NH Writers' Project

Summer 2009 Classes and Workshops
Archive of Classes and Workshops held in Summer 2009

photo credit: Sofia Piel

Four-Week Class with novelist Tom Eslick
Crafting the Modern Whodunnit
ROBERT FROST BUILDING, ROOM 301, Wednesdays, May 20 to June 10, 7 to 9 p.m.
Members $175; Nonmembers $200

Two-Week Intensive with Susan Kouguell
Write a Winning Screenplay
ROBERT FROST BUILDING, ROOM 331, Saturdays, May 30 & June 6, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Members $145; Nonmembers $165

One-Day Workshop with Sandell Morse
Putting the "I" Into the "Eye" of Creative Non-Fiction
ROBERT FROST BUILDING, ROOM 332, Saturday, June 6, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Members $125; Nonmembers $140

Two Half-Day Business of Writing Workshops
with Martha Carlson-Bradley and Ann Kingman
Morning Session: Writing Successful Grant Applications
Afternoon Session: Social Media and the Writer
ROBERT FROST BUILDING, ROOM 301, Saturday, June 13, Morning, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.; Afternoon, 1 to 4 p.m.
Members $65 per session, $125 for both sessions
Nonmembers $80 per session, $150 for both sessions

Crafting the Modern Whodunnit
Tom Eslick

Together we will approach the daunting task of writing a mystery/suspense novel by breaking the large project into manageable parts. At course end, you should expect to have constructed a premise, built a cast of characters, started a step outline, and written a chapter or two. The class will focus on learning technique, but the core is centered on your work. In general, think of the first two weeks as instruction, and the remaining two as workshopping and discussion. The skills you acquire will help you develop a routine to complete the manuscript on your own. All levels.

Tom Eslick is the author of Tracked in the Whites, Snow Kill, Deadly Kin, and Mountain Peril. He has taught English for more than forty years on both the college and secondary levels. He has given lectures, led workshops and participated in numerous panel discussions through libraries, and organizations such as Seacoast Writers, Monadnock Writers, and Bouchercon, the worldwide mystery convention. In addition to being an enthusiastic supporter of NHWP, he is also a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and The Authors' Guild.

Write a Winning Screenplay: What Film Executives Really Look For
Susan Kouguell

Discover the tools to craft a successful screenplay that will grab a film executive’s attention. Discussion will include the three-act structure, plot exploration, characters’ journeys, and writing scintillating scenes. You will work on the first ten pages of your screenplay, which will be critiqued in class in a safe, non-threatening environment. All levels.

Susan Kouguell, award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University, and presents seminars nationwide. As chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, a motion picture consulting company founded in 1990, Susan works with over 1,000 international clients, including the major film studios. Author of The Savvy Screenwriter: How to Sell Your Screenplay (and Yourself) Without Selling Out! (St. Martin’s Press/Griffin), Susan writes for many screenwriting and film publications. Susan wrote voice-over narrations for Miramax Films and over a dozen features for independent production companies. Her short films are in the permanent collection and archives of the Museum of Modern Art and were in the Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial. Susan worked with director Louis Malle on the documentary And the Pursuit of Happiness, and associate produced two features. A MacDowell fellow, Susan has received fifteen screenwriting and film fellowships and grants.

Putting the "I" Into the Eye of Creative
Nonfiction
Sandell Morse

The Eye looks outward. The “I” looks inward. It is through the “I” that creative nonfiction writers put depth into our work. Both the “Eye” and “I” are personae. Thus, the “Eye” and “I” of one essay are not the “Eye” and “I” of another. Sound confusing? Don’t worry. We’ll examine published examples of the “I” and “Eye,” and apply those insights to our own work. Bring one or two double-spaced typed pages of a work in progress. Be sure the “I” is narrating your piece. The purpose of this workshop is to help you go deeper into your prose. All levels.

Sandell Morse holds a Master’s Degree in Liberal Studies from Dartmouth College and a Master’s Degree in English with a concentration in fiction writing from the University of New Hampshire. She has taught at the University of New Hampshire and at the University of Maine, Farmington. Morse’s short stories have appeared in Iris, Green Mountains Review, Bridges, Ploughshares, New England Review, Boston Fiction Review, and the anthology An Intricate Weave, Women Write About Girls and Girlhood. Her nonfiction has appeared in the Eating Between the Lines, A Maine Writers’ Cookbook, and Garden Lane, and has been anthologized in Surviving Crisis, Twenty Prominent Authors Write About Events That Shaped Their Lives, and Dutiful Daughters, Caring For Our Parents As They Grow Old. Morse has been a fellow at the Vermont Studio Colony and at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, a Tennessee Williams Scholar at the Sewanee Writers' Conference, and a finalist in the Ploughshares Robie Macauley Fellowship Award. She has also received a nomination for a Pushcart prize.

Making the Match: Writing Successful Grant and Fellowship Applications
Martha Carlson-Bradley

In this class you will learn helpful tips about preparing grant and fellowship applications, in terms of both content and style. What’s the difference between a grant and a fellowship? Which opportunities should you apply for? What should you understand about your audience? What is an artist’s statement? What makes one writing sample stand out from the rest? How can the application process itself serve your art? We’ll emphasize applications for individual artists but will discuss grants for organizations or community projects as time and class interest permit. In-class exercises will help you focus your goals, and a handout of resources will be provided. For intermediate and advanced writers.

Martha Carlson-Bradley's latest collection of poems is Season We Can’t Resist. She has been awarded fellowships by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the American Antiquarian Society and has written successful grant applications for herself, nonprofit groups, and library programs. She has also served on panels reviewing fellowship applications.

Social Media and the Writer
Ann Kingman

Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social networking sites have fundamentally changed the way people approach their professional activities. Gain an in-depth understanding of social media, with an emphasis on how these tools can help you to find readers for your work, or sources for your research. We'll talk about the "rules of the road" in navigating social media, look at book-specific and writer-specific social networking sites, and we'll have an honest conversation about the benefits and drawbacks of using social media to promote yourself and your work. All levels.

Ann Kingman is co-publisher of Books on the Nightstand, a blog and podcast about books and reading. She advises independent booksellers about social media through her Bookseller Blog, and has presented on social media for the American Booksellers Association and the New England Independent Booksellers Association. Ann is a District Sales Manager for Random House, Inc., with more than 20 years of bookselling experience. You can find Ann on Twitter at @AnnKingman