New Online Writing Class

I'm sorry to say that I won't be offering a class at John C. Campbell in late May as planned. I'm not comfortable with the risk at this time. 

But, beginning  January 28, I'll be leading another critique workshop for UNC-Asheville's Great Smokies Writing Program. Completely online, it's a chance to join in what is always a very enriching experience for a writer. And since it's online, we could have folks from Boone to Brasstown to New Bern and points in between joining in. (Or beyond, but it's a tad pricey for out of state folks.)

Here are the details.:

Lang 473: Workshoppers at Home: Online Creative Prose Workshop

Instructor: Vicki Lane
Starts January 28, Thursday evenings, 6:00-8:30 p.m.

Here’s your chance to have up to sixty pages of your creative prose – novel excerpts, short stories, essays, memoir – carefully line edited by the instructor and thoughtfully assessed by a group of your fellow writers, concentrating on what is working and what needs attention. And all in the comfort of your home! We will meet online though Zoom, a venue that allows you to see and hear your fellow classmates.

This fifteen-session workshop is aimed at writers with work (novel, short stories, memoir, or other creative prose) in progress, almost completed, or completed but in need of a final polishing. Each student will submit up to sixty pages (twenty at the beginning of the course, twenty during weeks 6-10, and the final twenty during weeks 11-15) for discussion and critique by the class and close editing with written comments by the instructor. We will focus on the effective use of key techniques such as creating an intriguing opening line and a compelling first chapter, creating a likable and/or engaging protagonist, weaving in back story in small, manageable doses, setting up a dilemma that begs to be resolved, making the most of action scenes—in general, producing a page-turner. We will attempt to weed out the mistakes that mark the amateur writer and turn each student into a discerning editor of their own work.  The goal will be to polish those pages till they are ready to catch the attention of an agent, an editor, a publisher and make them ask for more. The reference text will be the highly acclaimed Don’t Sabotage Your Submission by career manuscript editor Chris Roerden (Bella Rosa books –ISBN 978-1-933523-31-6.)

   If you have questions about the class, I'm happy to answer. You can learn more HERE

The pictures are of Lake Logan--from the archives.