Monday, January 11, 2010

Feb 4 2010 - Writers Workshop Starts February and NEW Courses in 2010

Formed by Lisa Diane Kastner, a fiction writer, former correspondent for the Philadelphia Theater Review, freelance journalist for the Delaware County Times, and Features Editor for the Picolata Review, Running Wild was created to provide a venue in which aspiring writers from all forms and all genres can learn and succeed in the craft.

"What makes Running Wild Writers unique is that we believe all forms and genres are valuable. Most workshops specialize in a specific genre such as literary, thriller, mystery, romance and so forth. At Running Wild, we believe that writers can learn and grow by reading and writing across genres," said Ms. Kastner. "The same is true for form. Writers need to experiment in creative non-fiction, poetry, and fiction writing to hone their skills and discover who they are as writers."

Workshop attendees will have two opportunities to submit up to 5,000 words of work to be reviewed by participants and to receive a detailed assessment from Ms. Kastner.

The ten week course will cost $410 for non-Pennwriters and $375 for Pennwriters.
Registration is available at http://www.runningwildwriters.org/.

New Workshops in 2010
New to the calendar are Writing The Epic Quest on Saturday, March 20 and World Building 101 for All Genres on Saturday, October 22 with Jack Hillman

Writing the Epic Quest with Jack Hillman
With so much of the focus in writing today on character based stories, what could be more timely than a discussion of the art form that transforms some mild mannered individual into a something totally outside their nature, and not always to the good. Epic quests are not limited to fantasy and science fiction, but have been part of literature since writing was invented. All genre's have their favorite epic quest: the romance of Gone With The Wind, the tragedy of Moby Dick, the excitement of the chase in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the dark power of The Maltese Falcon. All really good novels have a part of the epic quest in their making. We will discuss the breakdown of the various characters that make up the quest- the fellowship- and how each one may play many, and often conflicting, parts as the story unfolds. We will also discuss how the protagonist (not necessarily a hero) is becoming more prevalent in today's literature and how this affects the tone of the quest.

World Building 101 For All Genres with Jack Hillman
No matter what type of novel you are writing, you will need to create the world your characters live in. Some of the simplest world building occurs if your story is set here and now, but even in those instances, you need to watch what building you put at what corner of the street, or even where you put the street. And if your story takes place in another milieu or some far away land (or some far away planet), your world building just became exponentially more involved. We will discuss how to construct the setting of your novel to maintain the continuity of your story, places to find the information needed to make sure you use the right clothing or the correct vehicles and even how to build a world from scratch, complete with its own solar system.

These courses are in addition to Running Wild's calendar posted at http://www.runningwildwriters.org/ . Previously announced workshops include Telling Tales: Elements of the Short Story with Mecca Jamilah Sullivan to be offered on Tuesdays, from March 2 through March 30 at 7:00 PM and Poetry - The Value-Added Workshop: Pairing Generative Work with Liz Chang to be offered on Mondays and Wednesdays beginning April 19 through May 12 at 7:00 PM.

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