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Stirring the Pot: Turn Your Life Into Fiction

We all have stories, be they comic or tragic, brief dramatic encounters or life-altering events that unfolded over months. The stories most likely to move your readers to laughter or tears come directly from the heart and feel authentic, often stemming from personal experiences. This ten-week workshop explores how to incorporate our own lives into fiction while moving beyond journaling. Examining everything from short-shorts to novel excerpts, we will mold our life material to write more meaningful fiction. The workshop includes lectures, exercises, freewrites and critiques of your work. Class size limited.
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Writing The Forbidden:
Going to Secret Places to Fuel your Fiction

Everyone has secrets, be they personal, family, or the hushed confidences whispered by a friend. Sometimes these involve untouchable events you try to avoid considering; sometimes they are moments you cannot for a second forget. Fiction is a valuable tool for exploring those deeper, sometimes darker, human truths. In this ten-week workshop, we examine everything from short-shorts to novel excerpts as we explore how to use emotion but not melodrama to shape forbidden moments into meaningful fiction. The workshop includes lectures, exercises, freewrites and critiques of your work. Class size limited.
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Creating Inspired Characters

Characters are the lifeblood of our stories. Without strong characters, it is virtually impossible to find a publisher or hook your readers. In this four-week workshop, we explore the three C's of creating character, as well as how and why to make your good guys bad and your bad guys good. We'll look at voice, appearance, inner monologue and action as ways to bring your story people fully to life. Class size limited.
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Private Manuscript Consultation

Have a novel manuscript almost ready to go? In this market, it's more important than ever that it be in the best shape possible. Masha does private critiques of novels, beginning at $800.
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