Workshops & Events

What makes an image fresh, vivid, astonishing, memorable? What makes an image at all? In the first half of this seminar we'll take a hard look at some surprising and dazzling images in poetry and fiction to articulate a working definition of the image, to observe the choices involved in the making of great images, and to develop a list of image-driven strategies. In the seminar's second half we'll perform some exercises to practice and implement these strategies, and to rethink how we construct images in our own work. Participants are expected to bring an image that they would like to revise, which they'll work on and have the opportunity to share at the seminar's end.

In Hollywood today, adaptations are hot properties. Films based on books, comics, television shows, historical events, video games, and theme-park rides are among the highest-grossing box office successes and dominate the list of Oscar-nominated projects. One reason for their popularity is that bestselling works in other mediums are known quantities, minimizing risk for the studios and producers by bringing built-in audiences to theaters. As writers, we are poised to take advantage of this trend.

In this class, we will explore strategies for adapting stories from other mediums, including your own novels or short stories, for the screen. We will view clips from several successful adaptations, and also read or view excerpts from the source materials, to understand the process of creating stories for the screen. We will look specifically at the requirements for visual storytelling. We will also discuss the importance of obtaining rights to source materials before beginning a screenplay adaptation.

Students should bring an idea for an adaptation to class for discussion purposes. This seminar will provide an introduction to the process of adaptation for screenwriters and is open to writers in all genres who have completed an introductory screenwriting course. Experienced and beginning screenwriters will learn how to expand the market potential of their work and how to develop story ideas into effective screenplays. Suggested text for this course is Make Your Story a Movie, by John Robert Marlow.

In most workshops, instructors tend to focus on constructive criticism rather than constructive praise. Instructors do this mostly in the interest of time, and because constructive criticism is often easier to illustrate with examples or to compare with texts that are "working better." But these 1-on-1 Boost consultations work in a different way, focusing instead on what you are doing well. Choose from a 30-minute boost for $37.50 or a 60-minute boost for $75. You don't need to email any work in advance. All pages are looked at within the Boost session itself. If you're unable to meet in person, Boosts are available via a phone call or Skype session as well.To proceed, fill out the following form and Grub Street will follow up with you about payment and scheduling.

30-Minute Short Story/Nonfiction Boost (For a Short Piece of up to 3000 words)
In this consultation, the instructor will start by reading and reviewing one of your stories (or part of a story) that has already been workshopped and spend time discussing the strengths of the piece and, more importantly, why they are strengths. Not only will this bring you confidence, but it will also help you understand your strengths and how you might use them to best effect. If appropriate, you will also receive personally tailored tasks that seek to bring you confidence in areas where you need it. Short Fiction or Non-Fiction Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

60-Minute Book-Length Boost (For an Ongoing Novel, Novella or Book-Length Manuscript)
In this consultation, the instructor will look at an overview or outline of your project, along with an excerpt/excerpts from your manuscript in progress. The focus will be on your strengths so far and why they are strengths. Your instructor will also examine how you might best make use your talents in the rest of your project. Time will be taken to study any feedback that you received in class and put it to use in positive ways. Book-Length Boosts can also involve mini-tasks that will help you to work on your skills in a precise way, with the promise of motivational feedback. These Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

30- or 60-Minute Writing Career Boost
All writers deal with rejection. In fact, it is part and parcel of a successful writing career. But when it comes to getting published, it is all too easy to grind to a halt in the face of ongoing rejection slips. Yet submission is how we move forward, and as Pamela Painter advises, it can help to “keep hope in the mail.” In this Boost, you will discuss your career and/or aspirations with an instructor who has been an editor at a literary magazine and is a Senior Editor at an indie press. Not only will you discuss ways of dealing with ongoing rejection while continuing to write more rather than less, but you will also consider alternative ways of showcasing your work and receiving meaningful feedback as you move forward. This Boost can also involve a review of your cover letter and advice on researching markets/venues for your work.

Joseph Campbell’s Hero of a Thousand Faces has influenced writers and filmmakers for decades. The book accesses centuries of myth and culture to reveal that all stories follow a similar pattern. By understanding that pattern, the writer can deeply connect with their audience. “The Monomyth” has been used by creators such as George Lucas, J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, and Philip Pullman and has influenced films as diverse as The Matrix and Darren Aranofsky’s Black Swan. By the end of this seminar, writers will have a better understanding of the seventeen stages of the Monomyth and be able to use these archetypical scenes to add power and meaning to their work. We will discuss the various stages of the Monomyth while using examples from novels and films to illustrate each stage. During the question-and-answer segment, students may share their work in order to see how the Monomyth fits their writing. This seminar is perfect for novelists, screenwriters, and short story writers interested in using the power of myth to enhance their writing. This class is a great compliment to Screenwriting I or II and Novel in Progress.

