Premier Creative Workshops at the Landgrove Inn

New to writing and want to try it? Have a story you’re dying to tell but aren’t sure where to start? Or maybe you’ve started a story and want some uninterrupted time to keep working on it?  Then come join us for four days of writing fiction (or memoir) in Vermont.  Each day, we’ll spend the morning writing, using specific prompts to get the creative juices flowing. After lunch, we’ll spend an hour exploring some of the basic techniques of fiction writing – including journaling; creating a narrator; using a story arc/developing a plot; and creating dialogue. Then, there will be free time for more writing, exploring nearby towns or just relaxing. An hour or so before dinner, we’ll gather again to hear people read their work.

 

OPTIONAL: If you have a story or novel you’re working on and would like to discuss it with me, you can send up to 3,000 words up to a week before the class. We’ll meet for up to an hour one afternoon and talk through the strengths of your story and things to think about when you revise.

 

Day One: Dear Diary: The importance of journaling in creative writing. After breakfast at the inn, we’ll spend the morning writing, using prompts. (You also have the option to work on a story you’ve already started.)  After lunch, we’ll discuss the importance of journaling, how to keep a literary journal, and how to create a sustainable writing practice. Then there will be free time to continue writing, hike, explore the area or just relax. We’ll gather again an hour or so before dinner to listen to student work (optional) and talk about books and writing.

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Day Two: Who’s telling the story? The role of the narrator in fiction. We’ll spend the morning writing (using prompts or working on your own story). In the afternoon, we’ll look at a few famous narrators from literature and explore the various types of narrators you can choose to tell your story. The rest of the afternoon is free to write, explore or rest. We’ll gather again before dinner to hear students read their work.

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Day Three: What’s the plot? How to use a story arc to build your plot. We’ll spend the morning writing (using prompts or working on your own story). In the afternoon, we’ll look at a five-point and a seven-point story arc and discuss how to construct a plot. Using the seven-point story arc, we’ll create a story together. There will time after lunch for you to try using the story arc on your own, or you can use the free time to explore the area or relax. We’ll gather again an hour before dinner to hear participants’ work read aloud.

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Day Four: Talk to me: Developing sharp dialogue. We’ll spend the morning writing (using prompts or working on your own story). In the afternoon we’ll explore how can you use dialogue most effectively to move your story forward. We’ll look at some especially effective dialogue and explore why it works so well… and we’ll discuss some common mistakes with dialogue. We’ll gather again before dinner to hear participants read their work.

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Nancy Connors’  fiction and poetry have been published in Necessary Fiction, The Stone Coast Review, failbetter, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, The Phare, Trampset and many other publications. She’s the recipient of a 2023 Pushcart Prize. Nancy is a long-time teacher at The Writers Studio in New York City.

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