Finish Your Book
Ten Friday Sessions 1 - 3 PM EST Dates: 1/9 - 3/20 (OFF 2/20) This manuscript course is only open to those continuing on from the Late Fall Session. To reenroll, please use the code provided via email from Cara Wall.
Ten Friday Sessions 1 - 3 PM EST Dates: 1/9 - 3/20 (OFF 2/20) This manuscript course is only open to those continuing on from the Late Fall Session. To reenroll, please use the code provided via email from Cara Wall.
Seven Tuesday Sessions 10:00-12:00 EST Dates: 1/20 - 3/10 (OFF 2/17) Is there a time period from the past that moves you? An era you feel connected to? Many writers find that uncovering a moment in history through fiction can be the best way to reveal truths about the present moment – which may […]
Seven Tuesday Sessions 10-12 EST Dates: 1/20 -3/10 (OFF 2/17) A creative pursuit of inner truths and story-telling, both memoir and fiction. Join Rahla in a place of adventure and free writing, where together we will abandon both inner critics and writers blocks. We will work with photographs, memories, imagination, music and smell. This workshop is […]
Six Tuesday Sessions 10:00-12:30 EST Dates: 1/20 - 3/10 (OFF 2/3 & 2/17) The personal essay examines one piece of a life — an oddity or observation, a habit or hatred, a relationship or loss — through the author’s unique point of view. Great essayists situate personal topics within a broader context; they expose […]
Seven Thursday Sessions 10:30-12:30pm EST Dates: 1/20 - 3/10 (OFF 2/17) This seven week course takes its premise from the belief that at the heart of any literary essay is an unaswerable question. The form famously takes its name from the French verb meaning “to try”--for this reason, while finishing an essay takes patience […]
Seven Wednesday Sessions 10-12 EST Dates: 1/21 - 3/11 (OFF 2/18) A creative pursuit of inner truths and story-telling, both memoir and fiction. Join Rahla in a place of adventure and free writing, where together we will abandon both inner critics and writers blocks. We will work with photographs, memories, imagination, music and smell. This workshop […]
Seven Wednesday Sessions 10 - 12 EST Dates: 1/21 - 3/11 (OFF 2/18) Every family has a story—some joyful, some complicated, all worth telling. But how do you take those stories and shape them into compelling fiction, memoir, or personal essays? This class is for writers who have a powerful family story and want […]
Seven Wednesday Sessions 10 - 12 EST Dates: 1/21 - 3/11 (off 2/18) In flash, fiction and nonfiction writers become attuned to language on the sentence level. This is good practice for writers of all genres, as you’ll learn how to transform abstract ideas into specific moments. We’ll pay close attention to pacing, metaphor & […]
Seven Wednesday Sessions 10:30 - 12:30 EST Dates: 1/21 - 3/11 (OFF 2/18) In The Art of Memoir, Mary Karr writes that "every writer needs two selves--the generative self and the editor self." This upper level class is for intermediate and advanced writers looking for both. Writers should be working on a memoir rather than […]
Seven Wednesday Sessions 12:45 - 2:45 EST Dates: 1/21 - 3/11 (OFF 2/18) Are you writing workshop curious? New to writing workshop, or looking to dust off the cobwebs and begin your writing life anew? Then this class is for you. Open to those writing fiction, non-fiction, and everything in between, this class will […]
Seven Wednesday Sessions 1:00-3:00pm EST Dates: 1/21 - 3/11 (OFF 2/18) An intensive workshop designed to elevate your thriller, mystery or suspense manuscript. The course will focus on sharpening pacing, strengthening your story arc, maintaining tension, and adding those unexpected twists that keep readers turning the pages. The class will feature: A supportive […]
Seven Wednesday Sessions 6 - 8 PM EST Dates: 1/21 - 3/11 (OFF 2/18) Join an encouraging, positive workshop environment to make progress on your genre fiction project. Genre fiction includes mystery, thriller, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, speculative fiction, magical realism, romance, women’s fiction, book club fiction, commercial fiction, young adult and any combination […]
Seven Wednesday Sessions 6:30 - 9 EST Dates: 1/21 - 3/11 (OFF 2/18) This is a craft-focused workshop geared to the advanced fiction writer. By “advanced,” we mean writers who have had workshop experience and are currently at work on a novel or short stories. Workshop time is spent sharing and discussing participants’ material […]
Seven Thursday Sessions 12:30-2:30pm EST Dates: 1/22 - 3/12 (OFF 2/19) The early stages of writing a book can be the most exciting and the most daunting. But if you’re ready to make it official and say “I’m writing a book!” then this is the workshop for you. Bring your nascent beginnings and inchoate pages […]
Seven Thursday Sessions 12:30 - 3 EST Dates: 1/22 - 3/12 (OFF 2/19) This writing workshop is targeted for intermediate or experienced adult writers of picture books, early and middle grade and young adult fiction. If you have taken courses designed to develop your skills as a writer of stories for children and want […]
