RBWG Summer 2025 Classes
Weekly Calendar
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Register Here Please register first with Maribeth at [email protected] 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. Pay Here 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 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. Please do not pay prior to hearing from Maribeth that the class is running and a seat is available. We are unable to make full refunds if payment is received without confirmation from Maribeth first.
Our Instructors
Click here to read brief biographies for each of our instructors.
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Writing Challenge
Get Up and Go Write: Ten-Day Writing Challenge — Maribeth Fischer (10 days)
When: Monday-Friday, June 9-20 (no weekends)
Where: Online via Email
Cost: RBWG Members $50; Non-Members $65
One day, as the novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Dream Count; Americanah ) was in despair about her own writing, she pulled a collection of poems from her shelf, Faster than Light by Marilyn Nelson, former poet laureate of Connecticut. “I started reading and something magical happened,” Adichie said. “She (Nelson) had done what I longed to do and what I most admire in literature, when the writer is able to blend heart and head. It just made me think, Get up and go write. It wasn’t subtle and dreamy. It was immediate.”
For ten days, that’s what we’ll do. Monday through Friday, for two weeks, we’re going to get up and go write. Our goal? 500 words a day; 5,000 words at the end of our ten days together. Each morning, I’ll send you a few words of inspiration—a reminder that even hugely successful writers like Adichie struggle with writing. A reminder, in other words, that we aren’t alone in finding writing difficult (even if we love doing it!)
I’ll also send you a prompt that you can use or not. It’s up to you. All you have to do is write your 500 words and then email me the exact number of words you wrote once you’ve finished for the day. There’s no critique, no judgment, no pressure. It’s just you writing in your own space, letting the words accumulate.
When: Monday-Friday, June 9-20 (no weekends)
Where: Online via Email
Cost: RBWG Members $50; Non-Members $65
One day, as the novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Dream Count; Americanah ) was in despair about her own writing, she pulled a collection of poems from her shelf, Faster than Light by Marilyn Nelson, former poet laureate of Connecticut. “I started reading and something magical happened,” Adichie said. “She (Nelson) had done what I longed to do and what I most admire in literature, when the writer is able to blend heart and head. It just made me think, Get up and go write. It wasn’t subtle and dreamy. It was immediate.”
For ten days, that’s what we’ll do. Monday through Friday, for two weeks, we’re going to get up and go write. Our goal? 500 words a day; 5,000 words at the end of our ten days together. Each morning, I’ll send you a few words of inspiration—a reminder that even hugely successful writers like Adichie struggle with writing. A reminder, in other words, that we aren’t alone in finding writing difficult (even if we love doing it!)
I’ll also send you a prompt that you can use or not. It’s up to you. All you have to do is write your 500 words and then email me the exact number of words you wrote once you’ve finished for the day. There’s no critique, no judgment, no pressure. It’s just you writing in your own space, letting the words accumulate.
Publishing
Keys to Publishing Your Personal Essays — Elise Seyfried and Patti Garrison (6 sessions)
When: Wednesdays, June 25, July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Where: Online Tutorial via Email
Cost: RBWG Members $300; Non-Members $350
Publishing your work is important. Even if you are giving a piece to some smaller publication for free, you will learn something about your writing. The editor will say something, friends will mention it. You will learn.
—Tim Cahill (travel writer)
Writing is its own reward. Sharing that writing with an audience is extra-special, and being paid for your creative work is icing on the cake! Two published Guild writers, Elise Seyfried and Patti Garrison (Next Avenue, HuffPost, The Independent, Insider, Persimmon Tree, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Delmarva Review, Delaware Beach Life, etc.), will offer their different perspectives on this very exciting step in the writing journey, sharing lots of helpful tips about outlets, editors, pitching, and much more! Each week you’ll complete an assignment tailored to a different publication, and you’ll hone your pitching/submitting skills. The goal is to finish the class with at least one ready-to-publish piece, and renewed inspiration to share your personal stories with the world!
Introduction to Substack: How to Share Your Writing, Find an Audience, and Get Paid — Mariah Burton Nelson (1 Session)
When: Thursday, July 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Where: Zoom
Cost: RBWG Members: $60; Non-Members $75
Do you want to get published?
