As an author you
are both a creative agent and a business entrepreneur. Your
writing is your product. We invite you to spend a year with us
sharpening your craft skills and honing your business talents.
Tools of the Trade workshops are designed to address your needs as an
author as well as provide you with the essential business skills to
market your writing and yourself.
We offer one- and
two-day overview courses in craft skills and the business of writing
designed to equip you with the essentials of both topics. We also
offer half-day single topic intensive workshops that allow you to focus
on problem areas or explore a specific topic. Our program allows
you to attend one workshop seminar or a combination of seminars
custom-designed to fit your needs.
Our monthly Saturday
format -- with its low class sizes, affordable price structure,
Cambridge location (a ten-minute walk from the Red Line, with free
street parking), and two experienced instructors -- allows for
individual attention. Our approach to the material is
comprehensive, honest, and tested. Workshops can be attended
individually or as part of an extended 12-month program. Writers
of all experience levels are welcome. Come spend the year with us
improving your craft skills and your business savvy.
Writing:
The Construction Site
Craft Skills This all-day workshop
introduces or reviews the basic skills of writing good fiction.
Lectures, in-class exercises, and open discussions will be used to
explore types of genre fiction, character development, plot structure,
revision and editing, creating symbolism, constructing vivid scenes,
writing sex scenes, and working dialogue. $110/March 11th/9:00am
to 4:30pm/includes lunch/8 min – 10 max
Building
the House: Plot & Structure Plot (what happened)
and structure (how it is organized) are fundamental writing issues that
often make or break a story. Explore different structural and
plot devices and concepts used in an assortment of genre fiction to
organize and transform your story. $60/August 19th/9:00am
to 12:00pm/10 min – 12 max
Who
Lives In Your House: Creating Strong Characters Characters are one of
the basic building blocks of fiction. They are the "who" of your
story. This workshop focuses on developing solid,
three-dimensional characters to populate your stories. Includes:
character construction sheets, the character-driven fiction method of
writing, and finer points about creating fully-developed characters. $60/April 8th/9:00am to
12:00pm/10 min – 12 max
Laying
the Foundation: POV and Psychic Distance Psychic Distance is the
amount of emotional space between the reader and the character.
Writers use psychic distance to manipulate the intensity of reader's
involvement in whatever event is occurring within a scene. Who
tells the story and how it is told are critical issues. The tone and
feel of the story, and even its meaning, can change radically depending
on who is telling the story (POV). Learn the benefits and
limitations of first person, third person objective, and third person
omniscient points of view as well as how to use psychic distance to
your advantage. $60/May
6th/9:00am to 12:00pm/10 min – 12 max
Sticks
& Stones: Creating Effective Dialogue Scenes are the best way
to show and not tell in your prose and scenes depend on dialogue to
allow your characters to come to life on the page. Writers of all
levels wince, labor over, and whine about writing effective, concise
dialogue that remains true to character, advances the plot, and is
interesting to read. This workshop will address several dialogue
issues with exercises and lectures. $60/July 15th/9:00am to
12:00pm/10 min – 12 max
Tactile
& Tangible: Using Description Description is the tool
writers use to build worlds and characters. Strong description
allows your prose to come alive for the reader. Learn the value
of the five senses, which details to include or leave out, and how to
construct and strengthen your descriptive passages to get the most out
of every word. $60/November
18th/9:00am to 12:00pm/10 min – 12 max If
I Had a Hammer: Developing Your Personal Symbolism & Metaphor What are your own
unique ways of looking at the world and translating that
perception? Symbolism and Metaphor are both cultural and
personal. Every writer has a rich personal language system and a
particular way of using that language to enable the reader to move with
the characters from the concrete to the symbolic. This class is
designed to help you get past the given cliché and into your own
linguistic home. $60/November
18th/1:30pm to 4:30pm/10 min – 12 max Landscaping:
Language of Literature Learn a common language
to critique manuscripts and literature. Learn the vocabulary and
concepts to express opinions and get feedback about your writing.
This is a prerequisite for the Manuscript Review workshop. $60/June 24th/9:00am to
12:00pm/10 min – 12 max
The
DIY Writer: Self-Editing & Revision When you come to the
place where you know your writing isn't quite working but you can't
pinpoint why, it's time to sharpen your existing editorial tools and
add a few more to the set. This all-day class will help you to
identify and address issues of craft through the development of a
working language of revision. The class will also address
emotional blocks to revision and practical concerns such as scheduling
for one's self and for literary deadlines. $110/April 29th/9:00am
to 4:30pm/includes lunch/8 min – 10 max
Manuscript
Review You’ll receive written
and verbal critique of fifty pages of your manuscript by two
instructors and up to seven other workshop participants. Writing
exercises and mini-lectures based on actual problems within the
manuscripts submitted will be scattered between critiques. Must
take Language of Literature before signing up for this workshop..
