RBWG Classes Spring, 2020
Please Note
Because of the uncertainty surrounding the virus, we are offering limited classes. If these need to start at a later date (thus, shortening the class and decreasing the cost), we will make adjustments. We will also have online tutorial versions of a few of the classes (although we know this is not the same experience and not ideal for everyone). At this point, please email Maribeth to let her know if you are interested in a class, but do not send payment until she confirms that the class will run as scheduled.
Because of the uncertainty surrounding the virus, we are offering limited classes. If these need to start at a later date (thus, shortening the class and decreasing the cost), we will make adjustments. We will also have online tutorial versions of a few of the classes (although we know this is not the same experience and not ideal for everyone). At this point, please email Maribeth to let her know if you are interested in a class, but do not send payment until she confirms that the class will run as scheduled.
Weekly Calendar
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Because we are committed to keeping our classes small and because we can only continue to do this if participants commit to and pay for all classes, we ask that ONCE WE CONFIRM THAT THE CLASS WILL RUN, you pay for the full class amount up front. If you are interested in a class and cannot pay for it up front, just send Maribeth an email and we’ll work out a payment plan. As always, we are open to suggestions about classes you’d like to see offered. Please send suggestions to Maribeth at fischer.maribeth@gmail.com. To register and pay:
Click here for scholarship information. |
Class Descriptions
Fiction
Fiction Workshop ~ Maribeth Fischer (7 weeks) NOW ONLINE Signup by Apr 4
WHEN: Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. April 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5, 12, 19
WHERE: Rehoboth Beach Public Library
COST: RBWG Members $315 Non-members $350
This is a class for those who are working on a novel or a collection of linked stories and want the discipline of a writers group (and deadlines) but also the encouragement and constructive critiques that will develop both character and plot (which often makes it easier to figure out what to write next). Whether you are ten pages into the novel/collection or 100, each week we’ll discuss your writing and offer suggestions to enhance the fictional world, making it and the characters both more believable and compelling. This is a class for those who have taken the workshop before as well as for those who are just now at the point where critique and suggestions would be helpful. In addition to the in-class critiques, writers will be invited to give Maribeth 1500 words of their writing each week for further comments.
If the class cannot meet, an online version will be available.
WHEN: Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. April 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5, 12, 19
WHERE: Rehoboth Beach Public Library
COST: RBWG Members $315 Non-members $350
This is a class for those who are working on a novel or a collection of linked stories and want the discipline of a writers group (and deadlines) but also the encouragement and constructive critiques that will develop both character and plot (which often makes it easier to figure out what to write next). Whether you are ten pages into the novel/collection or 100, each week we’ll discuss your writing and offer suggestions to enhance the fictional world, making it and the characters both more believable and compelling. This is a class for those who have taken the workshop before as well as for those who are just now at the point where critique and suggestions would be helpful. In addition to the in-class critiques, writers will be invited to give Maribeth 1500 words of their writing each week for further comments.
If the class cannot meet, an online version will be available.
Nonfiction
Nonfiction Workshop – Rae Tyson (4 weeks) CANCELLED
WHEN: Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-Noon; April 1, 8, 15, 22
WHERE: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (behind Big Fish Grill), Rehoboth
COST: RBWG Members $180 Non-members $200
When it comes to creativity, fiction writing dominates. Or does it? Good nonfiction also relies on heavy doses of creative writing. The non-fiction bonus is: writing about things that are true. “That’s the gift of nonfiction: the surety that the stories are real, and the weight that lived experience imparts to narrative,” says writer Linda Lowen. “The task, then, is to write nonfiction that’s compelling, and that’s the skill new writers often find toughest to master.” And that nicely summarizes the challenge of writing readable, entertaining nonfiction. This workshop will address those challenges within a range of nonfiction genres.
Writing the Ordinary II ~ Maribeth Fischer (7 sessions) Postponed
WHEN: Mondays, 3-5 p.m., April 6, 13, 20, 27, May 4, 11, 17
WHERE: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (behind Big Fish Grill), Rehoboth
COST: RBWG Members $315 Non-members $350
"I don’t like to be shocked or surprised on every page when I’m reading. I don’t necessarily need a big twist or reveal to be entertained. Don’t get me wrong: I love a good story—I’m not defending the boring and pointless—but I will always believe there is treasure to be found in small quiet moments...I like writing about those simple everyday things we do to get through our lives."
—“Some Room to Breathe” Leesa Cross Smith, in Poets and Writers May-June 2018
"Good literature examines the way the biggest moments of life happen in the quiet moments."
—Silas House, author, A Parchment of Leaves
Couldn’t we all use a little ordinary right now?