Substack offers a writer-focused publishing model that allows you to take matters into your own hands. You can share any sort of writing, find readers, and compile a body of work online while retaining copyright. Better than the old blogs, Substack sends each story you upload directly to your subscribers’ email inboxes. It even facilitates payments from readers who want to support you financially.
From the comfort of your own desk, click on a Zoom link to watch, listen, and ask questions as Mariah provides an overview of some key details of this new publishing option. In this two-hour session, you’ll learn how to:
When: Wednesdays, June 25, July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Where: Online Tutorial via Email
Cost: RBWG Members $300; Non-Members $350
Publishing your work is important. Even if you are giving a piece to some smaller publication for free, you will learn something about your writing. The editor will say something, friends will mention it. You will learn.
—Tim Cahill (travel writer)
Writing is its own reward. Sharing that writing with an audience is extra-special, and being paid for your creative work is icing on the cake! Two published Guild writers, Elise Seyfried and Patti Garrison (Next Avenue, HuffPost, The Independent, Insider, Persimmon Tree, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Delmarva Review, Delaware Beach Life, etc.), will offer their different perspectives on this very exciting step in the writing journey, sharing lots of helpful tips about outlets, editors, pitching, and much more! Each week you’ll complete an assignment tailored to a different publication, and you’ll hone your pitching/submitting skills. The goal is to finish the class with at least one ready-to-publish piece, and renewed inspiration to share your personal stories with the world!
Introduction to Substack: How to Share Your Writing, Find an Audience, and Get Paid — Mariah Burton Nelson (1 Session)
When: Thursday, July 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Where: Zoom
Cost: RBWG Members: $60; Non-Members $75
Do you want to get published?
Substack offers a writer-focused publishing model that allows you to take matters into your own hands. You can share any sort of writing, find readers, and compile a body of work online while retaining copyright. Better than the old blogs, Substack sends each story you upload directly to your subscribers’ email inboxes. It even facilitates payments from readers who want to support you financially.
From the comfort of your own desk, click on a Zoom link to watch, listen, and ask questions as Mariah provides an overview of some key details of this new publishing option. In this two-hour session, you’ll learn how to:
- Upload poetry, stories, essays, or artwork
- Name, design, and launch your publication
- Find readers without the angst and agony of marketing
- Set up free and paid subscriptions
Poetry
Experiments with Voice in Poetry (or What Billy Joel Taught Me about Finding My Own Style) — Gail Braune Comorat (5 sessions)
When: Tuesdays, 10a.m.-Noon, June 24, July 1, 8, 15, 22
Where: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (Bay Vista Road, Rehoboth)
Cost: RBWG Members $250; Non-Members $280
In many poems voice is the mysterious atmosphere that makes it memorable, that holds it together.—Tony Hoagland
No one can find his/her own voice without some experimentation. In this class, we’ll talk about how Billy Joel’s early failures helped him find his own “musical voice” through experimenting with different styles of music. We will read examples of poets with strong voices and play with writing poems like theirs. We’ll look at diction and tone, study refrains and repetition to understand how they add weight to a poem. We’ll play with ways to add music to lines, and learn how to become convincing speakers as we write narrative poems.
From weekly assignments, each participant will write original poems which will be looked at during gentle group discussions. We’ll talk about how to start revision and/or if a poem is ready for this important step. This class is for poets of all levels.
ABCs of Poetry — Ellen Collins (4 sessions)
When: Mondays, July 14, 21, 28, and August 4
Where: Online Tutorial via Email
Cost: RBWG Members: $200; Non-Members $225
In this class, we will explore ways to ACCESS your poet’s heart and mind, to bring forth the poems that are waiting to be expressed. Poetry’s simplest definition is what happens when you interact with the world around you. It doesn’t require a plot, characters, or any specific structure. Second, we will investigate how to BUILD these initial poems into new expressions using formatting and sound. Finally, we will look for CONNECTIONS between ourselves and our poems to other poets, establishing our place in a wider circle of writers and awareness.
