The plot is the most basic element of a novel, and yet learning to plot is often the hardest challenge of the fiction writer. What is a plot? Are there different types? Do I need to outline? How do I learn how to plot? In this seminar, we’ll answer all ...
Setting in a novel isn’t simply the background to your story. It’s another character! Learn why the right setting can make or break your novel, how to choose the best setting for your story, how to research that setting without leaving your house, and how to develop your setting with ...
Join us for a discussion of contemporary and classic novels as well as nonfiction, chosen by the group. This group has been meeting since 1993 and always welcomes new members! No registration is required. For current selections, contact Alan at church11@webtv.net or 859-252-7041. Alan Church, Ph.D. is a retired clinical ...
This once-a-month workshop provides writers options for structuring their novels, developing pivotal plot scenes, writing prompts designed to help writers make forward progress, and group mentoring/brainstorming to help break through obstacles. For intermediate/advanced levels. Led by Marcia Thornton Jones, an award-winning author who has published more than 130 books for children ...
Join Julia Royston from BK Royston Publishing Company as she discusses the essential elements of building your author brand. From author platforms to messaging to social media to ‘turning your words into wealth,’ Julia will give an overview of the planning and preparation you can do to further connect and ...
Can you write 50,000 words toward a novel in one month? Yes you can! This ten-time National Novel Writing Month winner will share with you how it’s done while living a busy life. The seminar includes strategies for meeting your word count, writing a quick first draft, and keeping track ...
Writing a grant (or learning where to find one) can be daunting, but it doesn’t need to be. Learn the basics about grant research, how to write a grant, what to include in your proposal and project budgets, the do’s and don’ts of grant writing, and more! This 90-minute class ...
Learn the process for seeking a literary agent, from beginning to end: where to find agents, the formula for writing a query letter, what may be required in your submission package, how to keep track of query submissions, and the proper etiquette for interacting with agents. Though your novel must ...
In this two-hour webinar, led by USA Today best-selling author Tiffany Reisz, you will learn tips, tools, and techniques for revising and self-editing your fiction in preparation for querying, submission, traditional or self-publication. This class is offered as a pre-recorded webinar. The link to the video and any accompanying materials ...
If you’ve reached that golden age, join this group, which features cross-genre writing prompts; feedback for family stories, memoirs, poems, and fiction; tips for reading and publishing your work; and lively conversation and fellowship. Sarah Combs is the author of the YA novels Breakfast Served Anytime and The Light Fantastic, ...
This writing experience offers attendees the opportunity to engage in a creative and communicative loop without judgment. We write from a variety of prompts, designed to release the inner censor and simply get words on a page. After each timed session, writers read aloud their new work to participating attendees ...
Join Tiffany Reisz in an MFA-style fiction workshop. Writers should be published or pursuing publication with a finished novel or short story. Writers must provide 10–20 pages for workshopping. Limit: 8 participants. Tiffany Reisz is a USA Today bestselling and Lambda Award winning author, and lives in Louisville. Her novel ...
Join a lively, diverse group of people exploring nonfiction writing, including personal essays, columns, magazine pieces, and autobiography. This is a chance to share your work in progress, receive and offer feedback, and gain confidence in an affirming atmosphere. Led by Neil Chethik, Carnegie Center Executive Director (2012-2022) and author ...
Find focus, gain confidence, and learn about writing fiction for kids through discussion, peer-sharing, and writing exercises. Come with a work-in-progress–or at least an idea for one. Led by Marcia Thornton Jones, an award-winning author who has published more than 130 books for children with sales totaling more than 43 ...
Have you ever read a piece in a magazine or newspaper that you just can’t put down? How do writers for magazines and newspapers pull readers in? We’ll teach you the secrets of how to craft a piece that really grabs your readers and takes them on a journey. From ...
This is an informal discussion group focusing on literature by and about women. Be prepared to buy or check out from the library the works selected. Contact the Carnegie Center for the updated book list. Jan Isenhour, former Executive Director of the Carnegie Center, has facilitated the Brown Bag group ...
Whether you are a White writer who wants to use diverse characters in your work, or you’re a Black writer who wants to decenter whiteness in your work, this 6 week, half generative, half workshop class will have something for you. Based on Ibram X Kendi’s How to Be an ...
Writing a book is exciting, a chance to put your personal stamp in the canon of human experience. It can also make you pull your hair out with frustration and take up valuable headspace for decades. This deeply personal, peculiar creative journey is something only writers understand. In this class, ...
Writers of personal essay and short memoir pieces often wonder how to organize disparate stories in a collection. In this workshop, participants will learn strategies to identify common themes and styles among their memoirs and personal essays. We’ll discuss and practice ways to enhance connections and transitions between chapters and ...
If you’ve ever found yourself stuck during the revision of a short story—unsure of where to begin, lost in the middle, or still unsatisfied after multiple attempts—then reverse outlining might be useful. This is a simple, customizable technique to help you “re-see” your story from a new perspective so you ...
Publishing your own work has never been easier. Unfortunately, if you’re new to self-publishing, you can end up thousands of dollars in the hole before ever selling a single book. If you know what pitfalls to avoid, however, you can professionally publish your own books without breaking the bank. Learn ...
In this class we will happily get lost in the details of poetry. We will revel in the sounds, zigzag through the commas, tap to the rhythms of the lines, vibrate with the verbs. We will submit poems and workshop them, will study books, dissect examples. As time allows, each ...
Looking to freshen up your memoir? Trying to make your narrative voice come alive in your short stories or novels? This session will offer you the chance to explore the various poetic skills utilized by renowned prose writers to develop their own distinct, unique writing styles. Description, dialogue, exposition— every ...
This class will cover trauma and how as writers we transpose our experiences onto paper. The vulnerability we face in doing so may hinder our writing process and emotional wellbeing. We will dive into the trauma writing process, post trauma processing, apprehensions with publishing lived personal trauma, and suggestions on ...
As writers of historical fiction, we need to listen to the past and reinterpret it so that modern audiences can understand and relate to it. This workshop will focus on strategies for researching the past and effectively incorporating it into your stories. Angela Jackson-Brown is an award-winning writer, poet and ...
Newsletters are the new blogs. They can be about anything you want, no matter how specific (over the last year, writers have started newsletters about topics ranging from tinned fish to life in Appalachia). But how do you transition your newsletter from passion project to profit? Instructor Ashlie Stevens will ...
When “the world is too much with us” (William Wordsworth), let’s offer hope, encouragement and inspiration with our writing. We’ll explore varied forms of spiritual/ inspirational writing, such as devotions, self-help, personal experience and more. Let’s make the world a kinder place through our words. Karen Leet has sold more ...
Join Sylvia Lovely for a three-part seminar series on how to write the stories of your life. From cave wall hieroglyphics to the great literary works, we are hard-wired to describe and understand our lives and the times in which we live through stories. Some say, “I do not have ...
When you think about it, any form of art is built on thievery--stealing ideas, images, colors, turns of phrase, etc. and making them something new. Every art is a “found” art. How do you acknowledge this as an artist? How can you use the ideas of borrowing, thievery, homage, allusion, ...