In most workshops, instructors tend to focus on constructive criticism rather than constructive praise. Instructors do this mostly in the interest of time, and because constructive criticism is often easier to illustrate with examples or to compare with texts that are "working better." But these 1-on-1 Boost consultations work in a different way, focusing instead on what you are doing well. Choose from a 30-minute boost for $37.50 or a 60-minute boost for $75. You don't need to email any work in advance. All pages are looked at within the Boost session itself. If you're unable to meet in person, Boosts are available via a phone call or Skype session as well.To proceed, fill out the following form and Grub Street will follow up with you about payment and scheduling.

30-Minute Short Story/Nonfiction Boost (For a Short Piece of up to 3000 words)
In this consultation, the instructor will start by reading and reviewing one of your stories (or part of a story) that has already been workshopped and spend time discussing the strengths of the piece and, more importantly, why they are strengths. Not only will this bring you confidence, but it will also help you understand your strengths and how you might use them to best effect. If appropriate, you will also receive personally tailored tasks that seek to bring you confidence in areas where you need it. Short Fiction or Non-Fiction Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

60-Minute Book-Length Boost (For an Ongoing Novel, Novella or Book-Length Manuscript)
In this consultation, the instructor will look at an overview or outline of your project, along with an excerpt/excerpts from your manuscript in progress. The focus will be on your strengths so far and why they are strengths. Your instructor will also examine how you might best make use your talents in the rest of your project. Time will be taken to study any feedback that you received in class and put it to use in positive ways. Book-Length Boosts can also involve mini-tasks that will help you to work on your skills in a precise way, with the promise of motivational feedback. These Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

30- or 60-Minute Writing Career Boost
All writers deal with rejection. In fact, it is part and parcel of a successful writing career. But when it comes to getting published, it is all too easy to grind to a halt in the face of ongoing rejection slips. Yet submission is how we move forward, and as Pamela Painter advises, it can help to “keep hope in the mail.” In this Boost, you will discuss your career and/or aspirations with an instructor who has been an editor at a literary magazine and is a Senior Editor at an indie press. Not only will you discuss ways of dealing with ongoing rejection while continuing to write more rather than less, but you will also consider alternative ways of showcasing your work and receiving meaningful feedback as you move forward. This Boost can also involve a review of your cover letter and advice on researching markets/venues for your work.

A screenplay is not ready to submit to contests, agents, or producers until it has gone through a series of revisions, each focusing on different aspects of the form and bringing the various components of character, dialogue, action, and story arc to their peak performance levels.

In this class, screenwriters who have completed a first draft of a screenplay will be introduced to a variety of strategies and techniques for revising their work and completing subsequent drafts. We will do quick in-class exercises to add subtext and realism to dialogue, replace passive verbs with active verbs and find precise nouns to create visual description, evaluate concept, structure, and character, review individual scenes, refine formatting by adding white space, eliminate camera directions, create secondary scene headings, and work backward to test for cause and effect relationships between scenes.

Students should bring five pages of a completed screenplay to class to share and use for writing exercises. Students will receive informal, constructive feedback from peers and the instructor on the pages and the screenplay concepts presented, as well as suggestions for further development.

This seminar is designed to provide practical revision tools for beginning screenwriters who have recently completed the first draft of a screenplay, as well as techniques for experienced screenwriters looking for fresh ways to approach the process of editing and rewriting. The suggested text for this seminar is Pilar Alessandra’s The Coffee Break Screenwriter.

In most workshops, instructors tend to focus on constructive criticism rather than constructive praise. Instructors do this mostly in the interest of time, and because constructive criticism is often easier to illustrate with examples or to compare with texts that are "working better." But these 1-on-1 Boost consultations work in a different way, focusing instead on what you are doing well. Choose from a 30-minute boost for $37.50 or a 60-minute boost for $75. You don't need to email any work in advance. All pages are looked at within the Boost session itself. If you're unable to meet in person, Boosts are available via a phone call or Skype session as well.To proceed, fill out the following form and Grub Street will follow up with you about payment and scheduling.