When: Tuesdays, 10a.m.-Noon, June 24, July 1, 8, 15, 22
Where: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (Bay Vista Road, Rehoboth)
Cost: RBWG Members $250; Non-Members $280
In many poems voice is the mysterious atmosphere that makes it memorable, that holds it together.—Tony Hoagland
No one can find his/her own voice without some experimentation. In this class, we’ll talk about how Billy Joel’s early failures helped him find his own “musical voice” through experimenting with different styles of music. We will read examples of poets with strong voices and play with writing poems like theirs. We’ll look at diction and tone, study refrains and repetition to understand how they add weight to a poem. We’ll play with ways to add music to lines, and learn how to become convincing speakers as we write narrative poems.
From weekly assignments, each participant will write original poems which will be looked at during gentle group discussions. We’ll talk about how to start revision and/or if a poem is ready for this important step. This class is for poets of all levels.
ABCs of Poetry — Ellen Collins (4 sessions)
When: Mondays, July 14, 21, 28, and August 4
Where: Online Tutorial via Email
Cost: RBWG Members: $200; Non-Members $225
In this class, we will explore ways to ACCESS your poet’s heart and mind, to bring forth the poems that are waiting to be expressed. Poetry’s simplest definition is what happens when you interact with the world around you. It doesn’t require a plot, characters, or any specific structure. Second, we will investigate how to BUILD these initial poems into new expressions using formatting and sound. Finally, we will look for CONNECTIONS between ourselves and our poems to other poets, establishing our place in a wider circle of writers and awareness.
Mixed Genre
Workshop, A Three-Hour Tour: Discovering New Direction in Your Writing — Ethan Joella (1 session)
When: NEW DATE Tuesday, July 22, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Where: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (Bay Vista Road, Rehoboth)
Cost: RBWG Members $80; Non-Members $95
Have you been poring over the same piece nonstop and need a break? Do you have a new idea but aren’t sure how to get started with it? Are you just generally looking for new approaches or inspiration? Then this one-day workshop is for you. In this class, we’ll do a series of prompts to help you get out of your groove and get started on something fresh. We’ll discuss issues such as where to begin and end the piece and how to achieve transparency and momentum. Writers will be invited (not required) to share work and exchange ideas. All genres welcome!
When: NEW DATE Tuesday, July 22, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Where: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (Bay Vista Road, Rehoboth)
Cost: RBWG Members $80; Non-Members $95
Have you been poring over the same piece nonstop and need a break? Do you have a new idea but aren’t sure how to get started with it? Are you just generally looking for new approaches or inspiration? Then this one-day workshop is for you. In this class, we’ll do a series of prompts to help you get out of your groove and get started on something fresh. We’ll discuss issues such as where to begin and end the piece and how to achieve transparency and momentum. Writers will be invited (not required) to share work and exchange ideas. All genres welcome!
Fiction
Assembling a Short Story: Elements of Good Fiction — Ethan Joella (5 sessions)
When: Mondays, June 30, July 7, 14, 21, 28
Where: Online Tutorial via Email
Cost: RBWG Members $250; Non-Members $275
All levels welcome! In this individual online tutorial, you’ll be reading short works of fiction weekly and using these pieces as springboards for low-stakes exercises in character, setting, dialogue, and point of view. Authors to be read include contemporary writers like Claire Keegan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Junot Diaz, and Lauren Groff. In the final week, you’ll put together what you’ve learned and submit your own short story.
Graduate School in a Box (or Essentials of Fiction Writing) — Maribeth Fischer (8 sessions)
When: Fridays, June 6, 13, 20, 27, July 11, 18, 25, and August 1
Where: Online Tutorial via Email
Cost: RBWG Member $400; Non-members $450
This is a class for writers coming to creative writing after years in the business, legal, or academic world. You know how to write; you’ve done it your whole life, but fiction is a different ballgame. Or maybe you’ve written creatively for years, are halfway through a novel, but never actually learned—or perhaps want to review—the fundamental techniques of fiction writing.
Each week we’ll explore a key aspect of fiction writing, doing brief exercises that allow participants to better understand how to apply these techniques to their own work. We’ll look at how to create three-dimensional characters who “seem to breathe on the page” (yes, there are specific techniques and rules to guide writers); we’ll discuss what constitutes plot (and no, you don’t have to have it figured out before you begin); we’ll discuss point of view and why it’s essential to all writing, look at how and when to write flashbacks; review the essential ingredients of good dialogue, pacing, and more. Each class will cover years of creative writing “lessons” distilled into what is essential for every writer to know.
