RBWG Classes Summer, 2018
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 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.
To register and pay:
- Please register first with Maribeth at fischer.maribeth@gmail.com to make sure that the class is running (at times we do not have enough participants to make the class work) or is not already filled. Maribeth will respond to you within a day.
- To pay, mail a check to: Rehoboth Beach Writers Guild, P.O. Box 1326, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971.
Click here for scholarship information.
FICTION
Writing Your Novel ~ Brandy Yates (5 weeks) SPECIAL ½ PRICE
WHEN: Mondays 1-3 p.m., July 30, August 6, 13, 20, 27
WHERE: Lutheran Church of our Savior behind Big Fish Grill – Rehoboth
COST: $125 RBWG members; $135 non-RBWG members
You have a great idea…or you have a character you want to develop…perhaps you have even begun, writing the first five or ten or seventeen chapters, but you’re feeling overwhelmed, perhaps bogged down, and you have questions about the craft of writing a longer work: Do you keep describing the setting even though the novel all takes place in the same town? Do you have to describe your main character again? What are the rules about switching point of view? Should you be writing this in first person not third? Is the plot believable? A workshop will allow you to get the necessary feedback you need, keep you moving forward as you learn what your readers want to know, and at the same time, help you hone your writing chops. Each week the instructor will offer an assignment in some aspect of fiction writing--dialogue, setting, character--that you will try to incorporate into your chapter that week. You will be workshopping your pages with the class and will also receive critique each week from the instructor on up to 1,500 words of your writing.
Crafting Short Stories ~ Sarah Barnett (4 weeks) SPECIAL ½ PRICE
WHEN: Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - Noon, July 10, 17, 24, 31
WHERE: Lutheran Church of Our Savior behind Big Fish Grill – Rehoboth
COST: $90 RBWG members; $100 non-RBWG members
"Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and other dreams. They are journeys you can make to the far side of the universe and still be back in time for dinner." —Neil Gaiman
Writers from Ernest Hemingway to Stephen King learned the craft of writing through short stories before they published their first novels. In this workshop, we will write a short story, using Ron Carlson Writes a Story as a guide. In his book, Ron Carlson takes you through his process as he wrote one of his stories, including character development, dialogue, the “inner story.” For writers who have not previously tried writing fiction, we will examine some story-telling techniques used by successful writers and try applying them to our own writing.
MIXED GENRE
The Craft of Writing Prose ~ Maribeth Fischer (8 weeks)
WHEN: Mondays 6-8 p.m.: June 11, 18, 25, July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
WHERE: Lutheran Church of our Savior behind Big Fish Grill – Rehoboth
COST: $360 RBWG members; $400 non-RBWG members
Although participants in this class will be working on their own prose--fiction or nonfiction--and will be completing assignments that they will give Maribeth each week for comments (if they want), this is not a workshop and participants will not be sharing their work with others. Instead, each week, through in-class exercises geared to help writers analyze their own work, participants will explore different techniques and craft issues with an eye towards improving the use of these things in their writing. Techniques will be based, in part, on what skills the writers in the class need most in their writing--and perhaps want to better understand--but some possibilities have to do with a look at why “show don’t tell” is a rule that often sets writers back, for there is a need in prose to show and tell; why the main purpose of dialogue is not to convey information, a mistake commonly made, and how written dialogue is drastically different from what we actually say when we speak; why knowing 100 details of a character’s background isn’t nearly as important as knowing what a character wants.… Upon signing up, writers will be asked to send 750 words of prose writing to Maribeth (so she can determine craft areas to focus on).
Sources and Methods ~ Judy Catterton (4 weeks)
WHEN: Wednesdays 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: August 8, 15, 22 & 29
WHERE: Judy’s King Creek house
COST: $180 RBWG members; $200 non-RBWG members
This workshop will focus on the use of research to enhance fiction, non-fiction writing, even poetry. Does the reader need to know something of the history, geography or character of the event, place, or custom you’re writing about? Is there a scientific study, experiment or hypothesis that will make some aspect of your story more believable or more interesting? Or perhaps serve as a metaphor? Does the writing improve if you add context? For example what else was going on at the same time of the story? Maybe the reader would like to know that your story takes place three years before Brown v. Board of Education was decided? Or that the day your protagonist was born was the day man first walked on the moon? Do the colors of the harbor scene look like a painting by Monet? Where does research fit and where does it detract from a narrative? How should the results of research be framed so as to conform to the voice of the narrator?
NONFICTON
Stories that Matter: Writing Memoir ~ Ellen Collins (6 weeks)
WHEN: Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., June 21 to August 2 No class July 5
WHERE: Lutheran Church of our Savior behind Big Fish Grill – Rehoboth
COST: $270 RBWG members; $340 non-RBWG members
This class is for all those who have flirted with the idea of exploring memoir as a way of telling their stories. What is the difference between autobiography and memoir? How do you find the stories that really matter? Are there themes that keep surfacing in our writing? What are the best literary tools to use to make those stories come to life? We will use a workshop format to share writing each week and look at examples of contemporary memoir as well.
POETRY
The Art of Revision ~ Ethan Joella & Gail Braune Comorat (5 weeks)
WHEN: Mondays, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., July 9 to August 6
WHERE: Lutheran Church of our Savior behind Big Fish Grill – Rehoboth
COST: $270 RBWG members; $340 non-RBWG members
The energy of revision is the energy of creation and change, which is also the energy of destruction. — Maggie Anderson
In this class we’ll provide exercises for beginning new work, perhaps styles you haven’t tried. We’ll use these new poems as models for revisions. Which poems have the most potential to surprise both writer and reader? How do we help poems evolve without destroying work that is still raw? Too often when we revise, we strip out lines that have the possibility of surprise. Stephen Dunn advises that we employ expansion as part of our revision. What if we insert obstacles into our poems, ruffle the smooth waters of where we think the lines should go? We’ll become more informed by looking at examples of how other poets work through their own revision process.