30-Minute Short Story/Nonfiction Boost (For a Short Piece of up to 3000 words)
In this consultation, the instructor will start by reading and reviewing one of your stories (or part of a story) that has already been workshopped and spend time discussing the strengths of the piece and, more importantly, why they are strengths. Not only will this bring you confidence, but it will also help you understand your strengths and how you might use them to best effect. If appropriate, you will also receive personally tailored tasks that seek to bring you confidence in areas where you need it. Short Fiction or Non-Fiction Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

60-Minute Book-Length Boost (For an Ongoing Novel, Novella or Book-Length Manuscript)
In this consultation, the instructor will look at an overview or outline of your project, along with an excerpt/excerpts from your manuscript in progress. The focus will be on your strengths so far and why they are strengths. Your instructor will also examine how you might best make use your talents in the rest of your project. Time will be taken to study any feedback that you received in class and put it to use in positive ways. Book-Length Boosts can also involve mini-tasks that will help you to work on your skills in a precise way, with the promise of motivational feedback. These Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

30- or 60-Minute Writing Career Boost
All writers deal with rejection. In fact, it is part and parcel of a successful writing career. But when it comes to getting published, it is all too easy to grind to a halt in the face of ongoing rejection slips. Yet submission is how we move forward, and as Pamela Painter advises, it can help to “keep hope in the mail.” In this Boost, you will discuss your career and/or aspirations with an instructor who has been an editor at a literary magazine and is a Senior Editor at an indie press. Not only will you discuss ways of dealing with ongoing rejection while continuing to write more rather than less, but you will also consider alternative ways of showcasing your work and receiving meaningful feedback as you move forward. This Boost can also involve a review of your cover letter and advice on researching markets/venues for your work.

Writing dialogue can be one of the most difficult and significant tasks a writer faces. The techniques a writer learns along the way may prepare them for every kind of prose, but when faced with dialogue, the writer is lost. How do you create dialogue that feels and sounds real, yet also works to communicate your story? This workshop is designed for playwrights, screenwriters, novelists, and short fiction writers interested in writing crisp, realistic-sounding dialogue. We will study several great scenes from films, plays, and fiction to break down what makes the dialogue so effective.

Topics explored will include creating subtext, hiding exposition, working with slang, and how to get the characters in your head speaking with a voice of their own. You will learn how to break down a scene into beats and intentions, and approach the scene as an actor would. Most importantly, during the workshop portion, we will act out your dialogue so you may hear it the way dialogue is meant to be heard -- out loud. The first half of the class will be spent discussing techniques for creating effective dialogue. During the second session, students will use what they have learned to write a dialogue scene and receive peer and instructor feedback.

In most workshops, instructors tend to focus on constructive criticism rather than constructive praise. Instructors do this mostly in the interest of time, and because constructive criticism is often easier to illustrate with examples or to compare with texts that are "working better." But these 1-on-1 Boost consultations work in a different way, focusing instead on what you are doing well. Choose from a 30-minute boost for $37.50 or a 60-minute boost for $75. You don't need to email any work in advance. All pages are looked at within the Boost session itself. If you're unable to meet in person, Boosts are available via a phone call or Skype session as well.To proceed, fill out the following form and Grub Street will follow up with you about payment and scheduling.

30-Minute Short Story/Nonfiction Boost (For a Short Piece of up to 3000 words)
In this consultation, the instructor will start by reading and reviewing one of your stories (or part of a story) that has already been workshopped and spend time discussing the strengths of the piece and, more importantly, why they are strengths. Not only will this bring you confidence, but it will also help you understand your strengths and how you might use them to best effect. If appropriate, you will also receive personally tailored tasks that seek to bring you confidence in areas where you need it. Short Fiction or Non-Fiction Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

60-Minute Book-Length Boost (For an Ongoing Novel, Novella or Book-Length Manuscript)
In this consultation, the instructor will look at an overview or outline of your project, along with an excerpt/excerpts from your manuscript in progress. The focus will be on your strengths so far and why they are strengths. Your instructor will also examine how you might best make use your talents in the rest of your project. Time will be taken to study any feedback that you received in class and put it to use in positive ways. Book-Length Boosts can also involve mini-tasks that will help you to work on your skills in a precise way, with the promise of motivational feedback. These Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

30- or 60-Minute Writing Career Boost
All writers deal with rejection. In fact, it is part and parcel of a successful writing career. But when it comes to getting published, it is all too easy to grind to a halt in the face of ongoing rejection slips. Yet submission is how we move forward, and as Pamela Painter advises, it can help to “keep hope in the mail.” In this Boost, you will discuss your career and/or aspirations with an instructor who has been an editor at a literary magazine and is a Senior Editor at an indie press. Not only will you discuss ways of dealing with ongoing rejection while continuing to write more rather than less, but you will also consider alternative ways of showcasing your work and receiving meaningful feedback as you move forward. This Boost can also involve a review of your cover letter and advice on researching markets/venues for your work.

Screenwriting is an entirely different form of writing with its own complex set of rules and principles. In this ten-week workshop, we will study Hollywood structure and format while also exploring works that defy the norm and challenge the way films are written. Students will bring in a dozen pages every other week and receive peer and instructor feedback on their script. Writers may also distribute their script via e-mail to get even more feedback. We will analyze a variety of film scripts to break down the structure and gain an in-depth understanding of what makes a great film. Topics covered will include writing dialogue, creating conflict, creating original characters and how to work with non-linear structure. By the end of this workshop, writers will have a first draft of a screenplay as well as a detailed step-outline and character biography. This class is perfect for students who have taken introduction to screenwriting or have some screenwriting experience.

