Writing Fiction with Other Writers
8-weeks | Registration closed 9/1/2024
This is primarily a writer participation and critiquing course with very limited presenter lecturing. Each course participant should bring a 9” x 11” spiral notebook and a writing implement to each session of the class. The focus in sessions will be on how fiction is developed and written. Discussions will address character development; contrasting narration and dialogue; use of metaphors, similes, and irony; story structure; beginning a story; and effectively ending a story. Participants will write in class, share with the class and, in groups of seven or fewer, experience the effect of feedback from other writers.
Typically, the course presenter will briefly address the class as a whole after which the class will read and share feedback with others in their group. Participants will initially write in class in response to instructor’s suggestions and enjoy comments from other class participants. The course emphasis will be on furthering one’s own style while benefiting from the response of other writers. The importance of others’ response to one’s writing cannot be overstated. Critiques will occur only within the class setting. Punctuation, sentence structure and paragraph structure will be addressed only as relevant to the development of the story.
Roberta Roy
Roberta M. Roy has written award winning novels and a book of poems including Jolt: a Rural Noir, Two Close, and Home Again 2020 (gold medalist in the Jenkins 2021 International eLit Awards) and Slivers: Poems by Roberta M Roy. Roy's filmscripts have won thirty awards. The Morning After the Morning After earned Best Feature in: The Seattle Filmmaker Awards 2024; Paris Lady MovieMakers Festival 2024; and Tamizhagam Internationals Film Festival 2023.
Roy has a B.A. from Albany, an M.A. from Nebraska, and is EBD at Michigan. Roy is a NYS Licensed SLP who provides tele-therapy with G and E Therapies.
Skip Weisman
Skip Weisman grew up a 30-minute drive north on “Highway 9” from Springsteen's Freehold, NJ hometown. A friend introduced Skip to Bruce's "Born To Run" album at lunch in the high school cafeteria in October 1976. 48 years later Skip has attended 106 live Springsteen performances, with and without the E Street Band, in 10 countries across two continents. Skip moved to Dutchess County in 1994, bringing the Hudson Valley Renegades professional baseball team to the area. He served as team president/CEO for eight seasons. From 2002-2023 Skip was a business coach and professional keynote speaker/workshop presenter, specializing in leadership and workplace communication.