And in the ordinary there is much to appreciate and admire, which is why it’s a shame that it’s often overlooked, especially in nonfiction writing, where drama and trauma grab the attention. But most of our lives are made of small routines—the yoga class we look forward to, half-price burger night at Summerhouse, our morning walk that follows a set path. It’s also the ordinary objects and settings of our lives that often reveal who we are, so let’s pay attention to those things. As poet Carl Phillip says, “pay attention to what you pay attention to.”
In this class, we will learn to pay attention to the small moments and the everyday happenings that define much of our lives—(as well as a few things we’ve never paid attention to until now!). We’ll write about weather, seasons, places we love; we’ll take a cue from Atlantic Monthly’s “Object Lessons” series and research the history of an ordinary object that matters to us—socks, an orange, an armchair. We’ll write about an important day/date in our lives, and much more. Participants do not need to have taken “Writing the Ordinary 1, but do need to be comfortable with the workshop format of sharing their work and offering suggestions to others.
Desire Lines: The Art of Revision II—Maribeth Fischer (6 weeks) Postponed
WHEN: Fridays, 3-5 p.m. April 10, 17, 24, May 1, May 8, 15
WHERE: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (behind Big Fish Grill), Rehoboth
COST: RBWG Members $225 Non-members $250
Desire lines are used in transportation studies to chart the flow of traffic between two places; the more heavily trafficked, the greater the “desire” to travel to these places.
For those who want to revise a long essay or are working on a book-length work of nonfiction, this class helps writers identify what needs to be expanded and developed to move forward. Revision is built directly into the writing process, with writers working to identify and expand themes and ideas in early (even partial), drafts, then using those themes to shape the final work.
Revision, sadly, is all too often a dreaded word when, in fact, it is at the heart of all excellent writing, and it’s where the true treasures in a work are often discovered. In this workshop, explore the art of revision (which literally means to re-see) with new eyes so that the process becomes what it is meant to be: not a laborious matter of fixing what is broken but a process of searching for, finding, unearthing and saving what you have not yet explored in your writing. Participants will bring 5-10 pages of a work they want to develop to the first class, where we will identify as many themes/subjects as possible. This original “map of themes” (desire lines) will serve as the guide to developing the the work into one coherent whole.
If the class is unable to meet in person, and online version will be offered.
WHEN: Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-Noon; April 1, 8, 15, 22
WHERE: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (behind Big Fish Grill), Rehoboth
COST: RBWG Members $180 Non-members $200
When it comes to creativity, fiction writing dominates. Or does it? Good nonfiction also relies on heavy doses of creative writing. The non-fiction bonus is: writing about things that are true. “That’s the gift of nonfiction: the surety that the stories are real, and the weight that lived experience imparts to narrative,” says writer Linda Lowen. “The task, then, is to write nonfiction that’s compelling, and that’s the skill new writers often find toughest to master.” And that nicely summarizes the challenge of writing readable, entertaining nonfiction. This workshop will address those challenges within a range of nonfiction genres.
Writing the Ordinary II ~ Maribeth Fischer (7 sessions) Postponed
WHEN: Mondays, 3-5 p.m., April 6, 13, 20, 27, May 4, 11, 17
WHERE: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (behind Big Fish Grill), Rehoboth
COST: RBWG Members $315 Non-members $350
"I don’t like to be shocked or surprised on every page when I’m reading. I don’t necessarily need a big twist or reveal to be entertained. Don’t get me wrong: I love a good story—I’m not defending the boring and pointless—but I will always believe there is treasure to be found in small quiet moments...I like writing about those simple everyday things we do to get through our lives."
—“Some Room to Breathe” Leesa Cross Smith, in Poets and Writers May-June 2018
"Good literature examines the way the biggest moments of life happen in the quiet moments."
—Silas House, author, A Parchment of Leaves
Couldn’t we all use a little ordinary right now?
And in the ordinary there is much to appreciate and admire, which is why it’s a shame that it’s often overlooked, especially in nonfiction writing, where drama and trauma grab the attention. But most of our lives are made of small routines—the yoga class we look forward to, half-price burger night at Summerhouse, our morning walk that follows a set path. It’s also the ordinary objects and settings of our lives that often reveal who we are, so let’s pay attention to those things. As poet Carl Phillip says, “pay attention to what you pay attention to.”
In this class, we will learn to pay attention to the small moments and the everyday happenings that define much of our lives—(as well as a few things we’ve never paid attention to until now!). We’ll write about weather, seasons, places we love; we’ll take a cue from Atlantic Monthly’s “Object Lessons” series and research the history of an ordinary object that matters to us—socks, an orange, an armchair. We’ll write about an important day/date in our lives, and much more. Participants do not need to have taken “Writing the Ordinary 1, but do need to be comfortable with the workshop format of sharing their work and offering suggestions to others.
