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SPRING 2012 CLASSES
Welcome to our Spring term. Registration opens January 1, 2012. Payment in full is required at the time of registration. Register and pay with Visa/Mastercard via our secure server by clicking the "Register and Pay Now" links below. If you prefer payment by check or Paypal, complete our online form. Some courses do fill quickly, so we recommend registering as soon as possible. All registrations on a first-come, first-served basis; we do not hold slots.
We do not issue refunds, but if you cancel registration at least 24 hours in advance, we’ll be happy to issue a gift voucher good for one year in the amount of your registration. For more information, visit About Our Programs or contact us via email at .
Writing Your Place CANCELLED
- Instructor: Douglass Bourne
- Class: 4 sessions, 10 hours
- Dates: Feb. 2, Feb. 16, March 1, March 22
- Day/Time: Thursdays/6 - 8:30 pm
- Location: Palmer Public Library meeting room
- $140 members
- $155 non-members
Description: Ever try describe one of the magical places Alaska is know for? Ever try to write about home? We like to think of place as being a physical space, but each place also has ideas aligned with it. The intersection of ideas and the physical world is some of the most dynamic literature (Think Henry David Thoreau to Sherry Simpson) We will workshop our place writing. We will look at how other writers do it. This course is offered in Palmer.
- Genres: Nonfiction
- Age level: 18+
- Experience level: All
Fiction Apprenticeship
- Instructor: Mattox Roesch
- Class: 8 weeks, hours TBD
- Dates: Feb. 6 – April 6
- Day/Time: As arranged
- Location: 645 W. 3rd Ave
- $350 members
- $375 non-members
Description: There is a time to share our writing with a group—where we often get an overall sense of the story and its characters and techniques—and there is also a time for our work to be entrusted to a single guide, in greater depth and detail, where the conversation moves toward issues of the work’s larger structure and intent and direction, (as well as toward the writer’s skills and fears and needs). The Fiction Apprenticeship is designed for writers who need to dive into greater depth and detail on a larger piece of work. Over the course of eighty pages (maximum) of fiction submissions, preferably broken into two or three segments, participants will receive comments and a letter for each submission as part of a conversation in growing both the work and the writer. We will set goals for your writing and frame our conversation based on finding a path toward those goals by the end of the exchanges, to include at least two 30-minute sessions on the phone or in person. The program is open to three participants. Interested applicants should send 20 page of his/her fiction project and a brief statement of goals for his/her work to apprenticeship@49writingcenter.org between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31. Please wait for notification of acceptance before paying registration fee.
- Genres: Fiction
- Age level: 16+
- Experience level: All
Submission Workshop
- Instructor: Katey Schultz
- Class: 4weeks, 10 hours
- Dates: Feb. 7-28
- Day/Time: Tuesdays/6:30-9 pm
- Location: 645 W. 3rd Ave.
- $140 members
- $155 non-members
- Description: Come with a fiction or memoir work-in-progress (chapter, story, or excerpt) that you are ready to take to the next level, but not entirely sure how. We'll engage in prompts that help writers think outside the box, study craft issues for revision, and discuss line-level editing skills that can turn a decent piece of writing into a magnificent one. Sharing before and after results, participants can expect to revise at least one piece of writing with the goal of submission and walk away with techniques for revising many more. Instructor/editor Katey Schultz, who has more than 10 years experience with four different literary magazines, will also discuss how to avoid common mistakes writers make when submitting their work for publication. We'll consider everything from formatting issues to failed metaphors, as well as review a few quick tips for finding the right literary magazines for your work. What makes an editor grumpy? Is the selection process subjective? How do I decide where to send my work? Come with questions and a willingness to try new things.
- Genre: Fiction, Nonfiction
- Age level: 16+
- Experience level: All
Getting Published
- Instructor: Debbie LaFleiche
- Class: 1 week, 2.5 hours
- Dates: Feb. 11
- Day/Time: Saturday, 9:30 am- noon
- Location: 645 W. 3rd Ave.
