OWFI welcomes writers of all ages to our digital Writing Workshops! These free online courses present introductory sessions at 2 PM on the 2nd Saturday of (most) every month. Please review the schedule below for details on topics and presenters. Then fill out the registration form to get started!
September 9, 2023
The Hero’s Journey
Presenter: Gary Pinnell – MC: Dianna Street
How should you begin a story? Use the Hero’s Journey. Those 12 steps inform writers about how to plot a novel, screenplay, memoir, non-fiction, poem or song.
October 14, 2023
How to Build a Story
Presenter: Peggy Chambers – MC: Dianna Street
Using the 3 Ps (person, place, and problem), we will discuss how to structure a story and then write a short one together.
November 11, 2023
Grammar & Sentence Structure in Writing
Presenter: Dorothy Cady – MC: Vinita Eggers
The improper use of grammar and punctuation will make your writing stand out, but not in the way you had planned. In this session, you will learn the top ten grammar and punctuation errors that writers make and how to stop making them, so that those errors will never distract from the quality of your writing.
January 13, 2024
“Hook” Readers
Presenter:Vinita Eggers – MC: Dani Glidewell
We will learn how to hook our readers using Lisa Cron’s article, “How to Hook a Reader” on WritetoDone.com. Lisa Cron is an instructor in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and author of Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence. Visit her blog for more useful information to help grow your writing skills.
February 10, 2024
Let Your Story Talk
Presenter:Vickey Malone Kennedy – MC: Dani Glidewell
Get conversational with the proper use of dialogue, punctuation, and adding action as tags.
March 9 ,2024
The Ragged Edge of Story: Thinking and Writing in Terms of the Natural Structure of the Problem
Presenter: Mike Swain – MC: Dani Glidewell
The session emphasizes the conflict between the Threat (the antagonist) and the Anti-Threat (the protagonist), as well as the cause-and-effect, Free Will, Chance, and Necessity that pit the Threat and Anti-Threat against each other, which leads to the natural solution of the problem. Writers are Problem Solvers; however, Writers are also great Problem Creators.
April 13, 2024
What Do We Do Now?
Presenter: Vivian Zabel – MC: Vinita Eggers
We will review the writing process (lots of handouts) from finding ideas to writing the great American novel --- well, at least start.
Ready to get signed up? Register here:
