The Novel Year: Info Session July 29

By Henry Shuldiner

 

Novel Year Info Session

Sat, 29 Jul, 2017 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Join us for a free information session on our third annual Novel Year Program. Starting September 12, serious novelists who have completed a draft of their manuscript will have the opportunity to workshop their entire novel over the course of a year. This year's instructor is Susan Coll, who is the author of five novels. Learn all about the structure of the workshop, and get to know Susan! Please RSVP to laura.spencer@writer.org

One of the most exciting workshops we offer is The Novel Year Program, a year-long intensive that gives novelists the opportunity to finish, polish, and prepare to publish their novels. The small group of 10 meets bi-weekly and is similar in structure and rigor to an M.F.A. program but lacks the expense and time commitment that such programs require. Also, unlike M.F.A. programs, authors will workshop their entire manuscripts with feedback from other members of the group and the workshop leader, Susan Coll.

Susan Coll

Coll is a five-time published novelist who has taught courses at The Writer’s Center for more than 12 years. At the start of her career, she worked as a journalist and submitted short stories to publishers, but only accumulated rejection letters for the latter. Coll eventually sold a short story to the BBC, which encouraged her to tackle her first novel. “It was still a long road from there to getting published,” Coll said. “But I was always a glass half-full kind of person, and the small successes along the way kept me going.”

The Novel Year Program is best suited for writers who have either finished a manuscript or have at least 75 pages of a novel in progress. During the course, students will have the chance to workshop over 300 pages of their book. Participants also have the opportunity to hear from guest speakers, including published authors and an agent. The course is broken down into two segments, fall and spring. The fall segment includes occasional exercises in craft, and the spring is more focused on the “nuts and bolts of publishing” according to Coll.

Spreading the class out over a year gives writers the “chance to revise and take the long view of what they are working on,” Coll said. Due to the length of the class, it’s important for her to maintain a supportive environment in the classroom, which can be difficult at times. “It’s hard to be on the other end of a critique, and I’ve emphasized to my students that they are there to help one another construct the best possible versions of whatever they are working on,” she said.

The critiquing aspect, while difficult at times, is essential to the editing process. It helps writers build trust in the individuals editing the stories and bolster their relationships as critics. One of the most rewarding parts of the class was “the way the group bonded” said Coll. “We had a lot of fun [last year], and people seemed genuinely disappointed when we took a break for the holidays; I think some good friendships and possibly some ongoing writing groups have formed.”

The only change Coll plans to make to this year’s course is to extend  meetings through June and meet every other week rather than every week. “This will give students more breathing room to read manuscripts and to work on their own books,” Coll said. Individual consultations will be offered in July after the classroom portion of the class ends. The schedule of the class will be as follows:

Fall: Every other Tuesday, from September 12 - December 12

Winter/Spring: Every other Tuesday from January 16 – June 26

Summer: Individual check-ins with instructor in July

Interested students are required to submit a cover letter and 25 sample pages of their work. Admission to the course will be on a rolling basis, and the number of participants will be limited to 10, so participants are encouraged to submit early. If you are interested in this class, please send your submission to laura.spencer@writer.org.

Women Writers on the Publishing Journey

Join us this Saturday, June 10, at 2 p.m. for a free panel discussion with six successful writers who met in our classrooms and have continued to support each other in life and work over the last 15 years.

By Kathy Ramsperger

In 2002, I was an aspiring novelist, taking a workshop at The Writer’s Center. Today, I’m the published author of The Shores of Our Souls, which then had another title, characters with no names, and a few chapters that didn’t know where they were leading. A love story with a social justice slant, my soon-to-be-published novel (August 2017, Touchpoint Press) is my answer to the discord and frequent tragedy of a world in conflict. 

I couldn’t have done it alone.

Formed by several women I met in classrooms at The Writer’s Center, my critique group has lasted more than a decade. 

“We met every Thursday for about four years, submitting articles and book chapters for critique, forming enduring friendships. We encouraged each other to keep writing and trying to publish,” says Anne McNulty. “With group encouragement, I wrote a book and then began to write for local magazines, where I found my niche. Without my first critique group, I never would have found the courage to begin my writing career. Thanks to these wonderful women, I can now say ‘I'm a writer.’”

At the beginning, all group members were in transition. Donna Anderson was a former flight attendant. Tami Lewis Brown and Alice Covington were attorneys. Cynthia Campbell was starting her own educational and editing business. Anne was teaching. I was writing and marketing for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent. All of us were straddling the divide of home, work, and creativity. Together, we forged a bridge, then a path to diverse, successful lives full of words.

The Writer’s Center resources offered us much more than support. “I took a creative writing class with Howard Norman (National Book Award nominee) at the University of Maryland,” Donna remembers. “My novel-in-progress Residuum got his attention. I asked for advice, and he told me that his class and others at UM were not sufficient for my level of writing. He suggested I go to The Writer's Center. That was quite the compliment for our old stomping grounds.”

