Fiction Master Class with Ron Rash:
Allowing the Reader Deeper Into Your World: Landscape, Dialogue, and a Few Other Matters
NEW DATE: Saturday, May 7, 2022, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Location: Studio Two (in person)
In this class, acclaimed writer Ron Rash will use examples from the works of writers such as Daniel Woodrell, Alice Walker, Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, and others to discuss how landscape and dialogue can intensify the reader’s understanding of characters and their actions.
Cost: $65 members, $95 non-members • Sold Out!
Ron Rash will read from and discuss his work, and sign books, at a members-only event, Friday evening, May 6, 2022. Click here for event info and to hold your spot or click here to join or renew your membership first.
Master Class: Writing Beyond Ourselves: On Integrating Research & Poetry
NEW DATE: Saturday, March 5, 2022, 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Location: Studio Two (in-person)
With Jessica Jacobs. In a time when we’re screaming at each other across massive ideological divides, the creative, compassionate act of writing from research feels more vital than ever. When done well, such writing demands we explore voices and viewpoints and times not our own, demands we act with empathy, looking at others—even those with whom we disagree—with not judgement but a desire to understand and even find possible points of agreement, and that we exist in a state of perpetual curiosity. Based in the experience of researching and writing Pelvis with Distance, a biography-in-poems of the artist Georgia O’Keeffe, and a forthcoming collection engaging with stories from Genesis, Jessica Jacobs will discuss the practices that were most useful in finding her way into these world, finding the permission needed to inhabit her voice, as well as the voices of others, and how to break free from the straight-jacket of facts to allow your poems to live and breathe on the page. As time allows, there will also be deep-reading of representative poems and generative exercises to get you writing.
This is one of four master classes with the 2021-22 Chapbook Lab faculty.
Spoken Word: Poetry & Performance
NEW DATES! 3 Sessions: Tuesdays, May 10, 17, and 24, 2022
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Location: Studio Two (in person)
With Angelo Geter. This three-part class will introduce participants to the art of spoken word poetry. It will educate on the origins, and purpose of spoken word and poetry slam, and expose students to the artform, techniques, and skills used to craft spoken word pieces. Furthermore, it will examine spoken word work to demonstrate how literary devices employed in traditional poetry are expanded in this genre. Participants will be guided through several prompts and exercises to help them craft their own original work. In the second session, participants will read their spoken word pieces and receive feedback from the instructor and the other participants. In the third session, participants will learn how to perform their pieces. This class will show you how to literally bring your words to life from the page to the stage.
Cost: $135 members, $165 non-members • Register
Master Class: I Walk the Line
Saturday, April 2, 2022, 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Location: Studio Two (in-person)
With Stuart Dischell. In this class we will remind ourselves that although grammatically indebted to diction and sentence construction, poems are made of lines. And lines make poems distinct from prose. To this end we will examine the linear choices of canonical and contemporary poets.
This is one of four master classes with the 2021-22 Chapbook Lab faculty.
Master Class: I, You, He, She, We, They & Who?
Saturday, June 4, 2022, 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Location: Studio Two (in-person)
With Laure-Anne Bosselaar. In the great majority of poems, a speaker (or voice) will — through the use of tone (the character’s attitude toward the subject matter) and its many variations — build some kind of relationship with the reader. This relationship can run the gamut from being very intimate to extremely distant. In this very interactive class, we will look at how the choice of pronouns can dramatically change a poem’s impact. Each student should bring a short poem they have written (no more than 20 lines) in which they use the pronoun “I” as the main speaker of the poem. If you don’t have one, bring a short poem that you love in which the pronoun “I” plays an important role.
This is one of four master classes with the 2021-22 Chapbook Lab faculty. There may be a few seats available for non-Lab participants. Members can email admin@charlottelit.org if interested in the waiting list.
Mythology and Depth Psychology: A Crash Course for Writers
2 Sessions: Thursday, January 13 & 20, 2022
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom
With Kathie Collins and Larry Sorkin.Whether you’re journaling your way through a difficult time, penning the first draft of a poem, or working on a novel, you’re dealing with one or more of the same archetypal images and psychological patterns that undergird all human experience. In this two-part class, poets and C. G. Jung scholars Kathie Collins and Larry Sorkin will engage participants in a depth psychological reading of a foundational myth and explore creative works emerging from that myth’s inherent archetypal patterns. Then, you’ll be invited to dream the myth forward through the creation of your own poem, short story, song, or essay. In the process, you’ll gain a better understanding of essential mythological patterns and common psychological terms and learn how to employ both to create deeper, more self-aware personal writing and better-rounded, more complex fictional characters.
