If you’d like some company or guidance on your writing journey, here are a few writing workshops/classes offered in July and August. All classes are online (virtual) unless otherwise indicated.
If you are an instructor and have a writing class you think would be of interest to the Writer-ish community, you can submit it here for consideration.
Bonus Office Hours for Newsletter Subscribers!
If you're a Writer-ish newsletter subscriber, you're invited to free office hours offered quarterly over Zoom. The next office hours will be offered in September. Use the sign-up links in the upcoming newsletters. Not a subscriber? Sign up for updates here.
7/3 Writing the Family Narrative
with Darien Hsu Gee (UCLA extension). July 3 – September 10, 2024. Asynchronous* online workshop. $720. View the syllabus here. Sign up here.
As writers, our ancestral history breathes through our bodies and appears on the written page, whether we realize it or not. The stories of those who came before us—and the legacies they bear, for better or worse—are what we carry. We’ll use family history, gossip, and lore, as well as photographs, ephemera, and other available documentation to discover the factual and emotional truths of ourselves and our families. We’ll explore different ways to tell these stories, even when little information is known. Each week we’ll build a small body of hybrid creative nonfiction work and look at what these narratives say about us and the people in our lives.
*This online course is conducted through Canvas, a secure website that allows students to log in to access lectures, discussions, and other course materials on demand. There are no required live class meetings. Each course is structured with weekly assignments and deadlines. Lectures and coursework are accessible throughout the week. Workshops are conducted in writing via discussion boards with your instructor and classmates.
7/13 Using Micro Memoirs to Tell Your Story
with Darien Hsu Gee (UCLA extension). July 13, 2024, Saturday from 10:00 am to 11:30 am PDT. Zoom workshop. Free. Sign up here.
Micro memoirs (300 words or less) are growing in popularity and offer an opportunity for more, not less. You’ll learn how this short but versatile form can help you shine a light on your lived experiences, with tips on how to begin writing micro right away. You’ll learn how to incorporate your work into a full-length memoir or creative nonfiction project while studying examples from bestselling memoirists who have mastered this highly effective storytelling form. If you’ve been struggling with telling your story or are curious about new and innovative forms, this is a great time to add micro memoirs to your writer’s toolbox.
7/14 Wild Creativity: 6-Week Generative Bootcamp
with Megan Baxter (Craft Talks). July 14 – August 18, 2024, Sundays from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm PDT. Zoom workshop. $450. Sign up here.
Ready to tackle that writing project? Want to kickstart your writing habit? Cast aside excuses and roll up your sleeves.
Spark your creativity and build your practice in Craft Talks’ new 6-week boot camp for all genres! Be guided with firm deadlines, engaging writing exercises, and valuable weekly feedback. Throughout this journey, you’ll cultivate the practice of regular writing during the workshop and weave that habit into your future writing practice. By the end of the 6-week session, you’ll leave with at least 6 pieces and a collection of techniques and processes that will set you up for success well after the boot camp concludes. Break through barriers to writing and unleash your wild creativity!
7/20 Essential Tools of Narrative: Scene, Summary, and Reflection
with Heather Sellers (Craft Talks). July 20 – July 27, 2024, Saturdays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm PDT. Zoom workshop. Sign up here.
Learn how the three essential tools of storytelling–scene, summary, reflection–work together to create a powerful narrative.
Remember the principle of the two-year-old child? When you want someone’s attention, make a scene. Scenes are the basic building blocks of story. Novels, memoirs, and stories, as well as newsletters, blogs, and essays all rely on the power of memorable, compelling scenes to draw readers in and move them through a meaningful narrative experience.
These three tools—scene, summary, and reflection—work in concert, and in this course, you’ll learn to improve your skills with each tool, and how to pull them all together.
8/1 Contain Your Narrative: Five Time-Tested Structures Nonfiction Writers Need to Know
with Ethan Gilsdorf (Craft Talks). August 1, 2024, Thursday, 11:00 am PDT. Zoom workshop. $25. Sign up here.
Build on traditional narrative structure and break out of old forms to tell your story in fresh ways.
Learn five time-tested structures, narrative “containers,” to help best shape and hold your narrative. We’ll begin by understanding the classic chronological “building the mountain” structure (exposition/status quo —> inciting incident —> rising tension —> climax —> resolution/denouement). Then we’ll break out of that mold to explore the non-chronological “in medias res” sandwich (scene —> backstory/flashback—> scene); the “looking back” frame (flashback from the present day); simple or complex braids (of narrative timelines and possible non-narrative materials), and using found forms such as hermit crab, compression/flash, and lyric essay. You’ll leave the seminar with new structural tools to tackle your personal narratives anew.
8/10 Seven Ways to Rivet Your Reader: Create Lively, Engaging and More Saleable Fiction and Nonfiction
with Heather Sellers (Craft Talks). August 10 – August 17, 2024, Saturdays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm PDT. Zoom workshop. $200. Sign up here.
This workshop is for writers of essays, memoirs, short stories, or novels with active work in progress who wish to move past the basics (you’ve already heard and done show don’t tell!). In this two-session masterclass, you will learn fresh strategies for creating truly dynamic, memorable, publishable work.
First, we will look at the pitfalls—the common reasons writing goes flat and fails to capture the attention of readers (editors, agents, publishers). Then, we’ll take a deep dive into seven techniques you can easily employ to make sure your writing is un-put-downable. We will look carefully at published examples, and you’ll receive a list of prompts and resources.
One-on-One Literary Consults and Coaching Sessions
with Darien Hsu Gee (writer-ish.com). Schedule a Zoom session here. Not sure if one-on-one coaching is for you? Schedule a 15-minute complimentary session to see if working together might be a fit; sign up here.
A literary consult and/or coaching session is an opportunity for you to discuss and receive guidance on your writing, your writing process, and/or your literary career. These sessions are helpful if you need to troubleshoot a troubled manuscript, want insight into the publishing process, or are ready for someone to cheer you on as you strive to meet your goals. How you use this time is up to you, or let me guide our time based on a few thoughtful questions at the start of our session. If you’d like me to review any work with you, we would do this live during our time together; you’ll receive submission/share instructions prior to our meeting.
Looking for more resources? Recorded Micro Memoir workshops are available here. If you’re looking for some inspiration, you can find a new writing prompt every Monday here.