Note: No WTW seminars in December. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Seminar Descriptions

The Art of Observation I -- The ability to write intimately is essential to enabling your reader to see what you're seeing, hear what you're hearing, feel what you're feeling (physically and emotionally), etc. Observation, the ability to sense beyond the societal, physical and emotional veils with which we all contend, is essential to that intimacy. The veils identified. Techniques for sensing beyond the veils. Special focus on honing the physical senses.

The Art of Observation II -- Continuation of the discussion of the ability to write intimately. Focus on honing the emotional senses. Notes on sensing our connection with what we observe and our place in the grand scheme. Discussion of the states of consciousness and relaxation exercise included. Attendees should expect to have their writing spirit revived.

Creating Realistic Characters -- What causes the reader to immediately recognize and identify with a character type? What makes the individual character stand out from other, even similar characters? Why should "cardboard" or "flat" characters' dialogue be more colorful than that of more important characters? Here you'll learn to assign the character traits, quirks, and idiosyncracies that enable your characters to come to life for your reader! Includes a list of character traits.

Writing Dialect -- The old wisdom on writing dialect is a paradox: "Until you know how to write it well, don't write it at all." In this class you'll learn to write dialect like a master, which is to say you'll learn to think your way through it. Includes a comprehensive list of suggested words and spellings to use when writing dialect as well as rationale for and against using phonetic spelling, how much is too much, etc.

The Final Gasp: Leaving the Reader Open-Mouthed at Your Story Ending-- There might be a hundred ways to open your story, but there is just one way to end it: in a way that completely reconciles the plot and leaves your readers wanting more. In this workshop, we will review some of the greatest endings to stories and books, and examine our own works to find the best way to end them. We will also discuss the technique of writing an ending to use as a compass when composing the story � and either changing the ending or keeping it later.

Journaling: The Seed & the Spice, Part I -- This is an interactive writing workshop. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, you can use your personal journal to enhance, enliven, and empower your writing. Learn proven journaling techniques to spice up your stories with details gleaned from real life and flesh-out intriguing characters (true or imagined), even as you improve your own sense of well-being.

Journaling: The Seed & the Spice, Part II -- This is an interactive writing workshop. Build on what you learned in Part 1, or take this as a stand-alone workshop. Learn five additional journaling techniques to enhance, enliven, and empower your fiction or nonfiction writing. Come prepared to write. Note: If you attended Part 1, I encourage you to bring some of the exercises you wrote afterward and share them with the group.

Online Marketing for Writers, Part I -- Learn to make your website a valuable marketing tool, a dynamic introduction to you and your work. In three main topics Chris O'Byrne will cover Usability, how to see your website from the user's point of view and how to make it easy to use and understand; Optimization, how to make your website show up at the top of Google and other search sites; and Content, what to include on your website to ensure usability and optimization and to keep visitors coming back.

Online Marketing for Writers, Part II --This seminar will cover essential marketing items to include in your website, how to dip your toe into social media without drowning, and several other marketing tools you can use to build excitement and attract as many users as possible, including podcasting your book and doing a product launch.

Meet Me In The Middle: Mid-Book Plot And Narrative Blues-- We start our stories, novels and memoirs full of energy, ideas and enthusiasm. We build up to create endings that leave our readers speechless � and wanting more. What about the middle of the book? In this workshop, we will discuss and practice specific strategies for sustaining and continuing to build the energy and narrative strength of your plot, as well bringing further depth and insight to the story through your characters, plot twists and other decisions that you make. Make the middle of your stories just as strong and memorable as your beginnings and endings.

Writing Realistic Dialogue, Part I -- Learn various techniques that enable you to further suspend the reader's sense of disbelief through the use of realistic, non-linear dialogue and its nuances. Learn the natural give-and-take flow of dialogue, how to convey the emotions of the characters and manipulate the emotions of the reader.