Writing a great screenplay begins with the first ten pages. Readers for agents and producers focus exclusively on the opening scenes when looking for a project to represent and develop – many say they stop reading after the first five pages. Understanding the overall structure and specific components of an effective beginning to a screenplay is the first step in becoming a successful screenwriter. In this ten-week class, writers will explore basic screenplay structure, format and techniques. Through weekly lectures and writing assignments, students will learn how to create strong characters, introduce the protagonist’s goal, set the tone for the film, and establish the dramatic situation, all in the first ten pages. We will begin with an overview of traditional, three-act narrative structure and character arcs, focusing on the significance of the first act, and then explore different genres and story types. We will view and discuss the first ten minutes of several films, and compare the screen versions with the first ten pages of the screenplays, as a means of understanding structure.

Students will begin by developing characters and then write scenes that set up the main character in his or her everyday world. The scenes will be constructed to lead up to an inciting incident that sets the story in motion, and hooks the reader into wanting to know what happens next. Students will learn techniques for creating well-rounded, complex characters, writing realistic and effective dialogue, using visual imagery to convey action, and integrating exposition and character back-story into a screenplay without resorting to flashbacks and on-the-nose dialogue. Students will share scenes from in-class and take-home assignments in workshop-style readings weekly and receive informal, constructive feedback from peers and the instructor. The goal of the ten-week class is to write the first ten pages of a feature-length screenplay with at least one revision. For the final submission of the revised first ten pages of each student’s screenplay, the instructor will provide written feedback and suggestions for further development. This course is designed for beginning screenwriters and experienced writers in other genres who seek an introduction to screenwriting format and structure, character development and dialogue. Students should come to the first class with an idea for a screenplay story to develop over the course of the class.

Write the bulk of a new full-length play over the course of six weeks. Conquer the blank page with interactive exercises and assignments. Develop your unique playwriting voice, hear new pages out loud and get feedback as you write your first draft. Readings will include diverse classic and contemporary plays that highlight master techniques for compelling structure, dialogue, action and character development. Classes will be a mix of discussion of student work, examination of particular craft issues and writing exercises. Please bring a copy of David Ball's Backwards and Forwards to your first class.

In most workshops, instructors tend to focus on constructive criticism rather than constructive praise. Instructors do this mostly in the interest of time, and because constructive criticism is often easier to illustrate with examples or to compare with texts that are "working better." But these 1-on-1 Boost consultations work in a different way, focusing instead on what you are doing well. Choose from a 30-minute boost for $37.50 or a 60-minute boost for $75. You don't need to email any work in advance. All pages are looked at within the Boost session itself. If you're unable to meet in person, Boosts are available via a phone call or Skype session as well.To proceed, fill out the following form and Grub Street will follow up with you about payment and scheduling.

30-Minute Short Story/Nonfiction Boost (For a Short Piece of up to 3000 words)
In this consultation, the instructor will start by reading and reviewing one of your stories (or part of a story) that has already been workshopped and spend time discussing the strengths of the piece and, more importantly, why they are strengths. Not only will this bring you confidence, but it will also help you understand your strengths and how you might use them to best effect. If appropriate, you will also receive personally tailored tasks that seek to bring you confidence in areas where you need it. Short Fiction or Non-Fiction Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

60-Minute Book-Length Boost (For an Ongoing Novel, Novella or Book-Length Manuscript)
In this consultation, the instructor will look at an overview or outline of your project, along with an excerpt/excerpts from your manuscript in progress. The focus will be on your strengths so far and why they are strengths. Your instructor will also examine how you might best make use your talents in the rest of your project. Time will be taken to study any feedback that you received in class and put it to use in positive ways. Book-Length Boosts can also involve mini-tasks that will help you to work on your skills in a precise way, with the promise of motivational feedback. These Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

30- or 60-Minute Writing Career Boost
All writers deal with rejection. In fact, it is part and parcel of a successful writing career. But when it comes to getting published, it is all too easy to grind to a halt in the face of ongoing rejection slips. Yet submission is how we move forward, and as Pamela Painter advises, it can help to “keep hope in the mail.” In this Boost, you will discuss your career and/or aspirations with an instructor who has been an editor at a literary magazine and is a Senior Editor at an indie press. Not only will you discuss ways of dealing with ongoing rejection while continuing to write more rather than less, but you will also consider alternative ways of showcasing your work and receiving meaningful feedback as you move forward. This Boost can also involve a review of your cover letter and advice on researching markets/venues for your work.

