Creative Writing Institute

Thursday 9 – 11 a.m.

History Writing

Location: Crawford 610

So you want to write history? This lecture is a beginner’s guide to being a history writer and how to get started. It will look at the various types of history and historical biography and how to craft them. It will also touch on challenges of writing historical fiction.

Course Cost: $40.00

Robert Taylor, Ph.D.

Writer in Residence

Th., F, S, & Su

8:30-10:30 AM

Writing Novels for Young Adults

Location: Hartley Room

Young Adult literature is taking the world by storm from Twilight to The Hunger Games to The Fault in Our Stars. This class taught by novelist Gennifer Albin (the Crewel World trilogy) will examine the genre, dissect popular novels, and discuss the ins and outs of writing young adult fiction. Participants are asked to bring up to 10 pages of manuscript and a full synopsis to workshop in class.

Course Cost: $230.00

Gennifer Albin, MA

Featured Writer

Th., F, S, & Su

8:30-10:30 AM

Fade In: Screenwriting for Beginners

Location: Crawford 407

This course is an introductory course for screenwriters. Topics of study will include character development, plot structure, the film narrative, as well as other issues including dialogue and visual storytelling. Students learn to recognize these elements in feature films, and by the end of the course, students will be able to develop their own stories for the film.

Course Cost: $160.00

Kimberly Miller, Ph.D

Writer in Residence

Th., F, S, & Su

8:30-10:30 AM

A New Path to Inspiration: Applying the Dramatica Pro Story Model

Location: Olin Engineering Complex 127

This class will focus on applying the concepts from Dramatica Pro, a computer program that enhances creativity, to the process of story development. While students will not be required to purchase the program, the instructor will guide students through a systematic process of creating better stories. Each session will develop an aspect of story creation and include workshop discussion of student writing.

Course Cost: $160.00

Bill Boggs, Ph.D.

Writer in Residence

Th., F, S, & Su

12:30-2:30 PM

Writing Past the Personal

Location: Hartley Room

This intensive workshop is designed for writers at all levels of experience who have a book-length project in mind and want guidance in completing it and making it attractive to readers. Participants will write and critique sample chapters, produce synopses and outlines, and learn how to "pitch" ideas to agents and editors. We'll also discuss the advantages and limitations of self-publishing.

Course Cost: $230.00

Dustin Michael, Ph.D.

Featured Writer

Th., F, S, & Su

12:30-2:30 PM

Personal myth, mythic poems poetry workshop

Location: Crawford 609

Poets form their own personal mythologies by creating voice, imagery, and subjects that inform their work. This workshop explores examples of these types of poems from established poets as well as the instructor’s own work as a path to participants’ own poems. We do generative exercises based on visual art, participants’ own lives and other topics as well as discussing the building blocks of poetry such as image, setting, line, symbol and sound. At the end of the workshop, participants will have an idea of the topics and mythology that inform their own work and will have written poems which incorporate their own mythic vision.

Course Cost: $160.00

Greg Byrd, Ph.D.

Writer in Residence

Th., F, S, & Su

12:30-2:30 PM

The craft of fiction

Location: Crawford 610

 By putting our emphasis on craft, we will look at how fiction works and the choices a writer makes in creating fiction. We will focus on precise aspects of fiction—particularly plot, scene, character, and dialogue—to gain greater mastery in crafting stories. I like to think that as writers we all have a toolkit of artistic moves, gestures, and choices, such as the way we close a scene, set up a punch line, or reward or punish our characters. We add to the toolkit every time we practice our craft, share our stories, and admire professional writers. To that end, we will do all three: write, share, and read.

Course Cost: $160.00

Michael J. Rizza, Ph.D.

Writer in Residence

Th., F, & S

5:30-7:30 PM

Writing a Best American Short Story

Location: Crawford 230

The short story is back – not just as a training ground for the great American novel, which it is sometimes considered but actually never was. It is back because the short story, and short story collections, sell well as e-books and the book market is slowly but inexorably turning away from the big publishers who are novel-hungry though they only accept about two from 100,000 submissions and even then they don’t always select the best ones, just the ones by the most famous authors, authors they’ve made famous with earlier books. It’s time for you to write seven stories that are up to the level of your current writing and put them out there. This workshop will get you going.

Course Cost: $230.00

Philip F. Deaver, Ed.D.

Keynote Speaker & Featured Writer

Th., F, & S

5:30-7:30 PM

Your Memoir is Showing

Location: Crawford 220

This workshop is designed for beginning to experienced writers of memoir who are interested in writing short memoir or developing their memoirs in-progress. The workshop will engage participants in common issues memoirists face, including memory versus misremembering, the murky line of truth versus fact, and what role “creativity” plays in a genre that aligns itself with honesty. We will explore characterization, flash and full-length memoir, and the age old question of: "do I really have to wait for people to die before I can write about them?"

Course Cost: $120.00

Neesha Navare, Ph.D.

Writers in Residence