April 16-18 , 2004
This workshop offers an opportunity to study the elements of the art of fiction through a series of specially created exercises and guided meditations. Intended for experienced writers as well as those who are just beginning, we’ll cover practical information about resources, useful organizations, and barriers to getting published, but the primary emphasis will be on the craft of writing.
Our method is the short lecture with examples read aloud, followed by writing exercises geared toward learning the skills professional writers actually need. Only work written during the workshop will be discussed. We’ll share work in small groups in a nonjudgmental environment designed to support our skills and hone our abilities. As the weekend progresses, some who choose can share their work with the larger group. Using talks, exercises and examples proven to work, we’ll learn how to begin a piece by seducing your reader; how to create characters that embody the infinite contradictions of human behavior; how to master the elements of plotting fiction; how to create a strategy for telling the story of your life; how to avoid writing like a victim; how to learn to read critically; like a professional writer; and how to realistically approach publishing.
We’ll address the overlooked powers of dialogue, creating descriptions that move readers emotionally, overcoming the inner and outer barriers to creativity, how to handle the difficulties of writing about loved ones, learning about agents, rejections, and submitting work effectively, how much writers really earn, and the truth about electronic publishing. We recommend that you read So You Want To Write, Marge and Ira’s book about writing, before you come, so the workshop can embellish and deepen the wisdom contained in this excellent work. Their last workshop here ended in a standing ovation so we hope you will join these distinguished writers as they share their wisdom gained during two writing lives.
Marge Piercy wrote seven books before her first was accepted and she has now published 15 novels and 15 books of poetry, won international critical acclaim, and seen her work translated into 16 languages. The Moon is Always Female has sold almost 100,000 copies, astounding for poetry and Circles on the Water, her selected poems, is in its 14th printing. As a distinguished woman of letters, she doesn’t romanticize the writer’s life, but sits down to a day of work like everyone else. People around the world have been inspired by her poetry, but she’s also the best selling writer of such novels as Gone to Soldiers, The Longings of Women, He, She, and It, Woman on the Edge of Time, and most recently Three Women.
Ira Wood surprises workshop guests, who come to work with Marge, but discover a natural teacher. Ira’s not shy about his own tough times as a writer. He got 29 rejections and had three different agents before he sold his first novel himself to an independent press. The Kitchen Man garnered stunning reviews, a movie option and screenplay deal with Universal, and a mass paperback sale to Random House. Ira is also the EditorinChief of Leapfrog Press, so he can explain what publishers look for in a manuscript, how to read the subtext of rejection letters, and how a writer must partner with a publisher in order to insure a book’s success.
Marge and Ira collaborated on the highly acclaimed novel Storm Tide, as well as the book based on this course, So You Want to Write, hailed by the critics as a musthave book for wouldbe writers. Join this master class by two highly energetic professionals who enjoy sharing unique insights gained in over seventy years of combined experience in all aspects of the publishing world.