You will transform your day into poetry and fiction. You will make poems and stories from everyday details of your life.

Spend an evening practicing and learning about the art of public speaking. This in-person coaching session will give you the opportunity to bring your voice– and self– to the words you’ve written. You’ll learn how to become a more genuine and effective communicator of your work, which will in turn fuel a more authentic writing process and outcome. You’ll leave the workshop with an experience of camaraderie, community, and a more deeply rooted sense of your creative and expressive self. Please have on hand a number of pieces you’d be comfortable sharing during the meeting. There will be a break; please also bring a snack and water.

You want to write. So why can't you get yourself to sit down and do it? We'll start by discussing some of the causes of creative blocks, before moving on to exercises that will help you melt back into your writing. We'll close with a generative writing exercise. You'll leave with tactics you can implement whenever you start to feel stuck, so you can finally do the writing you want to do!

Ignite your creative spark using the prompt of the abecedarian form, which works powerfully in both poetry and creative nonfiction. In an “abecedarian,” consecutive lines, sentences, or paragraphs lead with consecutive letters of the alphabet, posing unique opportunities and challenges. We’ll look at examples and identify options for further reading, including book-length projects. Participants will experiment with designing their own abecedarian structures for poems and essays.

The artist statement is an opportunity to demonstrate that you are a thoughtful, deliberate writer who takes their literary career seriously. You'll need a version of this statement on your grant, fellowship, and residency applications, as well as your author web page. In this class, you'll learn how to cast your work in its strongest, most evocative light. Writers will finish class with a statement that's ready to impress. Students will complete a pre-work questionnaire before the first class.

Each session of Boot Camp for Writers will begin with a prompt followed by writing time. Participants will have the opportunity to share and discuss their work as well as receive in-class feedback. The workshops is designed so that participants will have the start of six new pieces by the end of class. Former Boot Camp participants are always (and happily) welcome.

This workshop will help you learn and apply the fundamentals of message-focused speechwriting, whether you are writing for someone else or for yourself. Having a writing background helps but is not required.

Even when a story is skillfully crafted, it may not be enough to make the reader care. The key lies in creating an emotional impact that connects them to your narrative—encouraging readers to invest in your characters and embark on their own emotional journeys. We’ll discuss how to avoid clichés and heavy-handed moralizing while determining the right balance of internal thought, scene, and underlying tension. Additionally, we’ll explore how to use an object or image (such as your father’s watch, a specific place, or a work of art) to carry the emotional weight of your story. Through reading examples and participating in short exercises, you will have the opportunity to practice and refine your ability to evoke empathy on the page.

Prompts will spark memories, characters, and places, turning them into poems, scenes, dialogues, and stories. During ‘UnClogging’ you will likely come up with an ‘idea’ that you feel compelled to expand on, or perhaps be re-inspired to continue an unfinished work later. Find new perspective and confidence!

Each week we will use writing prompts to generate fresh authentic work and invite participants to share their new work for immediate encouraging feedback. In week 2 we will discuss editing strategies that enhance the craft of narrative fiction and nonfiction. Additionally, for weeks 3, 4, and 5 participants are invited to submit one polished piece to the group for more comprehensive feedback.

Strengthening the conflict in any type of fiction will bump up the tension and turn limp, ordinary fiction into an extraordinary tale that will keep readers turning pages. Whether you choose to write literary fiction, mysteries, family sagas, thrillers, historical fiction, sci-fi or fantasy—you can learn techniques for drawing readers into your tales through action, dialogue, setting details, and plot twists that make your work stand out from the crowd. Join us and leave with ideas to apply to your stories.

Using quotes, poems and/or personal reflections, students will combine words with easy to follow art techniques to create an art journal reflecting their own personal style. *Students should bring to all classes a blank watercolor journal, 8x8 or larger. All other art materials used in class will be provided by instructor. (*For questions about what type of journal to purchase, please email instructor at: jwstudio@msn.com)

Are you bilingual or fluent in two (or more) languages? Are you learning a foreign language? Are you interested in exploring a heritage language you grew up hearing? This informative presentation will provide tips for getting started as a literary translator and include time for questions at the end. From Charles Simic to Robert Bly and Elizabeth Bishop, many poets and writers have also translated significant works from other languages. How does turning a pen toward literary translation enrich a poet's own writing practice? What are some of the practical, cultural, and ethical considerations that translators should consider and what should you know about world language rights and publication before allowing translations of your own verse to go into print? This workshop is open to poets of all levels and backgrounds, as well as to translators working out of any language into English. Presentation includes elements of translation ethics, culture, trauma-informed practice, equity and inclusion, outreach to authors, and publication.

For your book to succeed, you must know which books you are competing against. In this interactive workshop, we will look at resources for locating comparable and competing titles, analyze comparable and competing titles, and look at how to use that information to inform your writing as well as in your proposal or query letter. Attendees will walk away with an in-depth understanding of one more piece of the book-publishing puzzle.

A braided story weaves two or more distinct threads—memories, events, voices, topics, or styles—into one cohesive narrative. The strands speak to one another through juxtaposition, echo, interruption, and surprise. In this workshop you will study published examples, both fiction and nonfiction, create strands of your own, and explore creating your own narrative braid.

Pain is part of life, whether it’s the loss of a job, a pet, a friendship, your innocence, your health, or a loved one. In my case, I've lost a sister to suicide and a son to a heroin overdose. Even though death is a part of life, it need not be crippling or debilitating. In this session, we’ll look at strategies -- including journaling and storytelling -- to help you move forward, through and beyond the pain and into a future that can once again be filled with hope—and even joy. The session includes short writing exercises.

This quick-take session focuses on ways to get yourself unstuck when a story’s middle gets thorny, or you lose your way. A relaxed, informative 90 minutes chockful of information from a multi-published author who often has to fight her way out of the middle of a manuscript…and onward to a completed novel. Loads of tips and tricks for you to take away!

A dynamic workshop on the single most important skill any writer can have. Skilled writers make readers feel and intuit precisely what they want them to by using the technique of showing writing. No other element of craft promises this immediacy and power to bring a work to life. This is how to make a flat passage sing, how to gain your readers’ trust and emotional participation. Through exploration of compelling published examples, exercises, lively discussion, and inspiring instruction, you will learn to elevate your stories to submission-quality prose.

This class pulls back the curtain on the ins and outs of publishing by walking participants through the component parts of the publishing industry. From the role of literary agents to the dreaded query letter to what an editor’s job is to the different types of publishers (big 5, indie, small press, vanity press, self-publishing) to how authors are paid, this jam-packed class takes a practical approach that will focus on the business side of writing with lots of time for Q&A. Whether you want to know how books come to exist or are simply curious about how this notoriously opaque industry works, this class is for you.

Please note: This class will touch on what query letters are and the purpose they serve but this is not a class on how to write query letters.

PRIOR PARTICIPANTS SAY:
— “A remarkable two hours. That was the very best—and most helpful—presentation on publishing I've ever experienced.”

— “Outstanding seminar. Lacey was well prepared, organized, knowledgeable, experienced & responsive. She engaged attendees & provided ample yet structured time for questions.”

— “Very helpful and I learned a lot. I liked how she was realistic but hopeful.”

— “It’s totally worth the time and money.”

— “Absolutely do it if you’re able. I absolutely loved the class and got a ton out of it.”