Tweetspeak Poetry

Mastering the Elements of Story—Workshop!

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Mastering the Elements of Story Writers Workshop Blue Doors

A workshop that will help you write the best stories—to sell or to share.

Sign up by February 22 to avoid a late registration fee.

Begins February 29, 2016. Limit 10 participants.

Stories make us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving.

—Madeleine L’Engle

Stories move us, motivate us, remind us what matters. “Stories you read when you’re the right age never quite leave you, ” Neil Gaiman wrote. “You may forget who wrote them or what the story was called. Sometimes you’ll forget precisely what happened, but if a story touches you it will stay with you, haunting the places in your mind that you rarely ever visit.” In this way, stories define us.

For writers, story lies at the heart of nearly everything we write. Whether we weave our words into fiction or nonfiction, whether we draft poems or prose, at the heart of of what we write is a story that compelled us, taught us, entertained us, or made us laugh.

But why is it that some stories move us more than others? What is at the core of every great story?

In this workshop, we will master the elements of story: elements like plot, character, setting, and theme. We will explore dialogue and voice and description. And we’ll talk about all the places where story can find a place in our writing.

8-Week Course Includes

● Readings from some of the greatest story tellers like David Sedaris, Jhumpa Lahiri, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, George Orwell, Leslie Jamison, Ernest Hemingway, and Alice Munro to help inspire and shape your own writing

● Most course readings

● Weekly lessons, exercises, and writing prompts

● Weekly online discussions about readings, that you can participate in at your convenience

● Peer review and critique of three stories over multiple drafts, working toward finished drafts suitable for sending out to get published (possibly at paying venues)

● One of the three stories will be workshopped with all participants in a live video-chat

● One of the three stories will be edited by the workshop leader

12-Week Course Also Includes

● Four additional weeks of exercises and prompts to help you grow as a writer

● Four additional weeks of online discussions and story trouble-shooting

● A fourth peer reviewed story

● A personal consultation with the workshop leader about how to further develop one story into a project that you self publish or send out for publication (possibly at paying venues) or to contests

● Insider tips on where and how to get the work published, and where applicable (if the work is a fit) a personal referral from the workshop leader to publications she has connections with

For You

Private online group settings and most class materials, including free digital copy of The Novelist, by L.L. Barkat. Please buy or borrow a copy of The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Creative Writing before the workshop begins on February 29.

What You Need

Computer or mobile device with internet connection capable of accessing our interactive online class space, uploading and downloading documents, and participating in Zoom chats. Also, since participants will be providing peer review of each other’s work, Microsoft Word (with the “review” feature) or the ability to print and scan is ideal but not required.

Your Writing Workshop Leader

Charity Singleton Craig is a professional writer and editor who brings words to life through essays, stories, blog posts, and books. She is the coauthor of On Being a Writer: 12 Simple Habits for a Writing Life that Lasts, and she has contributed essays to three books, including Letters to Me: Conversations with a Younger Self. She is regularly published through corporate clients and at various venues, including The Curator, Edible Indy, InTouch Magazine, The Write Life, Grubstreet Daily, and Tweetspeak Poetry, where she is an editor and a contributing writer. Charity is ideally suited to guide you into getting your stories published for profit (or pleasure)!





$350 + $10 late registration fee = $360 • 8 Week • BUY NOW





$420 + $10 late registration fee = $430 • 12 Week • BUY NOW

What Our Other Workshop Participants Have Said

Lakin Easterling: I recently participated in Charity’s and Ann’s On Being a Writer workshop, and it was truly liberating. The online platform was beautiful for my introverted nature, but also challenging. Watching how other writers move through their process was inspiring — and being encouraged in my own process was invaluable.

Michelle Ortega: Although I will most likely not pursue publishing a non-fiction title, I gained invaluable insights in this workshop. It answered questions for me that I have been wrestling with for my business for the past few years, and coincides with my general philosophy of developing relationships with consumers as opposed to impersonal marketing strategies.

Darrelyn Saloom: I signed up for the fiction class at a crazy/busy time. What was I thinking? With all the chaos in my life, I am so happy I did. I would NEVER have completed a 3-thousand word short story otherwise. It was wonderful to have Anthony’s guidance and feedback. And I am so pleased with the result.

Brad Grout: I am personally getting so much out of this memoir workshop…you people are AMAZING!

Lexanne Leonard: The most important step I’ve taken is to join Tweetspeak’s Poetry Workshop with Anne Doe Overstreet. I cannot begin to thank Tweetspeak, Anne, and my fellow students for this journey.

Darlene S.: I don’t think I can put into words both the overall value of the lessons learned and the encouragement I got.

Sandra Heska King: This was absolutely the single best whim I’ve followed.


Photo by Sergio Coronel. Creative Commons, via Flickr.

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Comments

  3. Simply Darlene says

    My oh my, you TSPers really know how to throw down the invite enticements. And Sandra said something about chocolate?

    I know that the basic elements are common in all stories, but what is the general story length of focus for this class? Novel, novella, short story?

    Thank ye.

    Reply

    • Charity Singleton Craig says

      Hi Darlene! Great to hear from you! The class will be focusing primarily on short stories and personal essays, just because of the nature of having to turn in regular assignments, though I think you could definitely apply the principles to larger works. Also, it’s fiction and nonfiction. I would say that I am working on a longer work of creative nonfiction and finding a lot good tips from the text and samples. So if you are working on something longer, it’s possible you could use chapters or segments as your assignment submissions. Does that help?

      Reply

      • Simply Darlene says

        Charity – Thanks for the details. It sounds fantastic! But, like I said on FB, family obligations have commandeered my “free” time all of the sudden.

        Oh! I see several of fellow essay classmates have committed – I’ll miss the learning, encouragement, and friendships.

        Reply

    • Sandra Heska King says

      Hey Darlene… Yeah, Michelle tied me up and ate all my M&M’s in front of me in an effort to lasso me into this shindig. She didn’t know I was already in, but it was fun to watch her antics. She didn’t know I have a 10-pound stash buried somewhere in this house clutter that I’ll find before class starts. And I have been drinking a Red Velvet Chocolate tea. I’ll share. So are you in? Or do I have to tie you up and drink my tea in front of you?

      Hail, hail… the gang’s all here. 🙂

      Reply

      • Simply Darlene says

        Ugh, Sandra! A 10-pound stash of chocolate? Good night, Irene! Do you chisel off hunks or scrape it with your tea-laden teeth? Either way, I bet a piece of it, along with a swig of that Red Velvet Chocolate tea is divine.

        Just recently it was determined that I cannot partake this go ’round…but I hope to eek out some scattered minutes to review notes from my previous three TSP classes. I shall miss the entire shindig and her people.

        Reply

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