UPCOMING EVENTS

Switch to Calendar View

• WS301 Bones of Storytelling

  • Start
    30 Sep 2025
  •  
  • End
    02 Dec 2025
  •  
  • Schedule
    10 sessions
  • Location
    Zoom
  • Spaces left
    11

  Register

  Bones of Storytelling

  Course Description:

  Bones of Storytelling is a fun "thinking/practicing” series for writers of fiction (novel/short story) and creative non-fiction (memoir/essay). It draws from literature and classic storytelling models, as well as screenwriting.

  Structure:

  Classes are organized in a progressive manner and are divided into two parts. Part 1: Pre-watch video teaching/assignment, and Part 2: Join the online meeting to debrief. Total investment of time: about ninety minutes prior, and then a two-hour on-line meeting.

  Expanded explanation:

  Once you sign up, you are guided to a site page with the recordings and are asked to watch the first teaching. At the end of the video, you are given an assignment and instructed to bring that assignment to the class for debrief. You will then share your experience with a fellow writer and the class, and you will be given support information when needed. It is the same formula each week.

  Outcome:

  You will walk away with a comprehensive plan for either a work in progress(a revision plan) or an idea you’ve been considering (draft plan). You will also discover crossover opportunities in creative writing. A lived experience doesn’t always have to be a memoir but can be shifted into fiction. A fictional idea, often born from a lived experience, might find its best expression in memoir.

  This class is on ZOOM.

  About the Instructor: 

  

  With degrees in journalism and creative writing, Jennifer Lauck is the New York Times and London Times bestselling writer of the memoirs Blackbird, Still Waters, Found and The Summer of ’72.

  She has also published a series of interlocking essays in the collection titled Show Me the Way and has had essays published in several anthology collections, including Knitting Yarns. She teaches creative writing in the US and abroad.

  
  

  • https://blackbirdstudiopdx.com/
  • https://jenniferlauck.substack.com/

  Show details
• WO091 Crafting Your First Three Chapters

  • Start
    09 Oct 2025
  •  
  • End
    13 Nov 2025
  •  
  • Schedule
    6 sessions
  • Location
    Address will be sent a few days before the first class
  • Spaces left
    11

  Register

  Crafting Your First Three Chapters 

  Course Description:

  This six-session workshop provides guidance on writing the first three chapters of a novel or memoir, with a focus on developing voice, characters, setting, theme, and narrative flow. The course will include a range of writing exercises, with participants exploring different forms of telling their story and engaging readers. The aim is to produce at least 1,500 words by the end of the workshop, and / or to polish work already begun

  About the Instructor: 

  

  Alecia McKenzie is a writer and editor based in Paris. Her first collection of short stories, Satellite City, and her novel Sweetheart have both won Commonwealth literary prizes. Sweetheart - translated into French as Trésor - was awarded the Prix Carbet des lycéens in 2017. Other books include Stories from  Yard and A Million Aunties (her most recent novel, long-listed for the Dublin Literary Award). She holds an MSc from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and has written numerous articles for a wide range of international publications. www.aleciamckenzie.com 

  
  

  Show details