Creative Writing Workshops
Saturdays, 4-5 pm
Online via Zoom
Feeling out of touch? Finding it hard to get started? Join me online for these hour-long workshops, appropriate for beginning or experienced writers. Using exercises and guided writing sprints, we will explore techniques used in creative writing and practice applying them. These are stand-alone workshops, but will build on each other. Let’s flex our writing muscles!
Here’s the schedule for March:
- 1 March – Memoir, Part 2
- 8 March – Story Structure
- 15 March – Dialogue
- 22 March – Using Emotion
- 29 March – Suspense
The workshops are by donation ($10 per workshop is suggested). You are welcome to attend whether you donate or not. To register and get the Zoom link for the class, contact me.
Four classes at Common Ground on the Hill
Traditions Week 1, 23-27 June 2025 Online
Traditions Week 2, 7-11 July 2025 In Person
Common Ground on the Hill, McDaniel College, Westminster, MD 21157
I’ll be teaching at Common Ground on the Hill’s first two Traditions Weeks. Week 1 is online and Week 2 is in person. Sign up for individual week-long classes–hundreds of them in music, art, writing, film, dance. Be sure to check out the free concerts, lectures, and other activities. Plus undergraduate and graduate credit is available for taking Traditions Weeks classes. For more information and to register click here.
WEEK 1 Online
Mysteries of Creative Writing
Monday – Friday 24-28 June 2024
Time 1:00 – 2:15 pm
In this workshop for both new and experienced writers, we will take a deep dive into five aspects of creative writing that often leave writers scratching their heads. If you’ve ever wondered what voice is or how to write realistic dialogue, this is the class for you. We’ll also look at what stakes are and how to raise them, how to add humor to your writing, and how to build and sustain suspense. You’ll have opportunities to practice these skills, so bring whatever materials you’ll need to begin writing. Register here.
Life Writing Workshop
Monday – Friday 24-28 June 2024
Time 2:30-3:45 pm
We all have stories to tell. In the Life Writing Workshop, appropriate for both new and experienced writers, we’ll practice telling ours in journals, memoirs, personal essays and other forms of life writing. After looking at examples, we’ll discuss how to get started and then begin transforming our experiences into stories that will preserve memories and touch others. Register here.
WEEK 2 In person at McDaniel College, Westminster, MD
Transforming Experience into Memoir
Monday – Friday 7-11 July 2025
Time 9:00 -10:15 am
Each of us has led a life unlike anyone else’s. In this class, appropriate for both new and experienced writers, we’ll practice transforming our experiences into memoirs that touch others. After looking at different kinds of memoirs, we will combine in-class writing exercises with instruction on subjects such as creating dynamic scenes and structuring your story. Bring to the workshop whatever writing materials you’ll need. Register here.
Bearing Witness: Writing Songs, Stories and Poetry
Monday – Friday 7-11 July 2025
Time 1:00-2:15 pm
Some writers of songs, stories and poetry take on the responsibility of bearing witness to some truth in our world. Bearing witness means to testify. Unlike a complaint or a political protest, such works create an experience for the reader or listener that will mark them and, as Carolyn Forché says, make them witnesses as well to what has been brought to life in the work. In this class, we will examine the idea of bearing witness and how to most effectively bring it into our writing. We’ll look at examples and practice creating our own works. Register here.
Time to Write Writers’ Retreat
Thursday 18 September to Sunday 21 September 2024
Pinewoods Camp, Inc.
80 Cornish Field Road
Plymouth, MA 02360
$250 includes meals and lodging. Early registration $220 until 3/31/25.
Join us for a weekend of writing in the woods. You’ll have opportunities to critique each other’s work using guidelines that inspire constructive and positive suggestions. Evenings might include readings and games in front of the fire. Most of all, you will have plenty of time to write.
Pinewoods is a beautiful rustic camp located in a 25-acre pine and beech forest between Long Pond and Round Pond in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Its cabins are mostly double occupancy with nearby modern toilets and showers. There are lots of trails for walking, two ponds for swimming, and the whisper of pine trees to inspire you.
Download the TTW 2025 Retreat flyer for more information & registration.
The TTW 2025 Retreat Flyer
ONGOING EVENTS
Poetry Discussion Group
NOTE: There will not be a meeting in April. Join us in May!
First Saturday of every month
12 – 2 p.m.
ONLINE
Free
Each month we read and discuss the work of a poet. Open to all. No experience or preparation necessary. Copies of the poems are available. These casual discussions are a great way to expand your knowledge of and appreciation for poetry. Come and help us choose next month’s poet.
For more information and a link to join, contact me.