Must attend both Sept. and Nov. classes. $165/September 30th
& November 4th/includes lunch/8 max
Alumni
Dinner & Performance Join us for dinner,
conversation about writing, and a “fireside” reading of alumni works.
Guests of alumni welcome. Space is limited; please register
early. $35 per person/December
9th/5:30pm to 10:00pm
Administrative:
Nuts & Bolts
Business
of Writing An all-day workshop on
managing your writing career and harnessing the administrative and
promotional tools needed to advance yourself as an author. This
intensive workshop will address non-craft issues of writing including:
how to get started selling your work; publishing options; the processes
of publishing short stories, essays, articles, and book-length
manuscripts; how to select potential publishers/publications; tracking
submissions; writing query letters; basic contract issues;
self-promotion; book tours; networking with other writers and
publishers; writing conferences; and resources in the Boston writers'
community. $110/February
11th/9:00am to 4:30pm/includes lunch/8 min – 10 max
Brick
by Brick: Managing Big Projects Staying focused when
working on large projects such as a novel, memoir, or chap book is no
small feat. This workshop addresses common pitfalls and obstacles
to finishing large projects and offers time- and manuscript-management
techniques, including outlines, tracking manuscript details, and
setting and keeping internal deadlines. $60/May 6th/1:30pm to
4:30pm/10 min – 12 max
Show
Me the Money: Contests & Awards There is a ton of free
money associated with awards and fellowships out there to help authors
be able to write and live. This workshop gives you the tools to make
the most of the contest and award arenas. Learn how to prepare your
materials, find proper contests for your work, use tricks to manage
your submissions, and track your contest and award deadlines and
materials. $110/September
23rd/9:00am to 4:30pm/includes lunch/8 min – 10 max
Power
Tools: Shameless Self-Promotion Basic and advanced
self-promotion skills including how to market yourself, your work, and
your words, and how to get press and create a network. $60/July 15th/1:30pm to
4:30pm/10 min – 12 max
Nailing It: Reading
Your Work Three-hour hands-on
workshop designed to make you feel confident reading your words
aloud. Includes: basic tips for reading in front of an audience,
text preparation, projecting your voice, and reading etiquette.
Participants will be reading aloud from their own work. $60/April 8th/1:30pm to
4:30pm/10 min – 12 max
For
Sale by Owner: How to Submit a Short Story or Essay Once you have completed
your short story or essay, an entirely new set of hurdles awaits
you. This workshop will demystify the process of submitting short
work to anthologies, Web sites and magazines, and help you organize
your submission process. Topics include: how to read a call for
submissions, tracking submissions, systems for reducing administrative
work, submission etiquette, and more. $60/June 24th/1:30pm to
4:30pm/10 min – 12 max So,
I’ve Completed My Manuscript -- Now What?: How to Sell Your
Novel-Length Manuscript This workshop details
how to write a query letter, select a sample chapter, track
submissions, sell your manuscript to a publisher, etc. Issues of
self-publishing and selecting the correct publisher will be addressed. $60/August 19th/1:30pm
to 4:30pm/10 min – 12 max
5-Year
Plan Start the year off
right with a five-year writing plan in hand. Exercises are designed to
help you determine your long term writing goals and set up realistic
achievable mini goals as part of a cohesive five-year plan to achieve
your personal writing goals. $60/December
9th/12:00pm to 3:00pm/10 min – 12 max
Amie M. Evans
has published over 40 short stories and essays and facilitated nearly
as many workshop seminars. She is on the Board of Directors of
the Saints and Sinners GLBT Literary
Festival and is currently the
author of two online writing advice columns. She graduated Magna
Cum Laude with her BA from the University of Pittsburgh and is
currently working on her MLA at Harvard.
Toni Amato has
been a teacher, editor and writing
coach for over a decade, offering workshops in creative writing,
publication, and performance, as well as facilitated peer critique
groups.Over 100 writers have used his
services since 2001, many of whom have gone on to publish with major
literary houses and magazines, as well as start their own theaters and
presses.Additionally, Amato has worked
with social service organizations and community schools to bring
writing to marginalized communities.
Amato’s fiction has appeared in several anthologies, including GenderQueer,
Food
and Other Enemies, and Strange Angels.He has performed extensively in Boston and New
York City, as
well as at Temple,
Goddard and BrandeisUniversities.He has studied fiction with Dorothy Allison, Mary Gaitskill and
Marge Piercy.He is a recipient of the
2000 LEF Fellowship, and the Diana Korzenik Fellowship, 2001 to the
Boston Writer’s Room.