Desire Lines: The Art of Revision II—Maribeth Fischer (6 weeks) Postponed
WHEN: Fridays, 3-5 p.m. April 10, 17, 24, May 1, May 8, 15
WHERE: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (behind Big Fish Grill), Rehoboth
COST: RBWG Members $225 Non-members $250
Desire lines are used in transportation studies to chart the flow of traffic between two places; the more heavily trafficked, the greater the “desire” to travel to these places.
For those who want to revise a long essay or are working on a book-length work of nonfiction, this class helps writers identify what needs to be expanded and developed to move forward. Revision is built directly into the writing process, with writers working to identify and expand themes and ideas in early (even partial), drafts, then using those themes to shape the final work.
Revision, sadly, is all too often a dreaded word when, in fact, it is at the heart of all excellent writing, and it’s where the true treasures in a work are often discovered. In this workshop, explore the art of revision (which literally means to re-see) with new eyes so that the process becomes what it is meant to be: not a laborious matter of fixing what is broken but a process of searching for, finding, unearthing and saving what you have not yet explored in your writing. Participants will bring 5-10 pages of a work they want to develop to the first class, where we will identify as many themes/subjects as possible. This original “map of themes” (desire lines) will serve as the guide to developing the the work into one coherent whole.
If the class is unable to meet in person, and online version will be offered.
The Writer's Tool Box
Sign up for one session or take them all.
You pay only for the specific session(s) you want.
WHEN: Sat 10:30 a.m-12:30 p.m. (date for each class below)
WHERE: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (behind Big Fish Grill), Rehoboth
You pay only for the specific session(s) you want.
WHEN: Sat 10:30 a.m-12:30 p.m. (date for each class below)
WHERE: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (behind Big Fish Grill), Rehoboth
SESSION 1 & 2: April 18 & 25: To Tell You the Truth ~ Judy Catterton Postponed
COST: $110 for RBWG members, $125 for non-members
Of course, writing non-fiction means telling the truth. But what is the truth of our stories? What if we can’t remember the “whole” truth? How do we go about describing an event in an essay or memoir if our recollection is spotty? Or other people who were there recall things differently? Maybe we’re not even sure something happened? This class will be held on two consecutive Saturdays, April 18th and April 25th. At the first session, we will look at what other writers have done when confronted with these problems and explore a variety of ways to deal with them. At the second session, participants will have an opportunity to workshop and critique a piece of their own work where they try out their strategies.
SESSION 3: May 9: Memoir ~ Rae Tyson Sign up by Apr 20
COST: $55 for RBWG members, $65 for non-members
As a means of preserving your personal legacy, memoirs offer a powerful alternative. “Writing about one’s life is a powerful personal need,” wrote William Zinsser, the acclaimed teacher and writer. But crafting a good memoir can be a challenge. For some, the mere act of getting started can be a formidable task. This one-day workshop will help launch that memoir writing journey even if you have never written before or don’t consider yourself a writer.
Online Tutorials
(each week, get new assignments and individualized feedback from the instructor)
Experiments in Creative Writing ~ Maribeth Fischer (8 weeks) Sign up by Apr 4
WHEN: Mondays, April 6-May 18
COST: RBWG Members $360 Non-members $400
“No art ever came out of not risking your neck. And risk—experiment—is a considerable part of the joy of doing.”
—Eudora Welty, On Writing
In this course, we will experiment with various creative structures and techniques—a different one each week—any one of which could be the jumping off point into a more polished piece of writing. Examples of things we will explore: a compare/contrast story or essay; a how-to essay that offers directions on anything and everything (how to put your parents in assisted living, how to fall out of love, how to get over writer’s block) an essay or story written as a series of short letters or postcards; another that braids a personal story with research...even a dramatic monologue. Along the way, we’ll study examples of writing that use these structures. Participants will be invited to complete a short assignment each week and will receive personalized feedback from Maribeth. The final assignment will be revising one of the essay starts into a more polished work.
WHEN: Mondays, April 6-May 18
COST: RBWG Members $360 Non-members $400
“No art ever came out of not risking your neck. And risk—experiment—is a considerable part of the joy of doing.”
—Eudora Welty, On Writing
In this course, we will experiment with various creative structures and techniques—a different one each week—any one of which could be the jumping off point into a more polished piece of writing. Examples of things we will explore: a compare/contrast story or essay; a how-to essay that offers directions on anything and everything (how to put your parents in assisted living, how to fall out of love, how to get over writer’s block) an essay or story written as a series of short letters or postcards; another that braids a personal story with research...even a dramatic monologue. Along the way, we’ll study examples of writing that use these structures. Participants will be invited to complete a short assignment each week and will receive personalized feedback from Maribeth. The final assignment will be revising one of the essay starts into a more polished work.
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