WIWA Sponsored Workshops

Take advantage of these WIWA sponsored workshops to improve your writing craft, find new inspiration and meet other local writers. For more information, contact wiwa@whidbey.com or call (360) 331-6714. To register, send your name, address, phone number, e-mail, and check for tuition to:

WIWA

PO Box 1289

Langley, WA 98260

Publishing is undergoing a revolution. Just like independent movies challenged Hollywood tradition, and independent music challenged the major record labels, print-on-demand is enabling legions of writers to pursue their passions without having to appease agents and editors. Most authors can get their books published worldwide within a few months for about the cost of a writer's conference. An industry in revolution is never an easy place though, so come see some ways to steer your dream project through the shifting landscape, and become aware of the cautions that lie ahead. Give your dreams the freedom they deserve.

A Journey to Explore Language

No matter what genre you write, lyrical and imagistic language is what carries you to your reader and your reader into the world you've created. Join Peggy Shumaker on a journey to explore language. All writers will find ways to open the doors of their creativity. Peggy suggests that you "bring writing materials, a willingness to try several writing activities, and a sense of humor." Peggy is the author of several books of poetry and her recent memoir Just Breathe Normally; She won a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and several awards for teaching. She served as Poet in Residence at the Stadler Center for Poetry at Bucknell University and as President of the Board of Directors of the Associated Writing Programs. Professor emerita from University of Alaska Fairbanks, Shumaker was Chair of the English Department and Director of the M.F.A. program in Creative Writing. Send your name, address, phone number, e-mail, and check to Soundings Review, care of WIWA, PO Box 1289, Langley, WA 98260. When you register, you will be contacted about location. Registrations must be received by April 15; class limit is 25.

Astute Vision for Writers

How does a writer increase her/his attentiveness to detail, the ability to pay attention, and to find those quirky, accurate details? This five-hour workshop will combine attentiveness exercises with Ippon Sen, a simple Japanese line drawing method in which everybody can learn to see, and thus, to draw. Add expressive line drawings to your notes; use them to remember that place, that day Forever! To draw is to know profoundly. (Specifically for "non-artists")

Who's Telling This Story Anyway? -- an explanation of viewpoint

First person, third person, omniscient, stream of consciousness: these terms barely begin to describe the nuanced range of viewpoints available to the writer. For example, is a first person narrator consciously aware of telling the story, or is he or she seeming to experience it with no awareness of an audience? Is the first-person narrator telling the story shortly after it happened, a few years later, a lifetime later? Does that narrator know more now than he or she did as the story took place? Is that narrator reliable or unreliable—and if unreliable, does the narrator intend to be unreliable or does he or she believe his/her account is the truth, even though the reader can see that it isn’t? In third person, an additional layer of meaning becomes possible. We’ll explore the ways a third person narrator manipulates the distance between the character and the narrative voice. Consider this range of options:

 And then there’s omniscience—the freest, most difficult viewpoint of all. This seven-hour class will explore the range of things which can be done with first person, third person, and omniscient viewpoints, with a brief look at second person and stream of consciousness. 

photo by Bob Richardson