Seven Thursday Sessions 2:45-4:45pm EST Dates: 1/22 - 3/12 (OFF 2/19) Midlife arrives in many forms. Sometimes the change is welcome. A chance to reflect, recharge, and reconnect with who you were before your career, your family, and your responsibilities. Other times, the change is uninvited. The loss of a job, the end of a […]
Five Friday Sessions 9:30 - 11:30 AM EST Dates: 1/23 - 3/13 (OFF 2/20) Writing a short story is no easier than writing a novel, in fact, it can be more challenging as writers must hone their story across only a few pages rather than a few hundred. This workshop is aimed at intermediate […]
FREE COMMUNITY OUTREACH WORKSHOP Seven Friday Sessions 10 - 12 PM EST Dates: 1/23 - 3/13 (OFF 2/20) This workshop will follow the Amherst Writers & Artists method, which was founded on the core belief that every person is a writer, and every writer deserves a safe environment in which to experiment, learn, and […]
Seven Friday Sessions 10 - 12 AM EST Dates: 1/23 - 3/13 (OFF 2/20) Embark on the exciting and, at times, daunting business of writing a novel. We will work on: Banishing the pesky inner critic Developing character Establishing themes and structure Excavating and exploring your story Deciding on a narrator-discovering and deciding who […]
Seven Friday Sessions 10 - 12:30 EST Dates: 1/23 - 3/13 (OFF 2/20) This is a craft-focused workshop geared to the advanced fiction writer. By “advanced,” we mean writers who have had workshop experience and are currently at work on a novel or short stories. Workshop time is spent sharing and discussing participants’ material […]
Seven Monday Sessions 10:00 -12:00 EST Dates: 1/26 - 3/16 (OFF 2/16) If you’ve ever felt the tug toward poetry, this workshop is a gentle place to begin. Through imaginative prompts and playful exploration, you’ll craft poems of all sorts while learning forms like the haiku, sonnet, pantoum, and sestina. You’ll be introduced to […]
Seven Monday Sessions 10 AM - 12:30 PM EST Dates: 2/2 - 3/23 (OFF 2/16) The most successful writers have a network of peers weighing in on their manuscripts and, more generally, pulling for them. In my class, I seek to create this same nurturing, collaborative atmosphere. Each week, you’ll share a brief excerpt […]
Seven Monday Sessions 1:30 - 3:30 EST Dates: 1/26 - 3/16 (OFF 2/16) IN PERSON This workshop is designed for those who have little or no experience writing fiction. We will dip our toes into the creative waters using writing prompts designed to illustrate the basics of creative writing: point of view, character, plot, […]
Seven Monday Sessions 6 - 8 PM EST Dates: 1/26 - 3/16 (OFF 2/16) “Tell about the quality of light coming in through your window. Jump in and write. Don’t worry if it is night and your curtains are closed or you would rather write about the light up north—just write. Go for ten […]
Seven Mondays 6:30-9 pm EST Dates: 1/26 - 3/16 (OFF 2/16) Your life holds stories that demand to be told. Writing Heart and Soul in Your Memoir invites you to slow down, listen inward, and revise those stories with care. Through creative exploration, you’ll write and revise with emotional resonance, capturing the moments that […]
Seven Tuesday Sessions 10 - 12 EST Dates: 1/27 - 3/17 (OFF 2/17) This class will introduce you to the fundamental concepts of writing a novel, no matter what the genre. Bring your in-progress fiction manuscript, brainstorm an idea in class, or start a new project during the session. Students are welcome to share […]
Seven Tuesday Sessions 2 - 4 PM EST Dates: 1/27 - 3/17 (OFF 2/17) Whether you're polishing a manuscript, chasing a new idea, or staring down a blank page, this lively, streamlined version of my popular Anatomy of a Novel workshop is designed to ignite your creativity and keep it burning all season long. […]
Four Saturday Sessions 1 - 3 PM EST Dates: 1/31 - 2/28 (OFF 2/21) Much of what we hear is about the need to “find our voice” as writers. But how can we find our voices if we’re always writing quietly in our head, or pounding it out on legal pads and laptops? In […]
Join our new instructor, Madelin Parsley, for a free prompt workshop Wednesday evening. Madelin will share prompts to inspire you to start writing or to reinvigorate your novels or memoirs-in-progress. All levels welcome!
This two-hour workshop will help you determine whether your plot is supported by the kinds of scenes that prevent a story from sagging and losing its shape. We’ll look at how these major scenes shape the narrative arc and how the scenes in between can be strengthened to guide readers from one pole to the next. Through examples, brief exercises, and targeted work on your own manuscript, you’ll come away with a clearer understanding of the scenes that truly hold up your novel—and how to make them sturdier and more compelling.