Class Descriptions: 1-Day | 2-Day | 3 & 4-Day | On-going Classes

1-Day Writing Classes

Getting Started
This free class is for anyone who needs a quick hit of writing and a bit of community. In this class we will talk about our lives as writers and spend time writing together. This class is designed to support beginning writers and give on-going writers the jump-start they might need to re-invest in themselves and their writing lives. Both beginning and on-going poets, prose, fiction and non-fiction writers are welcome. This class is open to any student, no experience necessary.

Editing Seminar
So what do you do after the pages are written? How do you evaluate what you have and choose what to keep, what to toss and what to keep working on? In this evening seminar we will discuss the different types of editing and the ways in which solid self-editing can serve the writer in strengthening and completing the text. While first drafts are driven by what is possible, good editing is driven by what is necessary. A few basic techniques can bring confidence, balance and humor to this aspect of your writing life, allowing the work to be presented in its best possible form.

Drop-In Class
A Drop-In class is one that you simply attend session-by-session, with no obligation to attend the whole series. If you know in advance that you will be attending one of these sessions, please let us know. If you are not sure what your schedule will allow, no worries. Just drop in if you can and we’ll see you there. This afternoon drop-in class (offered in four individual sessions) is focused on creating text and enjoying the company of fellow writers. The primary focus will be to generate in-class writings and ideas. Each week we will try a number of specific exercises designed to create a first draft. The goal here is to experiment, try new forms and ideas, laugh, play with language and maybe even to surprise ourselves. These four individual sessions are open to anyone who wants to write.

Writing in Response to Art: An On-site Museum Writing Workshop
Writers of both poetry and prose have always been influenced by visual art. In this one-day class, we travel as a group to specific and compelling exhibits in some of the country’s best-known museums to directly experience art and to write on-site from within the moment of our own experience. The group will meet at the main entrance to the museum in the morning. Specific information on the exhibit, writing exercises and ideas will be given out, and students will be free to explore the exhibit on their own. In the afternoon we will meet again to discuss our experiences and have the opportunity to read to one another. Writing exercises will work with direct observation, voice, point-of-view, touch, sound, memory and narrative.

Previous classes have been offered in response to some of the most powerful art exhibits in the last few years, including: Capture the Moment, an exhibit of Pulitzer Prize Photographs from 1941 to the present, BODY WORLDS 2: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies, as well as exhibits at the American Visionary Art Museum of Baltimore, where “visionary art” is defined as “art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself. In short, visionary art begins by listening to the inner voices of the soul.”

These classes are open to any writer, no experience necessary, and they are offered in different museums throughout the year, including the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Denver Art Museum and the Museum of Nature and Science in Denver, Colorado.

Satellites: A Working Day for Writers
This one-day session is for working writers who want to carve out a single, supported day in which to get some of their work done without the interruptions of work, family, phones, e-mails or the thousand other distractions that keep us from focusing on our work. We will begin by meeting as a group to discuss our individual ideas and to set realistic goals for the day. Then, we will break out into individual rooms and spaces to work on our individual projects. All rooms are furnished with multiple seating options and desks. No more than two writers will be assigned to each room. This allows students to spread out their work and to maintain a mindful presence and quiet companionship with other writers, thus becoming “satellites” for one another. Max will be available throughout the afternoon to talk with each writer and to help with problem-solving, writer’s block or any other issues that might arise. At the end of the afternoon the class will meet again as a group to share what we've accomplished, discuss what comes next and figure out how to keep going.

The goal of this day is to produce an experience of what it is to be a focused, intentional writer—not to produce a certain number of pages. Some writers may spend their afternoon constructing a single poem, while others might outline a whole book. Some might revise a chapter, while others might make a list. Regardless of the outcome, writers will have an opportunity to enjoy peace, quiet and to examine their own patterns of work. This class is open to any interested writer. Class size is limited to 12 people. This class is taught monthly in the Spectrum Writers Guild in Houston, Texas and occasionally at the Boulder Public Library in Boulder, Colorado.

How To Write Through The Holidays (without getting into trouble)
Regardless of our individual beliefs and traditions, the Holiday season is always a bit of an ordeal. For writers, this is a season that provides almost unlimited opportunities for capturing stories, overheard dialogue, telling stories, experimenting and indulging our creativity in unexpected ways. So tuck the unfinished novel away for a week or two and let’s have some fun. In this evening workshop we will discuss how to take full advantage of the Holiday season as writers. How can you interview an aging relative without calling attention to it? What great stories do you remember from your own holidays as a child? How can you make a customized, cut-up Christmas card? How can you base a fictional character on someone you know without getting sued? How can you write a collaborative story with your friends or family? How can you steal the found language in a cheesy Christmas movie or an instruction booklet to your new DVD player to make a creative text? This class is offered in early December. We will write together, set up experiments and have as much fun as possible in advance of the joyous, madness of the season.

How to Read Your Work Out Loud (without bursting into flames)
When one is invited to read one’s creative work out loud to an actual group of people, (meaning a group of mostly strangers) how do we manage to do justice to our work, physically and vocally, without first being dipped in Teflon? The trick is to know some of the basic principals and tricks of reading in public, including: how to choose work for a reading, how to project your voice without yelling, how to stand in your body, how long to read, how fast to read, what to expect from a public reading and the importance of bringing friends to catch you if you pass out.

In this two-hour session we will cover these topics and more, finding our way as a community towards the place where we can stand up and embody the substance and spirit of our work with poise, humor and awareness. This evening session is open to writers of any genre or level of experience. Please bring one page of your text with you to practice reading. This class is usually offered in advance of the annual Spectrum Center Community Reading, held in Houston Texas, in December of each year.

Writing the Cure
This 1.5 hr writing class is offered at the Annual Women Physician’s “Finding a Balance” Conference. It designed to offer participants a chance to write from the heart and to explore the power of stories. Together we will examine the role that writing can play in maintaining your own balance as women and as physicians. Self expression through writing can serve as the pressure valve. It is an intentional way to foster compassion, avoid burnout, manage stress and to invite humor and community into your life. It is also a powerful tool in helping your patients. Simple writing exercises and prompts can be part of a treatment plan that encourages those who are suffering the explore the origins and effects of their own illness, and to become more active in the journey towards their own healing.

Where the Hell is The Funny Bone?
"Where I come from, when things go wrong, you either laugh, cry or throw up. If you get the choice, laugh. " -Molly Ivins
This writing class is offered at the Annual Women Physician’s “Finding a Balance” Conference. Individuals who work in the medical profession, especially as physicians, navigate a huge and consistent amount of daily stress and humor is one of the ways to lighten the load. Many studies have been done about the power of humor and the role that laughter can play in healing, for both patient and physician. Together we will call up some of the moments of humor and laughter that have stayed in our memories and begin to write them down. We will share jokes, stories and methods for inviting more humor into our lives.