Participants will be given a short assignment each week (and if the writer is currently working on a project—a novel or story—these assignments can be used to develop the writing of that specific project). A number of Guild writers who started with this class three years ago are now querying agents about their novels. (Maribeth asks writers to take this class before jumping into an in-person novel workshop).
When: Mondays, June 30, July 7, 14, 21, 28
Where: Online Tutorial via Email
Cost: RBWG Members $250; Non-Members $275
All levels welcome! In this individual online tutorial, you’ll be reading short works of fiction weekly and using these pieces as springboards for low-stakes exercises in character, setting, dialogue, and point of view. Authors to be read include contemporary writers like Claire Keegan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Junot Diaz, and Lauren Groff. In the final week, you’ll put together what you’ve learned and submit your own short story.
Graduate School in a Box (or Essentials of Fiction Writing) — Maribeth Fischer (8 sessions)
When: Fridays, June 6, 13, 20, 27, July 11, 18, 25, and August 1
Where: Online Tutorial via Email
Cost: RBWG Member $400; Non-members $450
This is a class for writers coming to creative writing after years in the business, legal, or academic world. You know how to write; you’ve done it your whole life, but fiction is a different ballgame. Or maybe you’ve written creatively for years, are halfway through a novel, but never actually learned—or perhaps want to review—the fundamental techniques of fiction writing.
Each week we’ll explore a key aspect of fiction writing, doing brief exercises that allow participants to better understand how to apply these techniques to their own work. We’ll look at how to create three-dimensional characters who “seem to breathe on the page” (yes, there are specific techniques and rules to guide writers); we’ll discuss what constitutes plot (and no, you don’t have to have it figured out before you begin); we’ll discuss point of view and why it’s essential to all writing, look at how and when to write flashbacks; review the essential ingredients of good dialogue, pacing, and more. Each class will cover years of creative writing “lessons” distilled into what is essential for every writer to know.
Participants will be given a short assignment each week (and if the writer is currently working on a project—a novel or story—these assignments can be used to develop the writing of that specific project). A number of Guild writers who started with this class three years ago are now querying agents about their novels. (Maribeth asks writers to take this class before jumping into an in-person novel workshop).
Nonfiction
Experiments in Creative Nonfiction — Maribeth Fischer (6 sessions)
When: Tuesdays 3-5 p.m., July 1, 8, 29 (No class on Jul 15, 22), August 5, 12, 19
Where: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (Bay Vista Road, Rehoboth)
Cost: RBWG Members $300; Non-Members $340
“No art ever came out of not risking your neck. And risk — experiments — is a considerable part of the joy of doing.”
— Eudora Welty, On Writing
This is a class for advanced writers of nonfiction who want to experiment with form and structure—maybe even content—in the writing of their essays.
Each week, participants will be challenged to begin an essay using a format they may never have considered. What does an essay look like that is comprised only of beginnings and false starts? An autobiographical essay based on one’s “search” history? A description of one’s house, based on Zillow or Reddit or Google Maps? An essay made up of only of fragments? An essay modeled after the poetic form of a sestina? The goal will be to begin essays with the hope that of the five experiments we will try, at least one or two might be something the writer can polish with a goal of publication. The classes will be workshopped-based and so, participants should be comfortable offering honest, constructive criticism.
When: Tuesdays 3-5 p.m., July 1, 8, 29 (No class on Jul 15, 22), August 5, 12, 19
Where: Lutheran Church of Our Savior (Bay Vista Road, Rehoboth)
Cost: RBWG Members $300; Non-Members $340
“No art ever came out of not risking your neck. And risk — experiments — is a considerable part of the joy of doing.”
— Eudora Welty, On Writing
This is a class for advanced writers of nonfiction who want to experiment with form and structure—maybe even content—in the writing of their essays.
Each week, participants will be challenged to begin an essay using a format they may never have considered. What does an essay look like that is comprised only of beginnings and false starts? An autobiographical essay based on one’s “search” history? A description of one’s house, based on Zillow or Reddit or Google Maps? An essay made up of only of fragments? An essay modeled after the poetic form of a sestina? The goal will be to begin essays with the hope that of the five experiments we will try, at least one or two might be something the writer can polish with a goal of publication. The classes will be workshopped-based and so, participants should be comfortable offering honest, constructive criticism.
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