In this interactive playwriting boot camp, you will write the core materials for a new play. Come with an idea in mind or discover your play as you write it. Through a series of fun directed writing exercises, we will explore the terrain of writing a new play: mining for material, constructing characters and settings, conjuring vivid dialogue, dramatic conflict and finding your voice. We will read brand new pages aloud, discuss writing practices and the strengths and weaknesses of our work in this supportive and generative experience for both new and practicing writers. We will also read and discuss short published texts in regards to craft, then write exercises inspired by the texts. Note that this is not a course in the fundamentals of playwriting, but an opportunity for beginning and advanced students to generate new scenes and raw materials for a new play.

In most workshops, instructors tend to focus on constructive criticism rather than constructive praise. Instructors do this mostly in the interest of time, and because constructive criticism is often easier to illustrate with examples or to compare with texts that are "working better." But these 1-on-1 Boost consultations work in a different way, focusing instead on what you are doing well. Choose from a 30-minute boost for $37.50 or a 60-minute boost for $75. You don't need to email any work in advance. All pages are looked at within the Boost session itself. If you're unable to meet in person, Boosts are available via a phone call or Skype session as well.To proceed, fill out the following form and Grub Street will follow up with you about payment and scheduling.

30-Minute Short Story/Nonfiction Boost (For a Short Piece of up to 3000 words)
In this consultation, the instructor will start by reading and reviewing one of your stories (or part of a story) that has already been workshopped and spend time discussing the strengths of the piece and, more importantly, why they are strengths. Not only will this bring you confidence, but it will also help you understand your strengths and how you might use them to best effect. If appropriate, you will also receive personally tailored tasks that seek to bring you confidence in areas where you need it. Short Fiction or Non-Fiction Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

60-Minute Book-Length Boost (For an Ongoing Novel, Novella or Book-Length Manuscript)
In this consultation, the instructor will look at an overview or outline of your project, along with an excerpt/excerpts from your manuscript in progress. The focus will be on your strengths so far and why they are strengths. Your instructor will also examine how you might best make use your talents in the rest of your project. Time will be taken to study any feedback that you received in class and put it to use in positive ways. Book-Length Boosts can also involve mini-tasks that will help you to work on your skills in a precise way, with the promise of motivational feedback. These Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

30- or 60-Minute Writing Career Boost
All writers deal with rejection. In fact, it is part and parcel of a successful writing career. But when it comes to getting published, it is all too easy to grind to a halt in the face of ongoing rejection slips. Yet submission is how we move forward, and as Pamela Painter advises, it can help to “keep hope in the mail.” In this Boost, you will discuss your career and/or aspirations with an instructor who has been an editor at a literary magazine and is a Senior Editor at an indie press. Not only will you discuss ways of dealing with ongoing rejection while continuing to write more rather than less, but you will also consider alternative ways of showcasing your work and receiving meaningful feedback as you move forward. This Boost can also involve a review of your cover letter and advice on researching markets/venues for your work.

Want to sample the tools and techniques a playwright uses to tell a story that leaps off the page? Thinking about writing a play, but not sure where to begin? This 3-hour crash course will teach you the nuts and bolts of how to write a compelling play. Discover key approaches to plot, conflict, character, dialogue, action, and theatricality. Learn to find inspiration in classic and contemporary plays. Try your hand at a writing exercise or two and leave armed with ideas and methods for getting started with your first play.

In most workshops, instructors tend to focus on constructive criticism rather than constructive praise. Instructors do this mostly in the interest of time, and because constructive criticism is often easier to illustrate with examples or to compare with texts that are "working better." But these 1-on-1 Boost consultations work in a different way, focusing instead on what you are doing well. Choose from a 30-minute boost for $37.50 or a 60-minute boost for $75. You don't need to email any work in advance. All pages are looked at within the Boost session itself. If you're unable to meet in person, Boosts are available via a phone call or Skype session as well.To proceed, fill out the following form and Grub Street will follow up with you about payment and scheduling.

30-Minute Short Story/Nonfiction Boost (For a Short Piece of up to 3000 words)
In this consultation, the instructor will start by reading and reviewing one of your stories (or part of a story) that has already been workshopped and spend time discussing the strengths of the piece and, more importantly, why they are strengths. Not only will this bring you confidence, but it will also help you understand your strengths and how you might use them to best effect. If appropriate, you will also receive personally tailored tasks that seek to bring you confidence in areas where you need it. Short Fiction or Non-Fiction Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

60-Minute Book-Length Boost (For an Ongoing Novel, Novella or Book-Length Manuscript)
In this consultation, the instructor will look at an overview or outline of your project, along with an excerpt/excerpts from your manuscript in progress. The focus will be on your strengths so far and why they are strengths. Your instructor will also examine how you might best make use your talents in the rest of your project. Time will be taken to study any feedback that you received in class and put it to use in positive ways. Book-Length Boosts can also involve mini-tasks that will help you to work on your skills in a precise way, with the promise of motivational feedback. These Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

