WOW Bubble of Communication

   

 WOW! Women On Writing

Classes & Workshops

 

Spotlight: Essay Writing with Ease

 

In this issue:
Article: Three Literary Tools for Crafting Creative Nonfiction
Spotlight Course: Essay Writing with Ease
Upcoming Classes & Workshops
Writers!    

We all have a true story (or several stories) to tell. Many of us also enjoy reading these tales of personal trials, adventures, and epiphanies. That's why essay writing is one of the most popular, fastest growing genres in publishing today. 

 

You can join in the fun with Melanie Faith's Essay Writing with Ease, which starts on Friday, November, 2013. During this five-week workshop you'll explore your own true stories in prose. You'll study the elements that make great (and publishable) essays, find inspiration in a weekly spotlight essay and prompts, and write and revise your own essays. Enrollment includes e-mail critiques and positive feedback on student writing.

 

In the article below, Melanie Faith explains what to do when you've written an initial draft or two, but your personal essay is missing that certain something. Find out three techniques for bringing your life to the piece and your piece to life!

 

 

Happy writing!  

 

Marcia & Angela 

 

Classroom Managers: Marcia & Angela
Marcia & Angela
Classroom Managers

classroom@wow-womenonwriting.com 


Action, Description, Dialogue

   
Three Literary Tools for Crafting Creative Nonfiction 

 

By Melanie Faith

 

You've written an initial draft or two, but your personal essay is missing that certain something. Try using the acronym ADD as a checklist for bringing your life to the piece and your piece to life.
 
Action! Just like fiction and screenwriting, an essay has to include an inciting incident. Something has to happen to set off a physical, emotional, and/or intellectual reaction. For example, if you wrote an argument scene between your brother and your mother in which your brother wants your mother to stop riding her motorcycle, you'd want to denote what started that argument and whether the argument was about safety or perhaps also about seeking control within the family or generational and personality conflicts. What did the mother say or do, both on the day of the argument and before, that the brother didn't like--and vice versa? Try this: Ask yourself: If you can't easily sum it up, consider going back into the piece to make the action clearer. If, however, you can denote a main happening that got your story rolling, go back into the piece to highlight and deepen the action with further details. 
 
Description. It's all in the details. As a writer, you need to transport readers into the setting and time period you're denoting as well as to make connections to the universal truths in their own lives. As Lee Gutkind, editor of Creative Nonfiction, notes in his book You Can't Make This Stuff Up: "Through the use of intimate detail we allow the reader to hear and see how the people we are writing about reveal what's on their minds; we note the inflections of their voices, their characteristic hand movements, and any other eccentricities . . . Sometimes intimate details can be so specific and telling that the reader never forgets it." Include more of the precise details that made the event resonate for you long after it happened. Try this: Take a piece of paper and jot each of the five senses. Quickly note new details that you remember involving each of the five senses. When you're finished with your list, challenge yourself to add at least two of these details to your piece.
 
Dialogue. Dialogue is useful for creating unforgettable protagonists, antagonists, and supporting characters. Each character should have a unique viewpoint and should sound unlike the others in the scene. Characters can be defined based on what they ask or tell as well as what they refuse to reveal. Try this: Look at your draft and make sure that each character's conversational style is unique. Look for places where a character has revealed too much all at once and areas where other characters may say more. Adjust accordingly. If you need to interview those involved to double-check details of who said what, feel free to do so, however be prepared for each person to have different recollections and/or opinions about what was said or done. While there's been much debate about accurately reconstructing dialogue from a long time ago, a general rule of thumb is that some compression or reconstructing is fine as long as the general gist contains literal and/or emotional truth, but outright making up or deceiving to flatter the self is never okay and takes an essay from the realm of nonfiction to fiction.
 
 
   
Melanie Faith Essay Writing with Ease  
   
Instructor: Melanie Faith

Workshop Length
: 5 Weeks
 
Price: $180, which includes e-mail critique and positive feedback on student writing, weekly essay handouts, and access to a private group for student interactions.   
 