Today, we are far flung, but we still meet to celebrate success in life and writing. Tami, with an M.F.A. from Vermont College, is an award winning children's author with a new contract with Disney. Cynthia went on to edit an award-winning nonfiction book that sparked the interest of three publishers, earned her PhD. and now has a career in adult literacy. When I want inspiration, I think of Donna. She was the adhesive in our group—she's a born storyteller, I know Residuum will someday be on my book shelf. 

Anne is a regional magazine journalist. Alice received her M.F.A and publishes her stories nationally and internationally. Her most recent story was published in The Louisville Review.

Me? I’m a creativity coach, publish nonfiction, and am revising my second novel. 

The Writer’s Center workshops, readings, and critique groups led me and my fiction to where we are today. This special critique group stands out for me; I’ve never found that kind of synergy again.

Cynthia sums it up, “Being part of this writing group contributed greatly to my writing and my confidence. I learned a lot from a great group of writers and friends. They are all my heroes.”

If you’d like to hear more about our journey, we’ll be panelists on June 10 at The Writer’s Center. Come with your questions; we’re thrilled to answer them and to support you.

  

Meet the Instructor: Virginia Hartman

~ Interview by Tyler West


Virginia Hartman has taught writing at George Washington University, American University, and the Smithsonian, and has been teaching at The Writer's Center for the past 10 years. Her writing has been anthologized in Gravity Dancers: Even More Fiction by Washington Area Women (Paycock Press), and she is the co-editor, with Barbara Esstman, of a literary anthology called A More Perfect Union: Poems and Stories About the Modern Wedding(St. Martin’s Press). Virginia's next TWC workshop, Advanced Fiction, begins on March 25. In the interview below, Virginia explains the inspiration behind the course, and how her unique teaching approach will bolster seasoned writers' literary toolkits.


What was your motivation for teaching an "advanced workshop"? What sets this class apart from other fiction classes?

I had a few participants in my other workshops who were ready to take their fiction to the next level. They had taken several of my workshops and were improving all the time, so a more challenging session seemed inevitable for them. It surprised me, as well, how many other writers were enthusiastically ready for an advanced-level course.

The thing that sets the Advanced Fiction Workshop apart is that participants submit work before registering. This is not meant to create an exclusive club, but rather it's a way to assure that everyone is well-prepared before entering the room, and that everyone around the table has more or less the same amount of previous experience with fiction workshops. For this session starting on March 25, the deadline to submit pages is March 10.


How do writers know if they're ready for an advanced course?

If writing fiction is a consistent practice in your life, if you've received encouragement from previous workshop leaders, if your day doesn't seem complete if you haven't worked on a story, and most especially, if you've taken several fiction writing classes at The Writer's Center or elsewhere, you may be ready. The only way to know for sure is to send in your best five pages.

You require students to send a manuscript by March 10th, before the class starts. How does this pre-workshop requirement enhance the experience for students?

Here's the feedback I've received. Students are extremely gratified when they feel they're at the same level as their colleagues in the workshop. It usually means that the critiques they get on their work are thoughtful and considered. And because participants are reading complex and interesting fiction from their classmates, each person's ability to critique is sharpened. This then helps them look at their own fiction with a critical eye as they progress.


If you could ensure that students leave your class with one "writing takeaway," what would that be?

I'm very big on community. It's what The Writer's Center is about. And within my own teaching ethic, it's what I'll call my "prime directive." Because writing is so solitary, when we come together, we absolutely have to support and encourage one another. I always promote the idea that workshop participants keep meeting after the course ends, to carry forward the deadline-giving, the mutually supportive critiques, and in many cases, the friendships that have formed.


We just have to ask this question: what's your favorite piece of fiction and why?

That's sort of like asking which is my favorite child. So I'll skirt it and tell you instead what I've liked recently, and felt I could really learn from. I read The North Water, a novel by Ian McGuire, which is much more brutal than most fiction I read, and yet I couldn't put it down. I also sank my teeth into Michael Chabon's Moonglow, which is masterfully told, and Ann Patchett's Commonwealth, which I didn't think I was going to like at first, but she does such interesting things with structure that I found myself wanting to follow her crooked path. And I'm a little late to Mary Kay Zuravleff's Man Alive, which came out in 2014, but at times her style feels like Virginia Woolf has come back to life and is writing about a family in Bethesda. It was tasty. Every novel or short story I read makes me a better writer, and I encourage students to have a novel or a story collection on their night table at all times.

Click here for more information on the Advanced Fiction workshop. Each student is expected to send the instructor a manuscript of five pages by March 10, and the workshop itself begins on March 25. We hope to see you there!