- $39 members
- $45 non-members
- Description: Kathryn Stockett, author of the bestseller The Help, got 60 rejection letters over a period of 3½ years before she found an agent for her book. She says, “I can’t tell you how to succeed. But I can tell you how not to: Give in to the shame of being rejected and put your manuscript in the coffin that is your bedside drawer and close it for good. I guarantee you that it won’t take you anywhere.” While writing is a creative endeavor, getting published is a business one. In this session, we will talk about creating a publication plan. Research is the first step. With thousands of journals, agents and publishers creating a rating system to determine the best places to submit your work is the next step. The third step is to establish a systematic way to track your submissions to keep your work in circulation until it finds a home. We’ll also explore how to stay positive in the face of rejection letters. Bring paper and a writing utensil. Handouts will be provided. Part of our Publish and Promote series.
- Genres: All
- Age level: 16+
- Experience level: All
Agents: What You Need to Know
- Instructor: Andromeda Romano-Lax
- Class: 1 week, 3 hours
- Dates: Feb. 11
- Day/Time: Saturday, 1 – 4 pm
- Location: 645 W. 3rd Ave.
- $39 members
- $45 non-members
- Description: Agents can be gatekeepers, advocates, developmental editors, and savvy salespeople in an increasingly international and multi-format publishing world. Are you ready for one? Do you really need one? If so, how do you evaluate and snag one? And once you’re in a writer-agent partnership, what can you reasonably expect from the relationship? Andromeda Romano-Lax, author of over a dozen books (both agented and unagented) has worked with multiple agents and international subagents. She’ll share her research and personal experience in this clinic geared to writers of all levels. Part of our Publish and Promote series.
- Genres: All
- Age level: 16+
- Experience level: All
Copyright Basics
- Instructor: John McKay
- Class: 1 weeks, 4 hours
- Dates: February 18
- Day/Time: Saturday, 1-5 pm
- Location: 645 W. 3rd Ave
- $55 members
- $65 non-members
- Description: Understanding the basics of copyright law allows writers to protect what is theirs, and respect what is not. It allows writers to make more knowledgeable decisions about proposed contracts, and whether or how to use things that don’t originate with them – from facts or ideas to text, photos, and lyrics. How do you get a copyright? How do you enforce your rights, or respond to someone claiming you have violated theirs? How long does a copyright last? Be informed about concepts like fair use, public domain, work for hire, notice, registration, derivative works — it’s more than just a good idea … it’s the law. Part of our Publish and Promote Series
- Genres: All
- Age level: 18+
- Experience level: All
Self-Publishing: A Beginner’s Guide THIS COURSE HAS BEEN CANCELED
- Instructor: Michael Catoggio
- Class: 1 week, 3 hours
- Dates: Feb. 18
- Day/Time: Saturday, 9 am- noon
- Location: 645 W. 3rd Ave.
- $39 members
- $45 non-members
- Description: Are you dazed, confused and intimidated by the new world of self-publishing? If so, this workshop is for you. We will clarify this thicket by introducing options in self-publishing. You will create a website and a blog and explore self-publishing options both in print and in electronic (e-book) formats. Learning outcomes: You will create your own blog and a simple website. You will learn about options to self-publish in print. You learn about ways to create and publish an e-book on your own, for little cost. Outline: I.Introduction – course goals and outline II. 50 Years On – changes in publishing: 1962 to 2012 III. Creating Blogs and Simple Websites – hands-on IV. Intro to Self-Publishing V. Self-Publishing – in print VI. Self-Publishing – e-books VII. Review and Resources. It is recommended that you sign-up for Google Mail prior to the workshop. Part of our Publish and Promote series. Please bring your laptop.
