Awrighty, I’ve done it: SW Ohio Writers & Poets has been born. Brought into the sun kicking and screaming. Looks sort of a mess right now as I sort it out, but I have faith it will clean up nicely and grow up to be handsome.
I’ve started a new group, aimed at providing creative workshops and seminars for poets and writers of short fiction in the Cincinnati – Dayton area of southwest Ohio. Two long loves of mine–both beautiful forms of telling stories–that I’ve let lay dormant for too long while settling in to my new digs and surroundings of SW Ohio.
They’ve been poking their noses up through the surface of late, those two, Short Fiction & Poetry, watching the night sky and smelling the air like turtles in an large lake of activity.
I know from experience that when that happens, when those noses keep breaking the surface, you pay attention. You calm the waters around them enough that they crawl out, fully, on a log near the shore to sun themselves and feel the belly heat of warm wood. You do it because that’s when things slow down and the stories come. It is when words and phrases start to form themselves into moods and thoughts of people in your stories. It is when the people you tell stories about start thinking for themselves and start talking to each other.
That’s what the SW Ohio Writers & Poets workshops are about; calming the waters and letting the stories come alive. Finding creative ways to help your thoughts and phrases and the snippets of overheard conversations find their way into your stories and poems. They will be about telling stories through short fiction and poetry.
The first workshop series will be about Getting Started in Short Fiction & Poetry:
Where do I start when writing a short story or poem?
How do I shape my thoughts and ideas into words? Words and phrases and sentences that will make sense to others when they read, that will invite them to stay and want to read more.
What is the story am I trying to tell? Where do I find pieces for my story or poem? Can a poem be a story, a story be a poem?
How do I describe and develop characters?
How do I tell. . .how do I show what I want my story to be?
This workshop will explore different ways to answer the questions we have when beginning new stories and poems. Aimed at principles that apply to both short fiction and poetry, about how to be clear in writing either, this initial series will expand into separate short fiction and poetry workshops in the future.
Each session is limited to ten writers to encourage maximum interaction and participation.
Each session will include workshop materials, hands-on writing exercises, and a friendly sharing and critique.
Requirements: Imagination, pen & paper or laptop, and a sincere desire to write and improve your short fiction and poetry. For those eighteen yrs old and over, please.
$20/ea session
$96/all six (20% discount)Wed 7p-9p: Mar 07, Mar 14, Mar 21, Mar 28, Apr 04, Apr 11
To sign up for multiple sessions please prepay via Amazon TextPayMe, as meetup does not provide for multi-session payments, or preferred rates. Please email for the phone number/email address to send payment.
Join SW Ohio Writers & Poets (free to join) and sign up for the Getting Started workshop!