30- or 60-Minute Writing Career Boost
All writers deal with rejection. In fact, it is part and parcel of a successful writing career. But when it comes to getting published, it is all too easy to grind to a halt in the face of ongoing rejection slips. Yet submission is how we move forward, and as Pamela Painter advises, it can help to “keep hope in the mail.” In this Boost, you will discuss your career and/or aspirations with an instructor who has been an editor at a literary magazine and is a Senior Editor at an indie press. Not only will you discuss ways of dealing with ongoing rejection while continuing to write more rather than less, but you will also consider alternative ways of showcasing your work and receiving meaningful feedback as you move forward. This Boost can also involve a review of your cover letter and advice on researching markets/venues for your work.

In most workshops, instructors tend to focus on constructive criticism rather than constructive praise. Instructors do this mostly in the interest of time, and because constructive criticism is often easier to illustrate with examples or to compare with texts that are "working better." But these 1-on-1 Boost consultations work in a different way, focusing instead on what you are doing well. Choose from a 30-minute boost for $37.50 or a 60-minute boost for $75. You don't need to email any work in advance. All pages are looked at within the Boost session itself. If you're unable to meet in person, Boosts are available via a phone call or Skype session as well.To proceed, fill out the following form and Grub Street will follow up with you about payment and scheduling.

30-Minute Short Story/Nonfiction Boost (For a Short Piece of up to 3000 words)
In this consultation, the instructor will start by reading and reviewing one of your stories (or part of a story) that has already been workshopped and spend time discussing the strengths of the piece and, more importantly, why they are strengths. Not only will this bring you confidence, but it will also help you understand your strengths and how you might use them to best effect. If appropriate, you will also receive personally tailored tasks that seek to bring you confidence in areas where you need it. Short Fiction or Non-Fiction Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

60-Minute Book-Length Boost (For an Ongoing Novel, Novella or Book-Length Manuscript)
In this consultation, the instructor will look at an overview or outline of your project, along with an excerpt/excerpts from your manuscript in progress. The focus will be on your strengths so far and why they are strengths. Your instructor will also examine how you might best make use your talents in the rest of your project. Time will be taken to study any feedback that you received in class and put it to use in positive ways. Book-Length Boosts can also involve mini-tasks that will help you to work on your skills in a precise way, with the promise of motivational feedback. These Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

30- or 60-Minute Writing Career Boost
All writers deal with rejection. In fact, it is part and parcel of a successful writing career. But when it comes to getting published, it is all too easy to grind to a halt in the face of ongoing rejection slips. Yet submission is how we move forward, and as Pamela Painter advises, it can help to “keep hope in the mail.” In this Boost, you will discuss your career and/or aspirations with an instructor who has been an editor at a literary magazine and is a Senior Editor at an indie press. Not only will you discuss ways of dealing with ongoing rejection while continuing to write more rather than less, but you will also consider alternative ways of showcasing your work and receiving meaningful feedback as you move forward. This Boost can also involve a review of your cover letter and advice on researching markets/venues for your work.

In most workshops, instructors tend to focus on constructive criticism rather than constructive praise. Instructors do this mostly in the interest of time, and because constructive criticism is often easier to illustrate with examples or to compare with texts that are "working better." But these 1-on-1 Boost consultations work in a different way, focusing instead on what you are doing well. Choose from a 30-minute boost for $37.50 or a 60-minute boost for $75. You don't need to email any work in advance. All pages are looked at within the Boost session itself. If you're unable to meet in person, Boosts are available via a phone call or Skype session as well.To proceed, fill out the following form and Grub Street will follow up with you about payment and scheduling.

30-Minute Short Story/Nonfiction Boost (For a Short Piece of up to 3000 words)
In this consultation, the instructor will start by reading and reviewing one of your stories (or part of a story) that has already been workshopped and spend time discussing the strengths of the piece and, more importantly, why they are strengths. Not only will this bring you confidence, but it will also help you understand your strengths and how you might use them to best effect. If appropriate, you will also receive personally tailored tasks that seek to bring you confidence in areas where you need it. Short Fiction or Non-Fiction Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

60-Minute Book-Length Boost (For an Ongoing Novel, Novella or Book-Length Manuscript)
In this consultation, the instructor will look at an overview or outline of your project, along with an excerpt/excerpts from your manuscript in progress. The focus will be on your strengths so far and why they are strengths. Your instructor will also examine how you might best make use your talents in the rest of your project. Time will be taken to study any feedback that you received in class and put it to use in positive ways. Book-Length Boosts can also involve mini-tasks that will help you to work on your skills in a precise way, with the promise of motivational feedback. These Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

