Instructor: Ilana Masad

Dates: Oct 4, 11, 18, and 25

Cost: $300

Times: Wednesdays, 7-9pm ET

Open to: This course invites writers of all genres. 

Synchronous

In this workshop, we will: 

• generate new writing through exercises and assignments
• provide feedback on writing you produce in workshop

Title: How to Write Compelling Book Reviews

Description:

Everyone’s a critic—so the saying goes, and indeed, in our age of Yelp, Letterboxd, Goodreads, and Storygraph, reviews are everywhere. But there’s a difference between a product review and criticism. The former is based entirely on personal experience (as well as preconceptions, assumptions, biases, and conscious or unconscious desires), the latter is an art in and of itself as well as a form of journalism. 

Readers rely on criticism to help them make choices about what books to buy, check out of the library, pre-order, or share with a friend. In this way, writing book reviews can be an act of literary citizenship, a way of contributing and taking part in our writerly and readerly communities. Additionally, writing book reviews can help us develop a reputation and a byline and allow us to develop a unique voice separate from our creative work.

A good book review takes into consideration far more than the critic’s personal thoughts and feelings—although those do, of course, matter too. Literary criticism takes into account broader cultural implications, utilizes (often invisible) research, and attempts to examine the book in question on its own terms as well as its place in an ongoing conversation. 

This four-week course will explore what book reviews can do, the artistry that can enter into them, and the pleasure of thinking deeply and then writing about literature. We’ll read book reviews, of course, and examine the different forms they can take. There will be one assigned book (likely a novel) that we’ll all read in order to discuss approaches to reviewing it as well as the way our differing thoughts and opinions might broaden our own understanding of it. Additionally, writers will produce one review of a book of their choosing that the instructor will provide feedback on. 

Depending on class interest, we’ll also explore some of the resources available to those interested in pursuing book criticism. 

Instructor Bio:

Ilana Masad is a writer of fiction, nonfiction, and criticism. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, New York Times, LA Times, Washington Post, NPR, StoryQuarterly, Tin House’s Open Bar, 7×7, Catapult, Buzzfeed, and many more. Masad is the author of the novel All My Mother’s Lovers. 

Instructor: Jen Mathy

Dates: Oct 21, Oct 28, Nov 4, Nov 11

Cost: $300

Times: Saturdays 10 am-12 pm ET

Open to: This course invites writers of all genres.

Synchronous

Course Description: 

In this four-week workshop, we’ll learn by doing. Each Saturday morning, we’ll carve 120 minutes out of our lives to build the marketing foundation for our writing businesses. 

Together, we’ll set up our social media platforms, create graphic assets, workshop press releases, edit our headshots, and talk about small steps we can take to market existing work and / or prepare ourselves for success. Each week, participants will be given 30-minute assignments in preparation for the next class. 

We’ll work together, share our experiences, and overcome the “eww factor” in promoting ourselves and our work. 

Instructor Bio: 

Jen Mathy is a marketing communications consultant in social media, PR, and advertising. She was VP of advertising and brand management for Morgan Stanley, brand manager for Discover Card, and in university relations for Northwestern University. She has an MFA in Writing from Bennington College and manages social media for the program. She has written stories for The Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV, among others, and wrote the poetry and prose for “An Expat Journey in Singapore,” a book of photography about the island nation.

Instructor: Jennifer Fawcett

Dates: Oct 22, 29, Nov 5, Nov 12

Times: Sundays, 2-4 PM ET

Cost: $300

Open to: Writers of fiction (novels, short stories), YA, thrillers, mystery, horror

Combination (Synchronous with Asynchronous elements)

In this workshop, we will (select all that apply):

• generate new writing through exercises and assignments
• critique writing already in progress

Title: What Happens Next? Writing Suspense in Fiction

Description: 

Why do some stories make us lean forward? How do some books keep us turning the pages long after our better judgment has told us to go to bed? The answer is suspense, and it belongs in every kind of story.

Suspense is more than just whodunnit (or why-dunnit). It is the necessary ingredient to get a reader invested in your story. Tension is created when we are emotionally invested in the characters but don’t know what will happen to them. The stakes are high, the questions are unanswered, and the release awaits us if only we keep reading. 

In this four-week workshop, we will explore tools to create a tightly woven narrative that pulls your reader into the world and holds them there. 

Topics will include:

– Identifying the central question of your story

– Character knowledge, assumptions, contradictions

– Playing with time: expansion, contraction, and jumps

– Bringing evocative settings to life

Classes will include weekly readings, in-class writing prompts, peer workshops (asynchronous through Canvas), and longer writing exercises to be completed between classes.

Writers of any level and genre of fiction are welcome. The focus of the class is most appropriate for writers with a narrative project in progress.

Instructor Bio: 

Jennifer Fawcett grew up in rural Eastern Ontario and spent many years in Canada making theatre before coming to the United States. She holds an MFA from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. Her plays have been produced in London and in theaters across the US. Her debut novel, Beneath the Stairs, was published by Atria Books. She lives in the Hudson Valley and teaches writing at Skidmore College. https://jenniferfawcettauthor.com/