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WIWA Sponsored Workshops
WIWA offers tools to hone your craft and meet your writing goals in a series of intensive all-day workshops. Fee: $90/member, $110/nonmember. To register, call 360-331-6714 or e-mail wiwa@whidbey.com.
WIWC Saturday Series for January:
Writing Your Way: Your Path to Publication
Saturday, January 16, a one-day workshop is at Coupeville Methodist Church, 10am - 4pm , offered by poet and novelist Lori May.
What does it mean to be a writer? Why do we write? How do we find an audience for our work? From blank page to publication, this one-day workshop will help you set and reach your writing goals whether you write fiction, poetry, or non-fiction. Discussions and exercises will help you develop your voice, find an audience, and promote your work. We'll also talk about finding inspiration and how to get past the inevitable blank page. In addition to a notebook, participants are encouraged to bring samples of their writing, a query letter, a synopsis and/or proposal.
Crafting Fiction that Sells in Today’s Marketplace
Saturday, January 30, an all-day workshop taught by literary agents, Andrea Hurst and Gordon Warnock, 10 am to 4 pm at Windermere Realty in Freeland, WA.
Fiction authors often overlook or underestimate the importance of knowing the business and commercial elements necessary to succeed in writing and selling their novels. In this workshop, taught from a publishing professional’s point of view, we will discuss how to polish and present your fiction manuscript so as to standout from the competition. Areas to be covered include: Is your book title compelling? Does your first line and first chapter hook the reader? Have you researched your plot to be sure it fits in a clear genre and appeals to the appropriate audience? Does your writing style and voice keep the reader invested in finding out what happens next? You will write back cover copy and learn how to professionally pitch your book so as to get noticed, get read, and up your chances of getting sold. A short pitch session with two agents will be included. Assistant agent, Rob Daniel, will join us for the pitch session.
Putting the Heart Back in the Heart of Your Writing
Saturday, March 6, 10 am to 4 pm, location TBA. Helen Sears, writer and teacher, uses the successful Amhurst Writers and Artists hands-on approach (developed by Pat Schneider) to finding deep truth in experience and writing about it.
Saturday, March 20 and 27, 1 pm to 4 pm, specific site information given upon registration. Computer guru Bobbi Sandberg will teach management skills and Word features that make the writers’ lives easier and their submissions and communications with professionals more polished. The class will take place over two Saturday afternoons to give students time to absorb material between classes.
Intergenerational Writing for Teens and Adults
Saturday, April 17, 10 am to 4 pm, at Island Coffeehouse, Langley , co-sponsored by WIWA, the Coupeville Library and The Commons. Under the hands-on mentorship of Deb Lund, teacher and published author of children’s literature, the generations will find common ground and opportunities for meaningful communication through their writing experience.
Saturday, May 1, 10 am to 5 pm, location TBA , Blogging expert and author, Tom Masters, takes the potential blogger through all the steps necessary to design and launch a blog; useful for writers with publishing goals and non-writers as well.
Saturday, June 5, 10 am to 4 pm, private homesTBA, Patterned after the popular Chat House feature of the Whidbey Island Writers Conference, participants will choose from a variety of day-long sessions on poetry, fiction, nonfiction, memoir, children and young adult literature, and publishing. Held in private homes, the Chat House experience gives participants an opportunity to meet writing and publishing professionals “close up” and learn from them.