COURSE CATALOG at WritersCollege.com

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SEMINAR NAME


Click on the seminar name to go to the catalog page with the full description. You may register at the bottom of that page.

SEMINAR MINI-DESCRIPTIONS:

Note that there is no drop period or refund for seminars.

 Teacher Length Cost

Book Reviews That Rock
(The 1-week seminar. Scroll down for the full course.)

Finding Books To Review And Places To Sell Them

When you read a book, you always have an opinion about it, don’t you? Turn that opinion into cash by writing book reviews! How do you get books to review and where are the best places to peddle your freelance reviews after you’ve written them? As part of the unique KISS series (Keep It Short, Sweetie!), this one-session seminar will whet your reading—and writing—appetite and answer some basic questions about the world of book reviewing.

Sandra Louden 1 Week $46

Cooking up a Cookbook
(A 1-week seminar)

 Have you walked by the bookstore shelves loaded with cookbooks and said, “I could write one.”? Do you have numerous old-world recipes you’d like to pass along to family members? Maybe you have quick fix entrees that would be great for bachelors, working moms or college kids? Whatever type of cookbook you’d like to write, this crash course guides you through the writing process with step-by-step instructions and provides tips for publishing it, too. So, if you’re thinking about the mound of recipes in your kitchen, sign up for this one-day seminar today because yes, you can write a cookbook. Mary Jo Rulnick 1 Week $46
NEW!
Commas:
That Tricky Little Dot
(A 1-week seminar)		 Writers like to decorate their papers with commas. Some writers just put in commas where it feels right, sounds right, or looks right. Commas are not decorative objects. This course will teach writers to use commas when it is right. Shawna Schenk 1 Week $46
Eulogies
(A 1-week seminar)		 Writing one good eulogy can get you through a time of bereavement looking to the rest of your family like a knight in shining armor. Writing eulogies as a business can be a profitable sideline. This seminar is intended for both the person needing to speak at Uncle Fred's funeral day after tomorrow and for the person writing eulogies on a regular basis for other families. Sandra Louden 1 Week $46

Quizzes That Sizzle
(The 1-week seminar. Scroll down for the full course.)

 No, we’re not talking about boring school tests or those nasty “pop quizzes” we all hated. These are the quizzes in magazines and in the Sunday section of your newspaper most of us can’t resist taking. They are fast to write—and fun to take. The two main types of quizzes – lifestyle and “fast factual” will be covered.    Sandra Louden   1 Week    $46   

COURSE NAME

Click on the course name to go to the catalog page with the full description. You may register at the bottom of that page.

COURSE MINI-DESCRIPTIONS:
Teacher
Length
Cost
NEW!
Article Writing

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see your article and name appear in Cosmopolitan or Flair; Entrepreneur or Newsweek? The pride and joy is indescribable. And the pay, not bad! Learn how to become an accomplished article writer and pitch your work to magazines of your choice. It’s all in the writing, selling and presentation and this course will teach you step by step, how handle each one of them.
Usha Sliva
6 weeks
$180
Body-Build Your Story

Does your story bulge in the wrong places, lie flaccid when it should exude strength?
Patrika Vaughn

4 weeks
$120
Book Promotion

Even the best book won't sell unless people know it's available. Learn how to present your book for greater sales whether you have a publisher or are self-publishing.
Patrika Vaughn
6 weeks
$180
Book Promotion Timetable Workshop 

All authors, whether self-published or published by a publishing house, must take major responsibility for the promotion of their books. Learn what needs to happen and when each step should be taken.
Patrika Vaughn
6 weeks
$180

Book Reviews

When you read a book, you always have an opinion about it, don’t you? Well, why not turn that opinion into cash by writing book reviews? How do you get books to review and where are the best places to peddle your freelance reviews after you’ve written them?
Sandra Louden
4 weeks
$120
Choosing Your Voice Are you telling your stories in the most convincing, most dramatic voice?
Patrika Vaughn
4 weeks
$120
Creating Characters Write such full characters that their arms and legs stick out when you try to close the book!
Jana Lynn Shellman
6 weeks
$180
Creating History

