states. But how can a writer get thoughts and emotions across, other than by stating them flat-out or by updating us constantly on breathing and heart rate? We’ll explore ways to use tangent, gesture, backstory, action, association, and more to give characters a rich internal life without resorting to the old cardiopulmonary check-in.

This class accommodates 25+ writers.

on June 10 2021· Tagged: class, course, Lighthouse, Lighthouse Writers Workshop, Lit Fest, online, Online Class, Online Learning, online workshop, workshop, Writing Workshop

Speakeasy Workshop: Chutes and Ladders: Four Pitfalls (and Solutions!) for Writing Prose

Mondays, February 1st, 8th, 15th, & 22nd, 5-8:00pm PT / 8-11:00pm ET

Join me for another digital workshop this February with Speakeasy!

Most obstacles to writing are not psychological (writers’ block is a myth!) but structural. In narrative fiction, it’s plot — cause and effect, development, change, suspense — that propels us forward. And yet these things don’t happen by accident. There are common missteps that will tank a story or novel in its earliest pages, and there are architectural solutions that will get us out of those traps.

This workshop is designed to help participants write an original short story or the first chapter of a novel. Participants will work on their projects outside of the workshop sessions. In each session, Rebecca will teach a different aspect of writing craft. (In our four sessions, we’ll focus on story arc, scene shape, momentum, and stakes.) Some participants might share relevant parts of their projects during these sessions to get feedback from Rebecca and the group, but these sessions will primarily focus on Rebecca’s craft lessons.?

After the fourth session, participants will submit their projects (no more than 12 pages) to Rebecca, and she will provide feedback to each person in the form of a marked-up manuscript and a brief feedback letter. Written feedback from Rebecca is contingent on the writing sample you submit being coherent. You don’t need to be an experienced (or published!) writer by any means, nor do you need to have perfect command of all aspects of English grammar, but your writing should be comprehensible.

Code of Conduct 

We look forward to building an inclusive, supportive community of writers during our workshop and will not tolerate racist, sexist, or homophobic views. By signing up for this workshop, you’re agreeing to uphold these norms. Though we don’t expect this to happen, if someone violates these norms, they will be removed from the workshop without a refund.

on February 1 2021· Tagged: class, classes, craft classes, workshop