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I’m breaking my Tumblr fast to tell you about the great WWLA classes we’ve got this summer. Check ‘em out!

writingworkshopsla:

Oh my gosh you guys! The Summer 2013 Class Schedule is here. We’ve got fiction, non-fiction, and poetry classes - plus four weekend seminars!

As always these classes fill up fast fast fast, so if you want to spend your summer in an air conditioned room talking about writing, sign up fast.

SUMMER 2013 CLASS SCHEDULE

Please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com if you’re interested in signing up for a class or seminar!

POETRY

Reading and Writing Poetry: 2-day Seminar (with Elline Lipkin in Altadena)

2 Saturdays, 10 am to 1 pm
July 20, 2013 and July 27, 2013

This two-day mixed-levels seminar is designed to immerse students in the power and pleasure of poetry. Students will read and discuss a variety of published poems, and complete a series of in-class writing exercises. The seminar will explore different types of poetic forms and introduce students to major craft questions, such as how to work effectively with metaphor and how to use rhythm to enhance meaning. Techniques such as enjambment, line length, and use of white space on the page will be discussed as well. The second meeting will be devoted to formally workshopping poetry by students. This seminar is an opportunity for students to explore the art and craft of poetry at any level with the chance to experiment with words and feel inspired.

This seminar will take place in Altadena, where coffee and sparkling water will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$150 for all students

If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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Poetry III (with Elline Lipkin in Beverly Grove)

Tuesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
July 16, 2013 to September 10, 2013 (no class August 20, 2013)

This 8-week advanced class is designed to bring experienced writing students even deeper into their practice of poetry. In each meeting, the class will focus on a different poetic device or technique, and students will read writers whose work exemplifies a poetry challenge students can then try themselves. Students will explore different types of poetic forms, read established poets’ work, and offer feedback on each other’s writing. This class is an opportunity for students to explore the art and craft of poetry at a more rigorous level, and to engage with fellow students in a serious workshop environment.

This course will take place in Beverly Grove where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Poetry III is by application only, and it’s recommended for students who have studied poetry for at least a year, and/or who have taken two or more poetry classes with Elline.

Enrollment limit: 8 students

$400 for new students; $360 for returning students (price includes a parking pass; payment plans available to returning students) To apply for entry, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com.

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NONFICTION

Food Writing: 2-Day Seminar (taught by Amelia Morris by Echo Park)

2 Saturdays, 12 to 3 pm
August 3, 2013 and August 17, 2013

Food writing takes many forms, from literary journalism to memoir to fiction to the personal essay to travel writing and more. In this class, students will read and analyze various examples of published food writing from these different genres, discussing what makes the piece successful. Students will also complete a number of writing exercises designed to bring their own eating and cooking experiences to life on the page.

For the first class meeting, students will arrive with a 3-page response assignment (to be assigned to you once you’ve registered for the course), which will be critiqued by the class. Two weeks later, for the second meeting, there will be a more formal workshop of student work based on a separate, much more open-ended writing assignment.

This seminar will be held in the instructor’s home in Echo Park. For sustenance and inspiration (and fun), small bites, prepared by the instructor, will be provided.

Enrollment Limit: 8 students.

Price: $150 for new students; $130 for returning students
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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Nonfiction I (taught by Chris Daley in Los Feliz)

Thursdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
July 25, 2013 to September 12, 2013

In this 8-week course, students will read, discuss, and write essays (or chapters) that will explore the genre(s) of personal narrative and memoir. The readings will be selected to stimulate thinking, exemplify different techniques and styles, and suggest techniques for engaging personal and creative expression. There will be in-class and homework exercises that address topics such as persona, audience, story, description, memory and truth, and ethical considerations specific to the genre. Students will have the chance to workshop their writing in a serious environment meant to challenge and inspire each member of the class.

This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Los Feliz, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students

Course fee: $380 for new students; $340 for returning students (Payment plans available to returning students)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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Nonfiction II (taught by Seth Fischer in Echo Park)

Wednesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
July 10, 2013 to August 28, 2013

This 8-week intermediate course is designed for writers who are looking to continue their exploration of the memoir or personal essay genre. The students will have some familiarity with at least a few of the generic concerns of personal narrative, such as hybridity of form, dramatization, retrospective versus immediate point of view, ethics, and so on. There will be some assigned readings, but the class will focus on bringing projects toward completion through a process of drafting, feedback, and revision in a challenging but supportive environment. Weekly in-class and homework exercises will help students develop their craft, and a series of in-depth workshops in the latter half of the course will allow students to apply critical reading skills to their own writing. Aside from receiving one formal workshop for a longer piece, students will have the opportunity to submit short work for review every other week.

Since this course is designed for more experienced writers, previous enrollment in WWLA’s Nonfiction I course is suggested but not required.
This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Echo Park, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students

Course fee: $380 for new students; $340 for returning students (Payment plans available to returning students)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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FICTION

Flash Fiction: 2-Day Seminar (taught by Margaret Wappler in Mt. Washington)

2 Saturdays, 12 to 3 pm
July 13, 2013 and July 20, 2013

This two-day seminar will examine the rewards and challenges of this tricky form. Students will read and analyze compelling examples of published flash fiction, and they will also complete a number of in-class exercises designed to investigate the genre further. Topics such as precision, narrative propulsion, description and voice will be discussed. The second class will be devoted to the formal workshopping of student writing.