A place for historical and fantasy novelists to acquire or polish the skills needed for the writing that comes before and between the writing. Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to identify and categorize primary, secondary and third party resources, demonstrate how those differences effect their stories, and explain why each type of resource is necessary for the creation of fictional/fantasy worlds.
Peggy Ulman Bell
4 weeks
$120
NEW!
Crime Novels and Short Stories		 Crime fiction is by far the most popular genre you will see on library shelves (romance runs it a close second). This course is designed to guide you, the aspiring writer, through all the stages of writing a crime novel. ...At the end of six weeks, you will be well into your novel. More importantly, you will have the confidence that comes from knowing you are writing well.
John Paxton Sheriff
6 weeks
$180
Dialect Writing Dialect is heard with the eyes.
Patrika Vaughn
8 weeks
$240
Dialogue

Dialogue is what makes your writing - fiction or non fiction - come alive for readers. Learn how to make dialogue work for you- to develop character, advance your plot, impart information, show conflict or tension, set the mood, and make readers part of the action.
Patrika Vaughn
6 weeks
$180
Editing for Writers 

Self-editing is probably the most difficult part of writing. Fine tuning the manuscript, seeing the flaws, imagining how the words sound to the reader, and then garnering the courage to rework them is daunting. ... During this class, we’ll work on toning things down, tightening things up—a diet for your manuscript.
Cindy Davis
6 weeks
$180
NEW!
Essays and Personal Stories		 This is a class for any writer who is motivated to write short pieces based on his or her personal experiences, explorations, dreams, longings, emotions, thoughts, and/or ideas. These pieces can be targeted to magazines or complied into a book.
Gloria Kempton
6 weeks
$180
NEW!
Experimental Fiction
Joining the Dialogue		 If you enjoy the idea of pushing beyond the boundaries of ordinary fiction, this course will allow you to play, and to forge new directions in literature which remain compelling for the reader. You will also consider how you fit into the history and ongoing presentation of experimental fiction, delve into new parts of your psyche, and start making connections with magazines. Tantra Bensko
6 weeks
$180

NEW!
Flash Fiction

Are you ready to plunge into the pool of flash fiction? Be prepared to hold your breath! Although the water appears shallow, the emotional impact of this writing form boasts depths rivaling the high seas of longer fiction.

Flash fiction, when crafted with care, works within the boundaries of the genre and on the periphery of traditional storytelling. In the world of flash, a compelling story can be told in fewer than a hundred words!

Experienced writers looking to fine-tune their skills in brevity and control, and aspiring writers interested in experimenting with this cutting-edge mode, will have the opportunity to explore this in-demand form of writing during the workshop.
Erin McKnight
6 weeks
$180
Gothic Writing   

Gothic Novels are hot today. Several other genres popular today have descended from them too, including Horror and Gothic Romance. But what are Gothics? How do you write them? And how are Horror and Gothic Romance similar to them? How are they different? And how do you convert and incorporate Gothic forms into Horror and Dark Romance?
Ayn Hunt
6 weeks
$180

Grammar for Writers and Editors

 Writing is communication: whatever else writing does, however beautiful it is, if it does not communicate, it does nothing. To communicate, the words need a structure that enables the writer to convey his or her ideas to the reader in a way the reader can understand. Grammar provides that structure.
Irene Davis
4 weeks
$180
Greeting Card Writing: Short, Doable, Profitable Could you use extra money, writing in a field that's still largely untapped and undiscovered?
Sandra Louden
6 weeks
$180
Haiku and Zen Poetry Learn the most important techniques in the composition of haiku and Zen poetry.
Daniel Delanu
4 weeks
$120
How-To Articles: Quick and Simple Tap into the knowledge you already have inside your head from daily life and make money.
Mary Jo Rulnick
4 weeks
$120
 

 

      
Jump Start Your Novel
 Focus on how to plan your novel before you start writing it to make it as effective and intriguing as possible. By the end of the seminar you will have a variety of tools to help you in the writing process from character and setting sketches to scene outlines to a complete plot roadmap.
Joe Nassise
6 weeks
$180
Magazine Articles