Cost: $90 members, $110 non-members • Sold out!
Creating an Authentic Voice
2 Sessions: Tuesday, February 1 & 8, 2022
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom
With Megan Rich. Voice is often the first connection to your reader and the most lasting, but how do you take full advantage of this important tool? In this two-session class, we will study voice at a deep level to learn the best techniques and generative exercises for connecting directly and quickly with our readers. In the second session, Meg will provide thoughtful feedback and advice on your work, helping you refine and deepen your voice in revisions. With its increasing importance to agents, editors, and publishers, doing a deep-dive into voice will help anyone writing in any genre, and you will leave with a deeper understanding of it as well as the practical tools to apply it to any future work.
Cost: $90 members, $110 non-members • Sold Out!
Flash 101: Fiction & Micro Essay
3 Sessions: Thursday, March 17, 24 and 31, 2022
6:00 – 8:00 p.m
Location: Virtual via Zoom
With Luke Whisnant. Flash is the genre for fast times, with hundreds of journals and websites publishing shorter and shorter work. In this three-week class we’ll look at some common misconceptions about flash (what it is, what it’s not); delve briefly into the history of short-form prose, including prose poetry and micro-essays; introduce six strategies for crafting short fictions; and end with suggestions for submitting your flashes for publication. We’ll read and analyze several model stories, learning to “steal like an artist,” and each meeting will include several prompts for new writing. Fiction writers, prose poets, and concise nonfiction writers are all welcome.
Cost: $135 members, $165 non-members
Folk Wisdom: Proverbs as Prompts for Narrative, Memoir, Poem
Saturday, April 23, 2022, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: Virtual Via Zoom
With Tina Barr. In this experiential workshop we’ll look at proverbial writing in poems, and excerpts from fiction and memoir by James Dickey, Joseph Bathanti, James Wright, Flannery O’Connor and others. Selected passages represent or reflect upon proverbs—like “Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder,” “A Dog is a Man’s Best Friend,” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Participants will then develop their own drafts in the form of flash fiction, poems, memoir extracts, or story openings.
Cost: $45 members, $55 non-members
Little Notebooks, Big Ideas: Zines for Creative Exploration
NEW DATE! Saturday, April 30, 2022, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Location: Studio Two (in person)
With Bryn Chancellor & Timothy Winkler.The road to a story winds through myriad notes and drafts. Making notebooks by hand lets writers immerse themselves in the critical early creative process and helps them commit to a project. We’ll make fun, easy, affordable, and portable notebooks in the spirit of zines, closer to Anne Lamott’s index cards than to fussy bound journals. We’ll start to fill the pages with targeted prompts for characters, settings, and scenes, and play with simple printmaking and collage to make them our own.
Cost: $90 members, $110 non-members
Read Like a Writer: The Contemporary Short Story
Tuesday, January 18, 2022, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom
With Kathryn Schwille. Explore fiction by learning to read like a writer — alert to the craft on the page. We’ll read two contemporary short stories in advance: “The Wind” by Lauren Groff, and “Pedicure” by Elizabeth Strout. In class we’ll look closely at what these master storytellers do and why, with particular attention to their artistic decisions about language, structure, dialogue and getting characters on the page.
Cost: $45 members, $55 non-members
Worldbuilding
2 Sessions: Thursday, January 27 & February 3, 2022
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom
With Sarah Creech. In this two-part course on worldbuilding, writers will explore the skill sets required to create vivid, immersive, and wholly original atmospheres and settings in genre and literary fiction. We will study the worlds built by writers as wide ranging as science fiction writer Octavia Butler to short story master Alice Munro and together create a knowledge base for how to incorporate these techniques into our own existing or future projects. Through guided study and writing exercises, writers will develop a strong understanding of how to develop a fictive dimension unlike any other.
Cost: $90 members, $110 non-members
Generating Story Ideas
Thursday, March 10, 2022, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Location: Studio Two (in person)
With Kim Wright. Linus Pauling said it well: “The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.” Successful writers will tell you they often make multiple false starts before settling on a concept that can really go the distance––but exactly where do those original ideas come from? In this class novelist Kim Wright will teach you how to separate the concepts that are mere glimmers from those that hold narrative gold. We’ll talk about stealing ideas from real life, snatching inspiration seemingly from mid-air, and how a combination of reality and fantasy often leads to the best stories.
Cost: $45 members, $55 non-members • Sold Out!