Writing Your Novel ~ Brandy Yates (5 weeks) SPECIAL ½ PRICE
WHEN: Mondays 1-3 p.m., July 30, August 6, 13, 20, 27
WHERE: Lutheran Church of our Savior behind Big Fish Grill – Rehoboth
COST: $125 RBWG members; $135 non-RBWG members
You have a great idea…or you have a character you want to develop…perhaps you have even begun, writing the first five or ten or seventeen chapters, but you’re feeling overwhelmed, perhaps bogged down, and you have questions about the craft of writing a longer work: Do you keep describing the setting even though the novel all takes place in the same town? Do you have to describe your main character again? What are the rules about switching point of view? Should you be writing this in first person not third? Is the plot believable? A workshop will allow you to get the necessary feedback you need, keep you moving forward as you learn what your readers want to know, and at the same time, help you hone your writing chops. Each week the instructor will offer an assignment in some aspect of fiction writing--dialogue, setting, character--that you will try to incorporate into your chapter that week. You will be workshopping your pages with the class and will also receive critique each week from the instructor on up to 1,500 words of your writing.
Crafting Short Stories ~ Sarah Barnett (4 weeks) SPECIAL ½ PRICE
WHEN: Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - Noon, July 10, 17, 24, 31
WHERE: Lutheran Church of Our Savior behind Big Fish Grill – Rehoboth
COST: $90 RBWG members; $100 non-RBWG members
"Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and other dreams. They are journeys you can make to the far side of the universe and still be back in time for dinner." —Neil Gaiman
Writers from Ernest Hemingway to Stephen King learned the craft of writing through short stories before they published their first novels. In this workshop, we will write a short story, using Ron Carlson Writes a Story as a guide. In his book, Ron Carlson takes you through his process as he wrote one of his stories, including character development, dialogue, the “inner story.” For writers who have not previously tried writing fiction, we will examine some story-telling techniques used by successful writers and try applying them to our own writing.
MIXED GENRE
The Craft of Writing Prose ~ Maribeth Fischer (8 weeks)
WHEN: Mondays 6-8 p.m.: June 11, 18, 25, July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
WHERE: Lutheran Church of our Savior behind Big Fish Grill – Rehoboth
COST: $360 RBWG members; $400 non-RBWG members
Although participants in this class will be working on their own prose--fiction or nonfiction--and will be completing assignments that they will give Maribeth each week for comments (if they want), this is not a workshop and participants will not be sharing their work with others. Instead, each week, through in-class exercises geared to help writers analyze their own work, participants will explore different techniques and craft issues with an eye towards improving the use of these things in their writing. Techniques will be based, in part, on what skills the writers in the class need most in their writing--and perhaps want to better understand--but some possibilities have to do with a look at why “show don’t tell” is a rule that often sets writers back, for there is a need in prose to show and tell; why the main purpose of dialogue is not to convey information, a mistake commonly made, and how written dialogue is drastically different from what we actually say when we speak; why knowing 100 details of a character’s background isn’t nearly as important as knowing what a character wants.… Upon signing up, writers will be asked to send 750 words of prose writing to Maribeth (so she can determine craft areas to focus on).
Sources and Methods ~ Judy Catterton (4 weeks)
WHEN: Wednesdays 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: August 8, 15, 22 & 29
WHERE: Judy’s King Creek house
COST: $180 RBWG members; $200 non-RBWG members
This workshop will focus on the use of research to enhance fiction, non-fiction writing, even poetry. Does the reader need to know something of the history, geography or character of the event, place, or custom you’re writing about? Is there a scientific study, experiment or hypothesis that will make some aspect of your story more believable or more interesting? Or perhaps serve as a metaphor? Does the writing improve if you add context? For example what else was going on at the same time of the story? Maybe the reader would like to know that your story takes place three years before Brown v. Board of Education was decided? Or that the day your protagonist was born was the day man first walked on the moon? Do the colors of the harbor scene look like a painting by Monet? Where does research fit and where does it detract from a narrative? How should the results of research be framed so as to conform to the voice of the narrator?
NONFICTON
Stories that Matter: Writing Memoir ~ Ellen Collins (6 weeks)
WHEN: Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., June 21 to August 2 No class July 5
WHERE: Lutheran Church of our Savior behind Big Fish Grill – Rehoboth
COST: $270 RBWG members; $340 non-RBWG members
This class is for all those who have flirted with the idea of exploring memoir as a way of telling their stories. What is the difference between autobiography and memoir? How do you find the stories that really matter? Are there themes that keep surfacing in our writing? What are the best literary tools to use to make those stories come to life? We will use a workshop format to share writing each week and look at examples of contemporary memoir as well.
POETRY
The Art of Revision ~ Ethan Joella & Gail Braune Comorat (5 weeks)
WHEN: Mondays, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., July 9 to August 6
WHERE: Lutheran Church of our Savior behind Big Fish Grill – Rehoboth
COST: $270 RBWG members; $340 non-RBWG members
The energy of revision is the energy of creation and change, which is also the energy of destruction. — Maggie Anderson
In this class we’ll provide exercises for beginning new work, perhaps styles you haven’t tried. We’ll use these new poems as models for revisions. Which poems have the most potential to surprise both writer and reader? How do we help poems evolve without destroying work that is still raw? Too often when we revise, we strip out lines that have the possibility of surprise. Stephen Dunn advises that we employ expansion as part of our revision. What if we insert obstacles into our poems, ruffle the smooth waters of where we think the lines should go? We’ll become more informed by looking at examples of how other poets work through their own revision process.