Writing Realistic Dialogue, Part II -- Learn to convey the emotions of the characters and subliminally manipulate the mood and emotions of the reader through the intimate nuances of the language itself as well as dialogue and punctuation. Includes a limited discussion of narrative, the sounds of letters and words as they relate to conveying emotion, spontaneity, and four in-depth, specific techniques for conveying emotion through punctuation and sentence structure.

Writing Flash Fiction -- Write a complete short story with a setting, characters, conflict and resolution, in 99 words or fewer. Learn the importance of saying more with less, the art of implication (suggestion), etc.

Writing Great Beginnings -- How can you grab the reader from the first sentence of your story or novel or memoir? We will explore ways to turn a phrase, look into dramatic, emotional, and dramatic-emotional sentence structures, and learn techniques that will not drag the reader into the story, but have him leaping into the story of his own accord. Includes dozens of examples from published and unpublished manuscripts from known and unknown writers. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own opening lines and/or examples they particularly enjoy.

Writing the Memoir I -- Your story is unique. It is the treasure you take with you when you pass away unless it is written or recorded. In this session you will learn how to start (memoir mechanics), how to focus on what is most important, how to put your life in context with times and places and how to use the five senses to make your memoir sparkle. Note: Students should bring to the session at least a mid-size legal tablet (no itty bitty note pads) or a three-ring binder with lined paper, an automatic pencil with extra lead (no pens, please), a sense of humor and a packet of tissues. Tears are often a side effect.

Writing the Memoir II -- This is a continuation of Writing the Memoir I. In addition to extending what you learned in Memoir I, you will learn side effects you may experience while writing your memoir; using dialogue in Memoir; plot and story arc in Memoir; how to interview older family members; what you, as a memoir writer, should read; and disclaimers and other legal issues. Note: Students should bring to the session at least a mid-size legal tablet (no itty bitty note pads) or a three-ring binder with lined paper, an automatic pencil with extra lead (no pens, please), a sense of humor and a packet of tissues. Tears are often a side effect.

Writing Electric Narrative -- Learn to create mental movies; use narrative as an adjunct to dialogue; set scene and tone; the use of action verbs, adjectives and adverbs; using narrative as quasi-dialogue; and common snags in writing narrative.

Writing the Poem, I -- Our focus is on poetic techniques that are characteristic of all well-written poetry, no matter the sub-genre. The poet's task is to relate the poem itself and convey the spirit of the poem. Topics include the use of meter or not; the use and purpose of particular line lengths and line breaks; purposeful word choice; stanza use and construction; end and internal rhyme, either, or neither; definitions of free verse, blank verse, and various traditional forms; the use of punctuation in poetry; and the nuances of our beautiful language.

Writing the Poem, II -- Continuation of Writing the Poem I, plus a brief lecture with focus on imagery, metaphor and simile, on writing old things in a new way, and live reading techniques. Extensive Q&A and classroom discussion (depending on student participation). Time allowing, Harvey will read from his National Book Award nominated collection, Beyond the Masks.

Point of View & Narrative Voice -- We will define Point of View once and for all and clarify Narrative Voice. A lot of strong narrative tips in this one, including the natural tense for narrative, what other instructors really mean when they say "Show, don't tell," and how to immediately recognize (and repair) "passive" constructions. All of this and much more.

The Writing the World ^TM Instructors

Chris O'Byrne presents Online Marketing for Writers I & II. He grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota, joined the U.S. Air Force after graduation, and went on to become a chemical engineer and, later, a high school teacher. Today he's a freelance editor and web designer. Whether birding or hiking or playing music, he loves the Southwest and calls it home.

Marilyn Pate presents Writing the Memoir I & II. (Bio information will be posted soon.)

Barbara Stahura presents Journaling: The Seed and the Spice, Part I & II. Barbara has made her living as a writer since 1987, and as a freelancer since 1994. In 2009, she became a certified instructor of Journal to the Self, and is currently enrolled in the Certified Journal Facilitator program from the Center for Journal Therapy. Her latest book, After Brain Injury: Telling Your Story, is the first journaling workbook for people with brain injury. For her first collection of personal essays, What I Thought I Knew, she relied on her journals of many earlier years.