30- or 60-Minute Writing Career Boost
All writers deal with rejection. In fact, it is part and parcel of a successful writing career. But when it comes to getting published, it is all too easy to grind to a halt in the face of ongoing rejection slips. Yet submission is how we move forward, and as Pamela Painter advises, it can help to “keep hope in the mail.” In this Boost, you will discuss your career and/or aspirations with an instructor who has been an editor at a literary magazine and is a Senior Editor at an indie press. Not only will you discuss ways of dealing with ongoing rejection while continuing to write more rather than less, but you will also consider alternative ways of showcasing your work and receiving meaningful feedback as you move forward. This Boost can also involve a review of your cover letter and advice on researching markets/venues for your work.

In most workshops, instructors tend to focus on constructive criticism rather than constructive praise. Instructors do this mostly in the interest of time, and because constructive criticism is often easier to illustrate with examples or to compare with texts that are "working better." But these 1-on-1 Boost consultations work in a different way, focusing instead on what you are doing well. Choose from a 30-minute boost for $37.50 or a 60-minute boost for $75. You don't need to email any work in advance. All pages are looked at within the Boost session itself. If you're unable to meet in person, Boosts are available via a phone call or Skype session as well.To proceed, fill out the following form and Grub Street will follow up with you about payment and scheduling.

30-Minute Short Story/Nonfiction Boost (For a Short Piece of up to 3000 words)
In this consultation, the instructor will start by reading and reviewing one of your stories (or part of a story) that has already been workshopped and spend time discussing the strengths of the piece and, more importantly, why they are strengths. Not only will this bring you confidence, but it will also help you understand your strengths and how you might use them to best effect. If appropriate, you will also receive personally tailored tasks that seek to bring you confidence in areas where you need it. Short Fiction or Non-Fiction Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

60-Minute Book-Length Boost (For an Ongoing Novel, Novella or Book-Length Manuscript)
In this consultation, the instructor will look at an overview or outline of your project, along with an excerpt/excerpts from your manuscript in progress. The focus will be on your strengths so far and why they are strengths. Your instructor will also examine how you might best make use your talents in the rest of your project. Time will be taken to study any feedback that you received in class and put it to use in positive ways. Book-Length Boosts can also involve mini-tasks that will help you to work on your skills in a precise way, with the promise of motivational feedback. These Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

30- or 60-Minute Writing Career Boost
All writers deal with rejection. In fact, it is part and parcel of a successful writing career. But when it comes to getting published, it is all too easy to grind to a halt in the face of ongoing rejection slips. Yet submission is how we move forward, and as Pamela Painter advises, it can help to “keep hope in the mail.” In this Boost, you will discuss your career and/or aspirations with an instructor who has been an editor at a literary magazine and is a Senior Editor at an indie press. Not only will you discuss ways of dealing with ongoing rejection while continuing to write more rather than less, but you will also consider alternative ways of showcasing your work and receiving meaningful feedback as you move forward. This Boost can also involve a review of your cover letter and advice on researching markets/venues for your work.

Joseph Campbell’s Hero of a Thousand Faces has influenced writers and filmmakers for decades. The book accesses centuries of myth and culture to reveal that all stories follow a similar pattern. By understanding that pattern, the writer can deeply connect with their audience. “The Monomyth” has been used by creators such as George Lucas, J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, and Philip Pullman and has influenced films as diverse as The Matrix and Darren Aranofsky’s Black Swan. By the end of this seminar, writers will have a better understanding of the seventeen stages of the Monomyth and be able to use these archetypical scenes to add power and meaning to their work. We will discuss the various stages of the Monomyth while using examples from novels and films to illustrate each stage. During the question-and-answer segment, students may share their work in order to see how the Monomyth fits their writing. This seminar is perfect for novelists, screenwriters, and short story writers interested in using the power of myth to enhance their writing. This class is a great compliment to Screenwriting I or II and Novel in Progress.

What do creative writers mean by research and development? How do you plan and prepare to write? How do you develop your own unique writing practice? This 3-hour seminar will introduce you to four ways of thinking about a new project -- question, study, observe, and imagine -- and give you concrete tools and writing exercises to help you master the blank page. Designed for playwrights, screenwriters, novelists, and short fiction writers.

A screenplay is not ready to submit to contests, agents, or producers until it has gone through a series of revisions, each focusing on different aspects of the form and bringing the various components of character, dialogue, action, and story arc to their peak performance levels.

