Fiction Writing, write to heal, survivor
Why I haven’t blogged in awhile…
I haven’t blogged in awhile because in times of chaos (personal and political) I tend to withdraw and think. I also have needed time to reexamine my words, what I say, and most importantly what I write about. Everything matters now in ways it didn’t seem to before…so what can I say that will add to the conversation rather than detract???
The #METOO movement has brought up some painful memories, unresolved issues and pain that frankly, I thought I’d dealt with but haven’t. I will write about that in a later post, when I understand what about that matters now, and how to deal with past injustices, past wounds, now, and why adding my voice may (or may not) matter in this long overdue, sweeping and universal conversation.
Today I wanted to share this bit of wisdom from Lady Gaga (that’s right, lady Gaga), because right now it’s exactly how I feel, what I think and no one has (yet) said it better and with more clarity than she. PLEASE listen for the next 2 minutes and begin to think how you can make these changes in your life, and manifest a better world one relationship, one thought, and one action at a time. We need to unify in our collective humanity, and stop hurting one another in harmful social media conversations, in hurtful words over thanksgiving dinner, or in inappropriate sexual behavior in the home or workplace, and just start helping each other. Please watch HERE. or watch below.
Featured Author at Boeing’s Future of Flight Aviation Center
I’m very happy to announce that I will be the featured speaker at the Mukilteo Schools Foundation annual fundraising breakfast in November, held at the Future of Flight Aviation Center. I’m looking forward to helping them raise money to further the education of children in the Mukilteo area. http://www.mukilteoschoolsfoundation.org/events
Want to Improve Your Writing??? Fall is a Gr8 time for Writing Courses
If you’re looking for some great fiction writing classes here in the Seattle area, below are classes taught by Scott Driscoll, that I can highly recommend. Check them out.
- Advanced Fiction Writing: Story Structure
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The fall class will be divided into three parts. In part one, we will look at how to bring drama into the real-life events that are the germ for many of the best stories (we’ll look at models from creative nonfiction and memoir). In part two, we will briefly look at non-linear or modular forms of storytelling (for those of you who want to experiment with plotless structure). In part three, (the bulk of the quarter), we will look at Franklin’s idea of the five-focus story structure and how to apply it in the service of organizing a novel. At the same time, we’ll consider Percy’s ideas for packing your stories and novels with more urgency and suspense, for trimming the bloat, and for pushing your characters to their limits while raising the stakes.
REQUIRED TEXTS
1) Writing For Story by Jon Franklin, a Plume Book, 9780452272958; 2) Thrill Me by Benjamin Percy, Graywolf Press, 9781555977597; 3) Narrative Design by Madison Smartt Bell, W.W. Norton, 0393320219; 4) Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr Scribner, 9781416573166; 5) Best American Short Stories 2016, Mariner Books, 9780544582897; 6) Oryx and Crake, a novel by Margaret Atwood, Anchor Books, 9780385721677; and 7) The Tsar of Love and Techno, a novel by Anthony Marra, Hogarth, 9780770436452. Suggested Reading: Norwegian By Night, a novel by Derek Miller 9780547934877.
Class meets: 10 Thursdays, Phinney Neighborhood Center # 3, 7-9:30 p.m., Sept. 28 through Dec. 7, a week off for Thanksgiving
2) Pop Fiction Writing: Foundations
UW Continuum, Fall 2017 Wednesday 6-9 PM, 9/27/17-10/25/17, five weeks
WRI FIC CP100 A; Reg #: 167105
Instructor: Scott Driscoll
Phone: 206 782 8587 or E-mail: sdriscol@uw.edu
Location: UW Campus, Savery 162
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to explore the craft of popular fiction writing. We will cover story arc both as a linear quest for an object of desire as well as in the guise of a hero’s circular journey out from the ordinary world, through the ordeal, and back on the return. We will discuss character arc and how to use archetypes to strengthen character identity. We will also look at how to dramatize high points in your characters’ journeys through scene. For examples, we will pull form a number of texts, but our primary examples will be taken from novels chosen for this purpose. In the final week, all participants will be expected to workshop a chapter or an excerpt.
REQUIRED TEXTS
The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler, Michael Wieseman Productions, 3rd Edition, 2007, Paperback: ISBN: 978-1-932907-36-0.
The Witness, by Nora Roberts, Berkeley Books, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-399-15912-1.
The Black Echo by Michael Connelly, Grand Central Publishing, 1991: ISBN: 978-1-4555-5061-6.
The texts are available at the University Bookstore.
3) FICTION WRITING: CRAFT
Class Meets: Wednesday evenings, on UW campus 6-9 PM 11/1/17-11/29/17, five weeks in November
UW Continuum WRI FIC CP101 A; Reg. # 167107
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to explore fiction writing as craft. We will cover points of technique, including: story arc (linear quest vs. round hero’s journey), how to introduce an inciting incident into the familiar world, point-of-view, character arc, and reversals. We will also introduce scene structure. In class, we will discuss readings, look at examples, and do occasional “sudden writings” to practice. You’ll be given an opportunity to bring in your own work for workshopping in the final week.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Writing Fiction: A guide to Narrative Craft, 9th ed., by Burroway, Janet and Elizabeth Stuckey-French, Longman, 2011, Paperback: ISBN: 978-0-321-92316-5.