- Genres: All
- Age level: 16+
- Experience level: All
Plot: Harnessing the Power of Story
- Instructor: Andromeda Romano-Lax
- Class: 3 weeks, 7.5 hours
- Dates: Feb. 23-March 8
- Day/Time: Thursdays, 6:30- 9 pm
- Location: 645 W. 3rd Ave
- $105 members
- $115 non-members
- Description: Plot: is it a powerful and necessary engine, or clumsy scaffolding? Can you start with plot or does it grow out of other story elements? Are formulas always to be avoided, or impossible to avoid? What can we learn from mythic structure, classic drama, and even the movies? E. M. Forster believed that cause-and-effect were at the heart of plot—the difference between “The kind died, then the queen died” and “The king died, then the queen died of grief.” Stephen King, a yarn-spinner extraordinaire, nonetheless claims that “plot is shifty… and best kept under house arrest.” We’ll work on recognizing, analyzing, and inventing plots, and we’ll discuss plot’s value in literary works. Part of our Elements series.
- Genres: Fiction
- Age level: 16+
- Experience level: All
Building a Strong Presence Using Social Media
- Instructor: Cherilynn Stone
- Class: 2 weeks, 12 hours
- Dates: Feb. 25 and March 3
- Day/Time: Saturdays, 9 am - noon and 1 – 4 pm
- Location: 645 W. 3rd Ave
- $170 members
- $185 non-members
- Description: This course is designed to help students create a strong, dominant presence online. Integrating Social Networks like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube with blogging, students will learn and set up an automated system that creates both a dominant presence and a large following online. Topics covered: Overview; Mastering effective blogging; Mastering Twitter and Facebook pages; Mastering Linkedin; Driving Traffic; Putting it all together. Part of our Publish and Promote series
- Genres: All
- Age level: 16+
- Experience level: All
Pursuing Poetry: A Course for Intermediate Poets
- Instructor: Kelsea Habecker
- Class: 4 weeks, 10 hours
- Dates: March 7-28
- Day/Time: Wednesdays, 6:30- 9 pm
- Location: 645 W. 3rd Ave
- $140 members
- $155 non-members
- Description: This course is intended for intermediate students, for writers and poets interested in honing their skills in poetry. The course will include both workshop elements (with peer and instructor feedback) and direct instruction on formal poetic elements for developing craft. Contemporary poetry will be read and discussed to foster awareness of current poetic styles. Emphasis will be given to writing process. Students will complete the course with a short portfolio of poems that have been peer-reviewed and critiqued by the instructors.
- Genres: Poetry
- Age level: 16+
- Experience level: Intermediate, Advanced
Obsessive Writing
- Instructor: Steve Almond
- Class: 1 weeks, 2.5 hours
- Dates: April 7
- Day/Time: Saturday, 10 am – 12:30 pm
- Location: 645 W. 3rd Ave
- $39 members
- $45 non-members
- Description: Most good writing -- whether fiction or non-fiction -- arises from a writer's obsessions. In this session, we'll discuss how to explore our obsessions on the page, without falling pray to self-absorption or sentiment. We'll look at the work of Joan Didion, Nick Hornby, Calvin Trillin, to see how they've converted their preoccupations into shimmering prose. We'll also do some in-class exercises, and have plenty of time for questions and discussion.
- Genres: All
- Age level: 16+
- Experience level: All
Funny is the New Deep
- Instructor: Steve Almond
- Class: 1 weeks, 2.5 hours
- Dates: April 7
- Day/Time: Saturday, 2 – 4:30 pm
- Location: 645 W. 3rd Ave
- $39 members
- $45 non-members
- Description: Contrary to popular belief, writing funny doesn't mean sacrificing depth. For most literary writers, the comic impulse is inextricably linked to tragedy. In this informal (and hopefully raucous) session, we'll look at the work of Loorie Moore, George Saunders, and others, in an effort to understand why cracking jokes is sometimes the surest path to our grief. The class will include in-class exercises and plenty of time for discussion and questions
- Genres: All
- Age level: 16+
- Experience level: All