In this four-day intensive class, screenwriters who have completed a first draft of a screenplay, or those working on a second or third draft, will be introduced to a variety of strategies and techniques for revising their work and completing subsequent drafts. We will do in-class exercises that focus on adding subtext and realism to dialogue; replacing passive verbs with action verbs and finding precise nouns to create visual description; evaluating concept, structure, and character; reviewing individual scenes; refining formatting by adding white space, eliminating camera directions, and creating secondary scene headings; and working backward to test for cause-and-effect relationships between scenes. Strategies for adapting material from other sources, creating A-list characters, and working with non-linear narratives will also be discussed.

In addition to active revision work in class, each day will include intensive workshopping of students’ screenplay pages, including genre-specific, constructive feedback from peers and the instructor.

Students should send a completed screenplay to the instructor in advance, and bring 10-15 pages of the screenplay to class to share and use for writing exercises each day. At the conclusion of the course, students will receive detailed, strategic feedback from the instructor on the pages and the screenplay concepts presented, as well as suggestions for further development.

This seminar is designed to provide practical revision tools for screenwriters who have recently completed the first draft of a screenplay, as well as techniques for experienced screenwriters looking for fresh ways to approach the process of editing and rewriting. The suggested text for this seminar is Pilar Alessandra’s The Coffee Break Screenwriter.

In most workshops, instructors tend to focus on constructive criticism rather than constructive praise. Instructors do this mostly in the interest of time, and because constructive criticism is often easier to illustrate with examples or to compare with texts that are "working better." But these 1-on-1 Boost consultations work in a different way, focusing instead on what you are doing well. Choose from a 30-minute boost for $37.50 or a 60-minute boost for $75. You don't need to email any work in advance. All pages are looked at within the Boost session itself. If you're unable to meet in person, Boosts are available via a phone call or Skype session as well.To proceed, fill out the following form and Grub Street will follow up with you about payment and scheduling.

30-Minute Short Story/Nonfiction Boost (For a Short Piece of up to 3000 words)
In this consultation, the instructor will start by reading and reviewing one of your stories (or part of a story) that has already been workshopped and spend time discussing the strengths of the piece and, more importantly, why they are strengths. Not only will this bring you confidence, but it will also help you understand your strengths and how you might use them to best effect. If appropriate, you will also receive personally tailored tasks that seek to bring you confidence in areas where you need it. Short Fiction or Non-Fiction Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

60-Minute Book-Length Boost (For an Ongoing Novel, Novella or Book-Length Manuscript)
In this consultation, the instructor will look at an overview or outline of your project, along with an excerpt/excerpts from your manuscript in progress. The focus will be on your strengths so far and why they are strengths. Your instructor will also examine how you might best make use your talents in the rest of your project. Time will be taken to study any feedback that you received in class and put it to use in positive ways. Book-Length Boosts can also involve mini-tasks that will help you to work on your skills in a precise way, with the promise of motivational feedback. These Boosts can be booked one at a time, or as a string of ongoing consultations.

30- or 60-Minute Writing Career Boost
All writers deal with rejection. In fact, it is part and parcel of a successful writing career. But when it comes to getting published, it is all too easy to grind to a halt in the face of ongoing rejection slips. Yet submission is how we move forward, and as Pamela Painter advises, it can help to “keep hope in the mail.” In this Boost, you will discuss your career and/or aspirations with an instructor who has been an editor at a literary magazine and is a Senior Editor at an indie press. Not only will you discuss ways of dealing with ongoing rejection while continuing to write more rather than less, but you will also consider alternative ways of showcasing your work and receiving meaningful feedback as you move forward. This Boost can also involve a review of your cover letter and advice on researching markets/venues for your work.

"Writing dialogue can be one of the most difficult and significant tasks a writer faces. The techniques a writer learns along the way may prepare them for every kind of prose, but when faced with dialogue, the writer is lost. How do you create dialogue that feels and sounds real, yet also works to communicate your story? This workshop is designed for playwrights, screenwriters, novelists, and short fiction writers interested in writing crisp, realistic-sounding dialogue. We will study several great scenes from films, plays, and fiction to break down what makes the dialogue so effective.

Topics explored will include creating subtext, hiding exposition, working with slang, and how to get the characters in your head speaking with a voice of their own. You will learn how to break down a scene into beats and intentions, and approach the scene as an actor would. Most importantly, during the workshop portion, we will act out your dialogue so you may hear it the way dialogue is meant to be heard -- out loud. The first half of the class will be spent discussing techniques for creating effective dialogue. During the second session, students will use what they have learned to write a dialogue scene and receive peer and instructor feedback."

Want to make your characters feel more "real"? Designed for playwrights, screenwriters, novelists, and short fiction writers, this interactive workshop will teach you how to use action to bring your characters to life. Using dynamic writing exercises, we will explore what your characters want and how to compel them to go after it. Concepts covered will include objectives, tactics, obstacles, given circumstances, and conflict. Please bring ideas for one or two characters you would like to explore, including one paragraph that either describes OR is in the voice of that character.