Enrollment limit: 8 students

$150 for new students; $130 for returning students
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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Structure: 2-Day Seminar (taught by Adam Cushman in Beachwood Canyon)

2 Sundays, 2 to 5 pm
July 14, 2013 and July 21, 2013

In this two-day seminar, students will learn an assortment of story structure techniques. We’ll discuss Aristotelian structure, monomyth and archetypes, allegory, and more. We’ll also look at the differences between story structure and character structure and how all of these story elements can help bring out emotion, make revision easier, and most importantly, prevent students from getting stuck or suffering from that myth called “writer’s block.” We will spend the second session workshopping student writing assignments, using the stories as a vehicle to discuss the structure and craft we covered in the first session.

Enrollment limit: 8 students

$150 for new students; $130 for returning students
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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Fiction I

Section 1 (taught by Margaret Wappler in Mt. Washington)
Wednesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
July 3, 2013 to August 21, 2013

Section 2 (taught by Shannan Rouss in Beachwood Canyon)
Saturdays, 10 am to noon
July 13, 2013 to September 7, 2013 (no class 8/31)

This 8-week course will introduce beginning writers to the basic techniques of fiction writing such as characterization, dramatization, dialogue, point of view, and so on. In class, students will discuss published fiction from a craft perspective and do writing exercises designed to tackle particular techniques. Each week students will have short writing assignments to do outside of class, which will be turned in for feedback from the instructor. As this course is designed for beginning writers, there won’t be any formal workshopping. The class is also open to more experienced writers who simply want to brush up on the basics.

Section 1 will take place in the instructor’s home in Mt. Washington, and Section 2 will take place at the instructor’s home in Beachwood Canyon. The classes are the same, just different instructors and at different times. In both courses, refreshments—and the occasional snack—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students per section

$380 for new students; $340 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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Fiction II (taught by Adam Cushman in Beachwood Canyon)

Wednesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
July 10, 2013 to August 28, 2013

This 8-week intermediate-level class is designed for both short story writers and novelists. For the first four weeks, students will do in-class writing exercises and discuss published short fiction and novel excerpts from a craft perspective. The class will cover such topics as characterization, pacing, point of view, structure, voice, and scene, and there will be short take-home writing assignments designed to help students progress with their manuscripts. For the final four weeks of the course, students will be workshopped in a serious environment meant to challenge and inspire every member of the class. Each student will have the opportunity to workshop either one short story manuscript or one novel excerpt (maximum 25 pages).

This course will take place in Beachwood Canyon, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students

$380 for new students; $340 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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Fiction III (taught by Neelanjana Banerjee in Silverlake)

Tuesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
July 16, 2013 to September 17, 2013

This 10-week course is designed for experienced students who are interested in deepening their understanding of fiction writing craft and technique.

For the first few weeks, the class will discuss published fiction and do in-class writing exercises. Students will be given optional out-of-class writing assignments, and there will be short critiques of students’ work-in-progress and revisions. Each student will write two pieces of fiction (short stories or novel excerpts); one of those manuscripts will be workshopped by the class, and the other will be given to the instructor for feedback.

This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Silverlake, where wine and sparkling water—and an occasional assortment of cheese and chocolates—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students

$410 for new students; $380 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students)
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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Novel Writing I (taught by Neelanjana Banerjee in Silverlake)

Saturdays, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
July 20, 2013 to September 28, 2013 (no class August 31, 2013)

In this 10-week course, students will write the first 40 pages of a novel. The class will spend the first few weeks doing writing exercises and discussing craft and technique from a novelist’s perspective. All assignments, both in- and out-of-class, will ask students to think deeply about their projects and aesthetic goals. There will be a weekly page-count requirement to keep students on task, and there will also be time set aside in class to work. The final weeks of the course will be devoted to workshopping student novel excerpts in an intense yet compassionate environment designed to challenge and inspire all members of the class.

This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Silverlake, where coffee and sparkling water–and the occasional assortment of bagels–will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students

$400 for all students (payment plans available to returning students)
This class is open to experienced writers and is by application only. To apply for entry, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com a description of your writing experience and a 10-page writing sample.

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8-Week Fiction Writing Group (taught by Amelia Morris in Echo Park)

Tuesdays, 7:30 to 9:30 pm
July 9, 2013 to September 3, 2013 (no class 7/23)

In this course, students will have the opportunity to be a part of a fiction writers’ group facilitated by a published writer. Within a supportive environment, students will share new and in-process work, write from prompts, take home ideas for new stories, talk about writing, and ask questions about craft, creation and process. We will form our own writing community, giving and receiving feedback from one another, all the while having a good time. This is not a lecture class, nor will there be class assignments.

This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Echo Park, where wine, sparkling water, and the occasional snack, will be served.

Enrollment Limit: 8 students

Price: $250 for all students
If you’re interested in signing up, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com

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Didn’t find what you’re looking for? Writing Workshops Los Angeles also offers one-on-one instruction in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com for more information.