How Fiction Works, by Wood, James, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-374-17340-1.
The Best American Short Stories 2016, edited by Juno Diaz, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: ISBN: 9780544582897
The texts are available at the University Bookstore.
Winter 2018:
- Advanced Fiction Writing: Character
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The winter class will focus on “character” and “scene.” We will begin by reducing character to an essential value mobilized by a “desire” to seek a “goal.” We will next examine how character evolves on the journey through the five-focused plot structure by looking at methods of character presentation in each of the five focuses. We will also consider the role of subtext based on the assumption that characters arrive in stories with a history of repressed desires and needs. We will compare the role of character, and the amount of subtext required in the form of ghosts and revenants in popular genres to that in literary fiction. We’ll spend time walking characters through dramatized scenes. Finally, we will talk about character “reversals” and how they might evolve differently in literary stories and in popular fiction genres and we’ll consider how to use scene to design story structure.
Runs: Thursday evenings 1/4/2018 through 3/8/2018, 7-9:30 PM, Phinney Neighborhood Center #3.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Story by Robert McKee, ISBN: 9780060391683; Scene & Structure by Jack Bickham, ISBN: 9780898799064; The Art of Subtext by Charles Baxter, ISBN: 9781555974732; Reading Like A Writer by Francine Prose, ISBN: 9780060777050; The Art of Character by David Corbett, ISBN: 9780143121572; A novel or two (tba).
2) How to Build a Novel (and Write Smooth Prose)
Runs: Wednesday evenings, 6-9 PM, UW campus, 1/3/2018 – 3/7/2018, ten weeks
Course still in design. Texts will include: Writing For Story by Jon Franklin, Story by Robert McKee, Scene & Structure by Jack Bickham, and The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler, Thrill Me by Benjamin Percy, and two novels (tba).
A Novel Asking Life’s Big Question…
In The Last Outrageous Woman, my friend, author Jessica Stone skillfully spins a tale about a group of elder-women who decide they’re going to plot, scheme, and organize a breakout and then the most ‘outrageous’ journey of a lifetime. This delightful story asks a big life question when the character Mattie asks of her retirement home friends, “if you could do anything, anything at all, no matter how . . . you know . . . how unlikely. Just once. What would it be?” And when one friend answers “I’d ride a camel…” Well, readers are in for a journey.
First these elder-ladies must overcome their own fears, shortcomings and family/legal/financial obstacles before they break themselves free from their ‘jailers’ at Restful Palms Retirement Home.
As the story unfolds it navigates sentiments from happy to sad, then on to triumphant, and ultimately ends on an inspirational note. This is a great read for readers and book clubs in search of a heartwarming and life-affirming story. As I read I pictured my elderly mom and her senior girlfriends in their retirement home acting just like these women. They will love this book. Great job Jessica!
The Writer’s Craft part II
In addition to the Objects class I will be teaching at Edmond’s Community College this fall I will also facilitate the eight week course, Writer’s Craft Part II this year from September 21st through November 9th. I’m excited to teach this class as it encompasses everything from the Hero’s Journey to crafting that perfect first sentence. This eight week class is for all skill levels and all storytelling genres; memoir, fiction, non-fiction, short story, and screenplay. Bring your WIP (work in progress) or get inspired in class to start a new writing project. Lots of writing time, lots of critiquing, lots of creativity.
Class time structure (each week); Q & A and writing time based on individual student’s projects as seen through the lens of class material. For example, applying the Hero’s Journey or unique plot devices, developing voice, etc., to their story in progress, or the beginning of one, regardless of genre or skill level. If students want critique, there will be a workshopping schedule set for maximum 10 pages each. Weekly recommended resources and handouts.
Brief sample of class schedule:
9/21 Week One – Every Story Begins With a Journey
Identifying and finding your HERO’S JOURNEY
9/ 28 Week Two – Page One
FIRST LINES First sentences, of course, have different functions—to amuse, to frighten, to mystify—and the mechanics a writer uses to achieve this connection vary from genre to genre. We’ll do an exploration of great first lines and how knowing the hero’s journey empowers a writer to pen that first line of the journey to follow.
10/ 5 Week Three – Plot Devices (see previous post)
10/12 Week Four — Individual Writing & Open Mic Night
Focus on Student Writing – critiquing/workshopping exchange, and open mic night.
10/19 Week Five – The most dreaded word in writing, EDITING
10/26 Week Six – WHY OUTLINING MATTERS (regardless of genre)
The basics of genre; memoir, romance, mystery, thriller, horror, etc.. Also, short story, flash fiction, screenwriting…outlining matters. Outlining your novel (short story or memoir) or flying by the seat of your pants (called pantsers), and why it matters. 10 steps to follow in outlining.
11/2 Week Seven – Critique Night
11/9 Week Eight – WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED
Sign up HERE
| NEW! The Writer’s Craft Part II | |
| Item: C522 | Mindy Halleck |
| 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM | Location: Snoqualmie Hall 205 |
| Sessions: 8 Th | 20000 68th Ave W Lynnwood, WA 98036 |
| 9/21/2017 – 11/9/2017 | Fee: $175.00 |
Mindy Meyers-Halleck 