Cat Rambo's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing-class"
New Classes
Please pass this along to anyone who might be interested!
Right now I'm running a special on the online Writing F&SF Stories class that's starting this Saturday, December 1. It is six Saturday mornings, 9:30-11:30 AM PST.
I'm also offering an early sign-up rate on January and February classes. Pay by December 15 and get the early rate. It's been fun planning this round and trying to come up with some new and interesting stuff as well as repeating the successful classes. So here's the list:
Writing F&SF Short Stories
Editing 101
Flash Fiction Workshop
Literary Techniques in Speculative Fiction
Building an Online Presence for Writers
First Pages Workshop
The Art of the Book Review
What You Need to Need About Electronic Publishing
Want more details about the classes? You can find descriptions, dates, and costs on the Upcoming Classes page, where you can also sign-up to be on the mailing list!
Right now I'm running a special on the online Writing F&SF Stories class that's starting this Saturday, December 1. It is six Saturday mornings, 9:30-11:30 AM PST.
I'm also offering an early sign-up rate on January and February classes. Pay by December 15 and get the early rate. It's been fun planning this round and trying to come up with some new and interesting stuff as well as repeating the successful classes. So here's the list:
Writing F&SF Short Stories
Editing 101
Flash Fiction Workshop
Literary Techniques in Speculative Fiction
Building an Online Presence for Writers
First Pages Workshop
The Art of the Book Review
What You Need to Need About Electronic Publishing
Want more details about the classes? You can find descriptions, dates, and costs on the Upcoming Classes page, where you can also sign-up to be on the mailing list!
What is the First Pages Class?
This is the online class that more people have enthused about afterwards than any other, in my experience. It’s team-taught. You give us the first 500 words of your novel. One of the instructors reads it aloud, then both discuss it.
Sounds pretty simple, no? Sure. It’s that simplicity that lets the instructors range across a wide array of tools and strategies, providing starting points for all sorts of valuable and useful discussion. Here’s some of what it allows us to provide you:
We talk about what’s built into the beginning of a book, how the contract between reader and writer is set up, and how effectively you’re doing it.
We discuss ways of engaging readers: with language, with detail, with appeal to the senses, with emotion, as well as other techniquese.
We reiterate the importance of titles and tinker (or not) with your wording.
We dip into sentence level stuff when we notice persistent patterns such as passive voice or purple prose, and more importantly, we tell you how to remedy the issue.
We discuss genre conventions and even the submission process.
And we answer the questions you have about all of those and more.
It’s as informative to listen to pieces from the other participants as it is to have your own examined. Some students have mentioned coming away with pages and pages of notes.
The next First Pages workshop is:
February 24, 9:30-11:30 AM PST
April 14, 9:30-11:30 AM PST
More details.
Sounds pretty simple, no? Sure. It’s that simplicity that lets the instructors range across a wide array of tools and strategies, providing starting points for all sorts of valuable and useful discussion. Here’s some of what it allows us to provide you:
We talk about what’s built into the beginning of a book, how the contract between reader and writer is set up, and how effectively you’re doing it.
We discuss ways of engaging readers: with language, with detail, with appeal to the senses, with emotion, as well as other techniquese.
We reiterate the importance of titles and tinker (or not) with your wording.
We dip into sentence level stuff when we notice persistent patterns such as passive voice or purple prose, and more importantly, we tell you how to remedy the issue.
We discuss genre conventions and even the submission process.
And we answer the questions you have about all of those and more.
It’s as informative to listen to pieces from the other participants as it is to have your own examined. Some students have mentioned coming away with pages and pages of notes.
The next First Pages workshop is:
February 24, 9:30-11:30 AM PST
April 14, 9:30-11:30 AM PST
More details.