Revisionary Weekend
A Writing Workshop Weekend in Stowe, Vermont
May 19th - 21st
Initial literary creation has been likened to dreaming a vision.
However, there comes the time when we must shape our visions into what
John Gardner called 'the lucid and continuous dream.' The
Re-Visionary Weekend is designed to help you achieve just that.
When you come to the place where you know your writing isn't quite
working but you can't pinpoint why, it's time to sharpen your existing
editorial tools and add a few more to the set. Over this weekend,
three professional writers and editors who have brought over a dozen
books of poetry and prose to publication will help you identify and
address issues of craft through the development of a working language
of revision. Craft discussions will include: types of genre
fiction, character development, plot structure, creating symbolism, the
construction of vivid scenes, and working dialogue. The class
will also address emotional blocks to revision and practical concerns
such as scheduling for one's self and for literary deadlines.
Working in a supportive and structured peer setting sheltered in the
Vermont hills, attendees will develop and define their own personal
values and criteria for good writing while also acquiring the necessary
tools to effect those changes.
Submissions
Submit up to ten double-spaced pages of fiction or non-fiction or three
poems by April 15th. Please put your name on and number each
page; use Word and submit via e-mail as an attachment to Marni Graff:
mkgraff@starband.net.
We will send you copies of participants’ writing for your critique as
well as instructions for critiquing. Send us your beginnings to see if
we get hooked, or a problem area you want sorted out, or better yet, a
climactic scene so that we get carried away! Contact Marni with
any questions on submissions.
Who should attend?
Any committed writer of any genre. Beginners are welcome.
How much does it cost?
$300 includes food, tuition, and accommodations.
Whom do you contact to register?
Toni Amato: toni@writeherewritenow.orgMarni Graff: mkgraff@starband.net
Liz Jones: ljones@mt-mansfield.com
A deposit of $125 is required by March 15th, made payable to:
Lawrence T. Jones
302 Worcester Loop Rd.
Stowe, VT 05672
Deposits are non-returnable after March 15th.
Final payments are due by April 15th.
The Round Hearth is
a rustic inn located at the base of Mt. Mansfield,
surrounded by the Green Mountains. There is easy access to
walking trails as well as many other recreational activities, including
a hot tub on the premises. All beds are single bunks. Please
bring your own sheets, blankets, towel, washcloth, and favorite
pillow. Three meals a day are provided, as well as a salad bar at
lunch and dinner (which should help the vegetarians). If you have
special diet requirements, please bring the food you need; there is
ample refrigeration.
Toni Amato has
been a teacher, editor and writing
coach for over a decade, offering workshops in creative writing,
publication, and performance, as well as facilitated peer critique
groups.Over 100 writers have used his
services since 2001, many of whom have gone on to publish with major
literary houses and magazines, as well as start their own theaters and
presses.Additionally, Amato has worked
with social service organizations and community schools to bring
writing to marginalized communities.
Amato’s fiction has appeared in several anthologies, including GenderQueer,
Food
and Other Enemies, and Strange Angels.He has performed extensively in Boston and New
York City, as
well as at Temple,
Goddard and BrandeisUniversities.He has studied fiction with Dorothy Allison, Mary Gaitskill and
Marge Piercy.He is a recipient of the
2000 LEF Fellowship, and the Diana Korzenik Fellowship, 2001 to the
Boston Writer’s Room.
Marni
Graffwrites
from The Briary, her North Carolina home that offers a retreat for
artists several times a year. A regular attendee at the
University of Iowa Summer Writing Program, she has twice attended the
Vermont Studio Center's
month-long residency program. Marni has
published essays, newspaper articles, and been a regular contributor to
Mystery Scene and Mystery
Review magazines, in addition to writing her
own mystery series set in England. Currently at work on a new
series revolving around the world of Manhattan soap operas, she is
represented by Curtis Brown, Ltd.
Liz
Jones is a
Southerner who hibernates in Vermont to write. Her novel, Bright
Wings Broken (1996), won first place in the Virginia Highlands
Literary
Festival, as did her novel, Blackbirds, in 1993. Liz’s short
stories have been published in numerous literary journals and
“Experientially Speaking” won Honorable Mention for the Mark Twain
Award given by the Red Rock Review. Liz has chaired and was on
the board of the Blue Ridge Writers
Conference in Virginia for nine
years. She was the organizer of the first Stowe Writing Workshop
at The Round Hearth. Her most recently completed writing is My
Father Was Perry Mason, a memoir.