Learn how to write a standard nonfiction magazine article. 
Stephen Morrill
6 weeks
$180
Magazine Query Letters Learn to write a query letter that can attract the interest of an editor and clinch the sale.
Stephen Morrill
4 weeks
$120
Make 'Em Care! How do you get readers of fiction to identify with your characters? How do you create empathy in nonfiction readers?
Patrika Vaughn
4 weeks
$120
Memoir Lane Designed to help you write your memoir.
Michael & Jennifer Dearmin
4 weeks
$120
Mystery Novel

Beginning in the mid-1800s with Edgar Allen Poe’s dark tales, mysteries have increased in popularity over the years; today they’re one of the hottest markets in the fiction genre.
Cindy Davis
8 weeks
$240
Newspaper Feature Articles: Getting Human Interest Stories Into Print

Learn the basics of writing feature articles for newspapers. Learn what features articles are (or aren't), how to get ideas for them, what makes a good feature, interviewing tips, and the anatomy of a feature.
Elsie Walker
4 weeks
$120

NEW!
Nonfiction Book Proposals

 

 The best kept secret to marketing nonfiction books is that you don’t have to write the entire book. In this course, you will learn about all of the elements that need to be included in a book proposal and how to put them together for maximum effect on the agent and/or editor, setting you on the path to signing a contract with a publisher.
Gloria Kempton
6 weeks
$180
Nonfiction Freelance Writing Business The course is intended to teach you how to MARKET yourself and how to run the BUSINESS of nonfiction writing on a freelance basis.
Stephen Morrill
6 weeks
$180
NEW!
Novel Writing		 Some sage once said that everyone has a novel inside them. We all know that, but the problem is in getting it out, down on paper via the friendly computer, and then accepted by a publisher. ...And at the end of the course,...when your finished novel lands on your chosen publisher's desk they will know at once that they are reading work by a competent writer.
John Paxton Sheriff
6 weeks
$180
Openings that Hook Readers Every opening, fiction or nonfiction, has three functions. Learn what they are, plus eight opening techniques for accomplishing them.
Patrika Vaughn
4 weeks
$120

Being able to take photos, or find photos, to accompany your writing can help sell the story, keep control over your work, and even earn you extra money.
Stephen Morrill
4 weeks
$120
Poetry Advanced Workshop An intensive, eight week poetry workshop in which we'll be dealing with poetry written in prescribed forms as well as open form "free verse" poetry, and the prose poem
Paul Haenel
8 weeks
$240
Poetry Fundamentals This course teaches approaches, understandings, and paths to attitudes that allow us to better learn what might unlock the poetry that's in all of us.
Paul Haenel
6 weeks
$180
Poetry: Writing for Literary Publications This course will help you move from the emotive language of light verse or the private language of poetry notebooks toward literary prosody. You will learn when to tell the whole story and when to tell enough of the story to invite readers inside to look around for themselves.
Ren Powell
4 weeks
$120
Promotional Writing Learn the basics of writing promotional materials for businesses and professionals including press releases, flyers, slogans/mottos, sales letters, brochures, three piece mailer, layout/graphics, marketing, and pricing.
Michael & Jennifer Dearmin
6 weeks
$180
This course offers a series of progressive one-page Teaching Guides of the crafts of writing and submitting, leading up to the specific goals of submitting works for publication. The course should help determine whether the student has both the talent and drive necessary to become a published author.
Ned McIntosh
6 weeks
$180
Quizzes That Sizzle (the 4-week course)
 No, we’re not talking about boring school tests or those nasty “pop quizzes” we all hated. These are the quizzes in magazines and in the Sunday section of your newspaper most of us can’t resist taking. They are fast to write—and fun to take. The two main types of quizzes – lifestyle and “fast factual” will be covered. Sandra Louden 4 weeks $120
Researching and Interviewing Learn to to find information, locate and interview experts, learn how to apply the rules of rigorous scholarship to your findings, and learn how to stay out of legal trouble while doing all this.
Stephen Morrill
4 weeks
$120
Romance Novel Writing

Learn everything from coming up with a story idea to preparing a completed manuscript for sale in this popular genre.
Brenda Hiatt Barber
6 weeks
$180
Seniors Do Write!

