Writing Class in Brainerd, MN
January 11: MEMOIR I January 25: MEMOIR II
Do you have a story to tell but need a nudge to get it on the page? Or are you ready to revise some of the work you have already written? In this class, we will study the elements of writing an engaging personal story — dialogue, setting, description and scene. Through a variety of fast moving writing exercises, we’ll dig deep to find the great stories. There will be time to share your work with fellow students and receive feedback on your work. Bring your ideas and your questions and let’s write some great stories!
Instructor: Angela Foster teaches memoir at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, MN and holds a Master of Fine Arts
Degree in Creative Nonfiction from Pine Manor College in Boston, MA.
February 8: CREATING PLACE IN FICTION
Whether we’re placing our story in a familiar landscape, or inventing a fictional reality, the world our characters inhabit will shape their actions and their destinies. How, then, do we create a world so vivid and convincing readers will feel as if they’ve actually inhabited that place? How do we develop the relationship between character, conflict, and setting? Through discussion, reading, and writing, we will explore these questions as we develop our own settings. Participants will complete a series of writing exercises designed to help them establish their story’s world.
Instructor: Sheila O’Connor is an award-winning author, graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and professor in the MFA program at Hamline University.
February 22: CREATING CHARACTER IN FICTION
Character is at the center of good fiction, but how do writers create complex, three-dimensional characters? What tricks help writers inhabit a character’s heart and mind? What makes a character unforgettable? Where do characters begin? How do we find the character’s voice? These are some of the questions we will explore as we do a series of creative exercises designed to create vivid, convincing characters.
Instructor: Sheila O’Connor
Crossing Arts Alliance activities are funded, in part, by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Five Wings Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund; and grants from Brainerd Service League, Mid Minnesota Federal Credit Union, and the Anderson Family Legacy Fund.
www.crossingarts.org 218.833.0416 CALL FOR INFORMATION! Class Size is limited.
4 Classes. All levels of writing. Attend one or all! January 11, 25 and February 8, 22 9 a.m. to Noon
Q Gallery, 1001 Kingwood St. #222, Brainerd, MN 56401 $15 per class non-member, $10 per class TCAA member
