Creative Writing Seminars

Jessie offers three basic levels of creative writing seminars to groups and organizations focused on writers at different levels. These can be customized as needed to last from two to six hours. Shorter sessions are best offered on a single day, while longer ones are most useful if drawn out over the course of two or more days.

She can also develop customized options for interested groups and come speak about her writing process. Contact her at jesterqueen at charter dot net for more information.

 

Introductory

These courses are aimed at beginners who struggle to get started or to follow an idea to its conclusion. Participants can expect to cover creative writing basics including idea generation techniques, best practices in writing, and tricks for writing under stressful circumstances. Participants should come prepared with their favorite writing tools and open minds. The goal is for them to come away having either crafted a strong introductory section of a piece or distilled an idea into a form they can turn into a finished work.  Introductory sessions work well in sessions of any length.

Intermediate

These courses are aimed at those who understand the basics but need to learn more about completion and revision. There is particular focus on the revision process and on the techniques authors can use to give each other useful and thorough feedback. Participants should come prepared to share a short piece anonymously with the group, receive feedback about it, and substantially revise portions of it. Intermediate sessions work best when broken into two blocks of at least an hour and a half in length with a slight or substantial break in between. (A lunch period or a daylong break, for instance.)

Hardcore

These courses are aimed to help writers who feel confident with their skills establish a face to face writing community. There is focus on developing meticulous revision techniques and helping others see patterns in their writing (both positive and negative!). Hardcore classes are limited to ten attendees per session in order to give sufficient focus to each individual.  Participants should submit three to five pages of work a week prior to the event for Jessie’s feedback, and then bring a copy for each member of the group. Be prepared to receive feedback, revise the work in a very short period of time, and bring the revisions back to share with the others.

These courses are best broken up over the course of two days (two or three hours per day) to allow participants time to revise in between meetings.  At the end of the course, Jessie will help existing writers groups develop online connections with one another and will help new groups develop both a face to face meeting schedule and an online community.