Novel Structures: Save the Cat, Hero’s Journey, & More
Tuesday, March 15, 2022, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Location: Studio Two (in person)
With Paul Reali.Every novel is a unique work, but there are a few common story structures that most novels follow. Humans have told stories for thousands of years, so it makes sense that we’ve come to like (and repeat) certain forms. In this session, you’ll learn: the simple five-part structure that underlies almost every story; the Hero’s Journey structure made famous by Joseph Campbell; and Blake Snyder’s “Save the Cat,” with three acts and 15 “beats” that most films and novels share. And you’ll get to try these structures on your own novel project.
Cost: $45 members, $55 non-members
Studio: Novel Jumpstart
4 weeks Asynchronous: Sunday, April 3 to Saturday, April 30, 2022
Location: Virtual via Wet Ink and Zoom
Optional Zoom sessions on Monday, April 4 and April 25, 6:00 p.m.
With Megan Rich. Writing a novel is hard work worth doing—and the hardest part for a first-timer is not knowing what you’re doing. This four-week mostly-asynchronous studio will help you decide if you want to write a novel, and if so, will help make the journey must less fraught. Through recorded lectures, readings, online discussions, and short assignments, we will examine the structures of stories, protagonists and their journeys, story worlds, story time, genre, point of view — and the habit, discipline, and support needed to get it done. This is a great choice if you’re considering applying for Authors Lab, which begins in the fall.
Cost: $300 members; $375 non-members (includes one-year Charlotte Lit General Membership)
Compressed Words, Expansive Impact: Flash Essays for Social Change
2 Sessions: Wednesday, February 9 & 16, 2022
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom
With Patrice Gopo.Flash essays are a focused, urgent, often breathtaking way of capturing aspects of our lived experience. As a result of these features, the flash essay can also contribute to social change. However, we may not always realize the potential these stories have to intersect with the stories unfolding in society. This course will consider the unique ways the flash essay form speaks into the conversations happening in the broader world. We will examine how writing flash essays can help promote positive social change in and beyond our spheres of influence.
Cost: $90 members, $110 non-members
Everything – Really, Everything! – Judy Goldman Knows About Writing Creative Nonfiction
Thursday, April 21, 2022, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m
Location: Studio Two (in person)
With Judy Goldman. OK, we’ve got two hours. Judy is going to cram into this workshop every tip she wishes she had known before she started writing personal essays and memoir. She’ll discuss beginnings, voice, structure, descriptive details, reflection, scene vs. summary, and tension. She’ll even talk about a writer’s self-doubt and how she keeps going in spite of those little voices that say, “You can’t do it. You’re not a writer.” For beginners and experienced writers alike.
Cost: $45 members, $55 non-members
The Art of Submission: From the “Slush” Pile to the “Rush” Pile
Thursday, January 11, 2022, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom
With Ashley Memory. Technology makes submitting for publication easier than ever. At the same time, as more and more writers offer their work, competition for space has never been fiercer. But take heart. In this class, we’ll cover the art behind successful submissions and how to move from the “slush” pile to the pile editors rush to accept. We’ll discuss how to find the best fit for your writing, tips on putting your best foot forward, and a little secret to boost the number of marketable pieces in your portfolio. We’ll also discuss the nuts and bolts of submission: cover letters, biographies, tracking and more, such as how to stay motivated as you cast those precious pearls out into the world.
Cost: $45 members, $55 non-members •
Query Letters for Novels & Memoirs
Tuesday, January 25, 2022, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom
With Betsy Thorpe. When it’s time to start submitting your book, a professional and compelling query letter makes the difference between success and failure. Don’t waste all your years of hard work on your memoir or novel by not paying attention to what makes a great query letter. We’ll be discussing the essential five paragraphs that make up a query letter, including the elevator pitch, author bio, and the dreaded comparison books. We’ll take a look at some query letters that won the notice of agents, and those that were so awful they got posted online. We’ll review a few elevator pitches and author bios, and discuss whether a good title makes a difference, why rhetorical questions are a no-no, and how to do a little test marketing.
Cost: $45 members, $55 non-members
Paths to Publishing: Hybrid and Self-Publishing
Tuesday, April 19, 2022, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Location: Studio Two (in person)
With Kathy Izard. Are you fed up with query letters that receive no answer or waiting for the big book contract that never arrives? Join award-winning author Kathy Izard as she discusses everything you need to know about self-publishing and evaluating potential hybrid/partner publishers. In this workshop, Kathy will tell you about her experience with publish three ways and answer questions on everything you need to know from buying your own ISBN number to finding help designing your book. She can answer your questions on your specific stage of writing and how to get your words in the world whether for Amazon, bookstores or just your family and friends. You don’t need permission from a Big Five publisher to become an author!
Cost: $45 members, $55 non-members