Lessons from NaNoWriMo: You Have to Start Somewhere

- By Catherine Gregoire

As the Communications and Marketing Intern at The Writer’s Center, I spend most of my time writing social media posts and blog articles, and assisting with editing, emailing, and digital marketing. However, for National Novel Writing Month, I decided to branch out from my regular duties. That’s right; I decided to try my hand at writing 50,000 words in 30 days!

The novel I chose to work on tells the story of a young woman who discovers she has magical powers because she is left-handed. To date, I’ve written a little more than 7000 words, and I think that’s great! But, it became clear to me that I won’t be able write an additional 40,000+ words before the month’s out, so I’m adjusting my original goal accordingly. #NaNoWriMo Lesson #1: be flexible.

I decided to try out NaNoWriMo this year because it would be a new experience. Going in, I had an inkling that I wouldn’t be able to reach the magical 50,000 words. I knew that, with my busy lifestyle, the odds were stacked against me. But when it comes to writing, are we really racing to reach a goal? Some of us will pen those 50,000 words by November 30. Some of us won’t. But in the end, we all win. Why?  Because we wrote something. In fact, this was just the kind of push I needed to start working on my novel. That’s really what this is all about, giving writers a reason to start.

During my time as an intern, I’ve found that The Writer’s Center jumpstarts many a writing career. TWC instructors work to help their students unleash their creative storytelling potentials. As writer’s, that’s what we need most, people and opportunities to give us a reason to take that first step.

It’s productive to obsess about progress and push, push, push ourselves, but it’s also productive to say, “screw it!” and let our writing take its natural course.

Whatever NaNoWriMo stage that you’re at right now, be proud of it. Be satisfied, but don’t be complacent. Keep pushing #NaNoWriMo Warriors, you’ve come too far to give up now!

Novelist John DeDakis Talks Fostering Creativity

We just have to ask—how is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) going? Are you making progress? Have you uncovered some hidden gems? Have you encountered some stumbling blocks? Have you awakened a part of your creative genius that you didn’t know existed?

NaNoWriMo has a unique effect on all of us. For some, it’s a period of unbridled inspiration when their minds gush with poetic prose. For others, it’s a season of strain and push—an agonizing, uphill climb to get just one good story out. Whatever it is that you’re experiencing during NaNoWriMo 2016, we want you to know that you’re not alone. The Writer’s Center is here to motivate you!

To prove our point, we’re sharing these encouraging words from John DeDakis, one of our talented workshop leaders. DeDakis is an acclaimed novelist and author of Fast Track, Bluff, Troubled Water, and Bullet in the Chamber. Building on his experience as a CNN journalist, DeDakis’ novels assume an entertaining journalistic motif as they follow one character, reporter Lark Chadwick, through a maze of conflicts and Fourth Estate adventures.

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TWC: What inspired the story of your latest novel (and can you share a bit about the novel itself)?

JD: The idea for Bullet in the Chamber came to mind in the summer of 2011 when my son died of a heroin overdose. The bullet in a syringe image on the book cover underlines the Russian-roulette power of even one hit of heroin. His fictionalized story is a subplot for my latest Lark Chadwick mystery. In this story, it's Lark's first day as a White House Correspondent for the Associated Press. The Executive Mansion is attacked, the president is missing, the first lady's life is in danger, and Lark's personal life is falling apart when the man she loves disappears. It's a deadline-a-minute thriller about drugs, drones, and journalism.

TWC: How do you motivate yourself to keep writing?

JD: The motivation is hard-wired into me.  I must write.  I'm also an excellent procrastinator, but I've built that into my writing routine. When I'm ruminating, I'm still writing because I'm thinking about the story.  Eventually—inevitably—procrastination turns into progress at the keyboard.  Eventually.

TWC: What advice can you share with those participating in NaNoWriMo?

JD: Have fun with it.  And don't give up.

Need some ideas as your write your novel? Here’s a prompt and exercise by DeDakis to stir up the imagination and work your writer muscles:

SETTING: Midnight at an ATM

ACTION: Your protagonist is getting money out of the machine when he/she hears a noise from behind.

Now set your timer for fifteen minutes and write what happens next.

This is the 50/50 method for sparking creative ideas:  Fifty settings in which fifty things happen. It helps you get to know your characters and might even spark an entire novel.

No inspiring novelist will want to miss out on DeDakis’ next workshop, "From Novice to Novelist" at the Writer's Center in Bethesda on December 3. Click the link below to register: https://www.writer.org/online-workshops?=&nccsm=24

Meet the Instructor: Tyrese Coleman

Meet the Instructor offers insight into the teaching styles and personalities of our instructors. This time around, we spoke with Tyrese Coleman, who will lead Developing Your Flash Fiction, an intermediate/advanced class that runs from October 22 through December 3.

