Tag: writing

Portland workshops

Portland Events: Half-Day Workshops

New Half-Day Workshops

Let’s Go Write presents TWO HALF-DAY WORKSHOPS

May 5, 2018 – MOTIVATION

Everything starts with character!

–What motivates your characters?
–How do you suss out your characters’ motivations?(May be harder than it sounds!)
–How do you show motivation on the page?
–How do motivations affect your plot and drive your story? i Bonus: what motivates you as a writer?

May 19, 2018 – ALL ABOUT THE ARC

The narrative has an arc, the character has an arc, and every scene has an arc too. Let’s explore!

–Write a beginning that foreshadows the arc of the story i Character arcs – how do your characters change?
–Create arcs in scenes and chapters
–Is anything exempt from the rule of the arc

–Make all the arcs fit together

THE DETAILS:

1:30 to 4:30 pm at TaborSpace Library, 5441 SE Belmont St., Portland, Oregon 97215 $47 per session; $80 for both
twelve-student limit
Contact: Debbie: dguyol@aol.com Charlotte: chardixon@comcast.net

 

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Jump-start your writing in the new year with some half-day workshops on various aspects of the writing craft in January and February.  Here are the details:

January 6, 2018 – CREATE YOUR CHARACTERS

It all starts with character! We can help you:

–Create a character,
–Develop a character you’ve created,
–Tame a rebellious character you’ve created.

January 20, 2018 – USE YOUR SETTING

Explore the role of setting in fiction and memoir:

–Enrich character through setting,
–Consider how place influences story,
–Examine the relationship between landscape and theme.

February 3, 2018 – LEARN THE SECRETS OF STRUCTURE

More exploration:

–Construct a scene, the basic building block of structure,
–Learn screenplay structure and how to use it in your novel or memoir, i Review other theories of structure.

February 17, 2018 – FIND YOUR VOICE

And finally we’ll look at the all-important (and often elusive) voice:

–Define what it is and how to get it,
–Explore voice through language,
–See how voice affects other fiction and memoir fundamentals.

THE DETAILS:

1:30 to 4:30 pm
$47 per session; $160 for all four twelve-student limit
Venue: TaborSpace Library
5441 SE Belmont St., Portland, Oregon 97215 http://letsgowrite.com/
Debbie: dguyol@aol.com
Charlotte: chardixon@comcast.net

How to Write a Book Portland workshops

Portland Workshop: How To Write a Book 2.0

Another workshop successfully completed! Next up comes Secrets of Publishing this fall.  Stay tuned!

Our day-long workshops on March 21 and June 27 were great, with participants getting insights into the writing process and their individual projects.  We’re planning an encore in winter or spring of 2016, so read on to see what we covered in past events.

Let’s Go Write presents       LetsGoWrite_logo-lg

HOW TO WRITE A BOOK 2.0

A One-day Workshop

You have an idea for a book, or

You’ve started writing one, or

You’ve written a bunch – 50 pages or even 100 –

BUT:

You feel lost or confused, or

You don’t know how you’ll finish the book, or

You fear it will be a mess if you manage to finish it.

WE CAN HELP!

Our workshop will guide you through

1. Summing up the main idea:

  • Identify an idea that will see you through the long haul
  • Find a theme
  • Let your main idea sprout related ideas (you need a lot of ideas for a book)

2. Identifying characters and conflicts:

  • Fun ways to get to know your characters
  • And understand their problems

3. Figuring out beginnings and endings:

  • The inciting incident
  • Lay out fireworks and set them off

4. Finding a path from here to there:

  • Different ways to structure the book
  • The dreaded middle

5. Doing it your way:

  • Find time to write
  • Make a plan

THE DETAILS: June 27, 2015, 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. $89 including lunch. We’ll meet at Tabor Space, 5441 SE Belmont St., Portland, Oregon 97215

To sign up, email Debbie: dguyol@aol.com or Charlotte: chardixon@comcast.net.

Testimonials!

“Your class was very helpful! I took a lot of notes and got a lot of ideas from what others were saying, even if it wasn’t about my story. . . . Thanks again for offering this to me. I would do it again.” Kathy

“Thank you for such a lovely day, both of you are delightful and offered us all so much inspiration. I’m excited to see where my story goes.” Susan

“Thank you so much for a wonderful workshop! It was very well organized and informative but with a nice, relaxed air. I learned so much from both of you and also from the other attendees.” Cheryl

“It was wonderful. You two are great workshop leaders/teachers and the group was such an inspiration to me. ” Leigh

“I enjoyed the workshop – the interaction with other participants and the information presented along with the handouts. A plan of action for my short stories is in the making!”  Robert

Portland workshops

Portland Creative Writing Workshop!

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Our first Portland workshop was a great success!  Here’s a testimonial from a participant:

You two are a great combo. Somewhat like good cop/bad cop, but much more fun with your sense of humor showing. You both give very positive feedback and advice on how to make our writing better. The workshop was challenging, and yet relaxing. No pressure to be a literary master during each writing exercise.

Thanks again, Kathryn Hathaway
 
Stay tuned for information on future local workshops!

 

FINDING YOUR PLACE:  Using Setting in Creative Writing

In this small workshop we’ll go on adventures to familiar and exotic places. Cityscape, garden, forest; office, apartment, airplane; foreign land or down the street. Find a setting for your story, or learn how to make better use of the location you’ve already chosen! We’ll explore how setting influences character and action in fiction and nonfiction. In-class writing exercises are also aimed at conveying setting both in few words and in many. Three hours, optional lunch with the group after class.

February 4, 9:30–12:30

Workshop will be held at Tabor Space, 5441 SE Belmont, Portland, OR 97215

Upon payment, you’ll receive a confirmation email from us.  See you in February!

Just $45, limited to 12 students.

Photo by Wolfgang Staudt.