Start Date: Friday, November 1, 2013 

Limit
: 10 Students

Course Description: Essay writing is one of the most popular, fastest growing genres in publishing today. The magazine Creative Nonfiction defines the genre as "true stories, well told." Join us on this five-week workshop exploring our own true stories in prose. We'll study the elements that make great (and publishable) essays, find inspiration in a weekly spotlight essay as well as within prompts posted at our group site and within our text, You Can't Make This Stuff Up, and write and revise our own essays. Students will submit essays weekly for constructive and supportive instructor feedback. Topics covered will include: What Is It--Or Isn't It?; Subgenres; Flexibility, Freedom, and the Larger Truth; The Creative Nonfiction Police; Manufacturing Dialogue; Share Your Work With Your Subjects; The Universal Chord: When Personal and Public Come Together Widening the Pendulum's Swing; The Narrative Line and Hook; Plunging the Reader into the Story; The Framing: The Second Part of Structure (After Scenes); and more!

Visit the full listing for a course description and an overview of what you'll be learning week by week.   

 

Register  

 

 

   

About the instructor: Melanie Faith holds an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte, NC. Her writing has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. Her poems, essays, and fiction have been published in the past year at Vermillion Literary Project, Linden Avenue, Mason's Road, The New Writer, Foliate Oak, and Origami Poems Project; and her writing is forthcoming from Star 82 Review (flash fiction), Words Dance (poetry), and Crack in the Spine (short story, summer 2013). Her WWII era poetry collection, Catching the Send-Off Train, was published as the summer 2013 selection at Wordrunner eChapbooks. Her poetry chapbook, To Waken is to Begin, was published by Aldrich Press in September 2012. In addition to writing two novels seeking representation and numerous photography publications, her instructional articles about creative writing techniques have appeared in The Writer and Writers' Journal, among others.
 

Upcoming Classes & Workshops
WOW! Classes
Below are some classes and workshops that are starting soon. Click on the links to be taken to a full listing that includes a week-by-week curriculum, testimonials, instructor bio, and more. Keep in mind that most class sizes are limited, so the earlier you register the better.

All the classes operate online--whether through email, website, chat room, or group listserv, depending on the instructor's preferences--so you do not need to be present at any particular time (unless a phone chat is scheduled and arranged with your instructor). You can work at your own pace in the comfort of your own home. If you have any questions, please reply to this email or email us at: classroom@wow-womenonwriting.com Enjoy!


Starts Every Friday (Self-Study Course) by Deana Riddle:
Independent Publishing: How to Start Your Own Self-Publishing Business | $99 or $150 with 1 Hour Phone Consultation

Starts the First Tuesday of Every Month: (Next class: November 5)
Introduction to the Craft of Screenwriting
| 6 Weeks | $150 | Limit: 10 Students | Instructor: Christina Hamlett 

Introduction to Playwriting | 6 Weeks | $175 | Limit: 10 Students | Instructor: Christina Hamlett

How to Write a TV Pilot | 4 Weeks | $150 | Limit: 10 Students | Instructor: Christina Hamlett

Starts the First Friday of Every Month: (Next class: November 1)
Writing a Novel with a Writing Coach: One-on-One Instruction NEW! | 4 weeks | $120 | Instructor: Margo L. Dill

Starts the Third Friday of Every Month: (Next class: November 15)


Published in 90 Days
| 12 Weeks | $299 | Limit: 10 Students | Instructor: Deana Riddle

October 23, 2013
Writing for Children: How to Get Started and Take a Hold of Your Career | 4 Weeks | $95 | Limit: 20 Students | Instructor: Margo L. Dill

November 1, 2013
Essay Writing with Ease NEW! | 5 Weeks | $180 | Limit: 10 Students | Instructor: Melanie Faith

November 2, 2013
How to Write Children's Picture Books and Get Published | 6 Weeks | $175 | Limit: 15 Students | Instructor: Lynne Garner
 
Five Picture Books in Five Weeks (Advanced Course) | 5 Weeks | $175 | Limit: 15 Students | Instructor: Lynne Garner
 
How to Write a Hobby-Based How-to Book | 5 Weeks | $175 | Limit: 15 Students | Instructor: Lynne Garner  
 
November 4, 2013
Create and Build Your Author-Writer Online Platform: Website Creation to Beyond Book/Product Sales | 6 Weeks | $125 (SALE! Normally $150) | Limit: 10 Students | Instructor: Karen Cioffi
 
November 8, 2013
Get Paid to Write: Become a Freelancer! | 8 Weeks | $150 or NEW! Self-Study Option for $50 (lessons only) | Instructor: Nicky LaMarco

  

Click here to view all upcoming classes 

 

Follow us on Twitter    Like us on Facebook    Visit our blog

Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013