The Writer’s Center: What brought you to the Writer’s Center?

Tyrese Coleman: I am a The Writer's Center alum.  I began my writing career taking courses at the Writer's Center. It was through those courses that I realized I wanted to study creative writing more in depth. I was encouraged by my then instructor to apply to Johns Hopkins, and I haven't stopped writing since. I always wanted to return to the Center to hopefully be for others what my instructor was for me: the encouragement I needed to pursue my dream.  

TWC: How would you describe your teaching style?

TC: I believe the cornerstone of good critique is a mix of encouragement, knowledge, and honesty. My style is one that revolves around those principles, with an added touch of humor and diversity. We are adults who want to create something meaningful to share with the world.  My teaching style keeps that goal in mind as a concrete point of achievement.  

TWC: What are you reading right now?

TC: There are way too many books lingering on my bedside table. I'm currently on 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad, and will then move to Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album by Joan Didion, and Slumberland by Paul Beatty.

TWC: What are you writing right now?

TC: Right now I am working on two projects, one is a short story collection and the other is a hybrid collection of stories and essays. For those collections, I am writing flash fiction and memoir, plus longer pieces for publication in journals.  

TWC: What does your writing space look like?

TC: My living room, LOL! I have an office, but I never work in it.  In a corner of my living room is a cushy mustard-colored, mid-century styled club chair with a matching lamp above it and a small table right next to it. My laptop rests on a pillow on my lap; any papers or books go on the side table along with a glass of wine. Once my kids are in bed, the only sound you can hear in my living room is the tapping of computer keys and maybe my dog snoring.  

TWC: What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given and by whom?

TC: Ever? Oh, that's hard to answer because I've received such good advice, and my memory is really bad. So, I will go with the best advice I received recently. I conducted an interview for The Rumpus with another The Writer's Center instructor, Leslie Pietrzyk, who said, "Think about the stories you have inside that scare you. That's what you should be writing." This advice is so crucial for us storytellers who really want to get at the heart of the matter, the brutal truth of life. I hope to challenge my students to write those stories and put them out into the world.

Tyrese L. Coleman is the fiction editor for District Lit, an online journal of writing and art, and a graduate of the Writing Program at Johns Hopkins University. A 2016 Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and Virginia Quarterly Review Nonfiction Scholar, her work has appeared in numerous publications such as PANK, Washingtonian Magazine, The Rumpus, and listed in Wigleaf's Top 50 (very) short fictions.

Exercise Is Good for You with Leslie Pietrzyk

Everyone knows that exercise is good for our health…whether we follow through on this good advice or not is another issue. Regular exercise burns calories and builds muscles.

I can’t say that writing exercises will burn calories (if only!), but writing exercises definitely will develop and stretch and build your writing muscles. That’s why I put together a one-day class composed entirely of guided writing exercises: Flex Your Creative Muscles.

The idea is that these exercises will challenge your mind in a new and exciting way, pushing you to come up with a forgotten memory, perhaps, or an insight into the characters in the novel you’ve been working on, or the opening of a story that you can’t wait to finish at home, or a new way of viewing the familiar. Many of these exercises are easily replicated at home, so you can keep going on your own long after our day together is done.

Writing exercises are all about taking chances and trying new things, so it’s important that the class environment is one of acceptance and support. To that end, while all are encouraged to share their work, we will not be critiquing our writing during this session. Instead, we’ll applaud our bravery and admire our results…after all, getting words on the blank page means that there’s something to revise and improve later. So don’t be afraid if you’re a beginner—and if you’re an experienced writer, I promise you’ll uncover some muscles you didn’t know you had.

While I’m always excited about every class I teach at The Writer’s Center, this one is secretly my favorite because I participate along with everyone as much as I can, working on the exercises along with everyone else. There’s something magical about sitting in a room filled with creative people avidly writing, lost in their imaginations. Exercise is more fun with a buddy next to you, inspiring you to push yourself, and so is writing. I can specifically point to a big discovery about a character that I unearthed while taking—er, I mean teaching—this class. Trust me, writing exercises pay off: and we don’t even have to build up a sweat.

Leslie Pietrzyk is the workshop leader for Flex Your Creative Muscles: A 1-Day Workshop, which takes place at TWC on Saturday 10/22. You can sign up for her workshop here.

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Leslie Pietrzyk is the author of two novels, Pears on a Willow Tree and A Year and a Day. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in many journals, including Gettysburg Review, Iowa Review, Shenandoah, The Sun, and The Washington Post Magazine. She teaches at The Writer’s Center, in the graduate writing program at Johns Hopkins, and in the low-residency M.F.A. program at Converse College. She is the editor of Redux, an internet literary journal that features previously published work not available elsewhere online, and she blogs regularly at Work in Progress.