An introductory course for mature students who want to explore their writing potential. We will fuel the fire already smoldering within your own life experiences.
Michael & Jennifer Dearmin
6 weeks
$180
Seven Common Writing Problems and How to Solve Them Something not working in your fiction or nonfiction? Here's your chance to examine the seven most common problems that keep a manuscript from being publishable.
Patrika Vaughn
8 weeks
$240
NEW!
Shadow Writing		 Are you curious about writer’s block (a myth), the dreams, longings, cravings, obsessions, and needs that distract you from your writing because of the strength of their grip? Do you suspect that there are depths that you can’t quite reach in your writing for fear of turning up something unpleasant? In this class, we will turn toward these things. Step on the accelerator and move into one of the darkest places you’ve ever been as a writer—your own unconscious.
Gloria
Kempton
6 weeks
$180

Small Press and
Self-Publishing

An overview of the booming small press and self-publishing industries, and how you may secure your place in it.
Patricia J. Bell
6 weeks
$180
Speech Writing Adding speechwriting skills to your writer's toolkit can make you more marketable. Public relations firms, businesses, local government officials, nonprofit organizations, etc., need people with this skill.
Elsie Walker
4 weeks
$120
Stalking the Markets Avoid rejections. Learn how to target the best markets for everything you write.
Patrika Vaughn
4 weeks
$120
Start Here What you need to know before you write to help you write like a pro from Day One. Dump your fears; get control of your writing. Here are the steps to help you build a solid foundation for everything you write.
Patrika Vaughn
6 weeks
$180
Stop Talking About It; Just Write This highly motivational and inspirational course is designed for writers of all levels and all genres. You will be encouraged to work through any blocks that are holding you back or slowing down your writing.
Susan Farewell
6 weeks
$180

Striptease Writing
(Show, Don't Tell)

 Good writing reveals rather than explains. Learn to get out of the way and let readers experience the episodes, events and people you're writing about.
Patrika Vaughn
4 weeks
$120
Technical Writing Learn the mechanics of user guide writing and get you a feel for the field of technical writing.
Elsie Walker
4 weeks
$120
Technical Writing Workshop This workshop is for students who have already taken the course, Technical Writing.
Elsie Walker
4 weeks
$120
The Isolated Writer Are you an isolated writer because of location, physical disabilities, young children or another reason? This class teaches how to turn this to your advantage.
Joy Rothke
4 weeks
$120
The Writer in You Nobody was born writing; all of us had to learn. This course will explore some of the more effective methods of communication through the written word. All that is asked of you is that you try.
Michael & Jennifer Dearmin
6 weeks
$180
Travel Writing For writers (or want-to-be) writers who are interested in writing and selling articles about travel. Nuts and bolts information, as well as inspirational and motivational techniques for making it all happen.
Susan Farewell
6 weeks
$150

NEW!
Web Presence for Writers

Develop a basic knowledge of the internet, how it functions, how web sites are made, and the steps necessary to build your own web site. Learn how easy it is to have your web presence!

This course will walk you through the process of buying your domain, finding a hosting company, and publishing a web site you create. The easy-going format ensures that even the most non-technical participants can own and operate their own domains.
Laura Wright
6 weeks
$180
Writing for Fun and Profit For "prepublished" writers. Students will focus on a variety of writing techniques, journaling processes, writing, editing and marketing strategies and will apply them to either a work in progress, or will develop a new project.
Alyce M. Skelton
6 weeks
$180
Writing Through Loss Explore a variety of writing techniques to help deal with losses of all kinds. Journaling as well as other eclectic writing strategies will help you access creative energy, work through the grieving and tap into joy.
Alyce M. Skelton
6 weeks
$180
zzz More courses coming soon      

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