Telling the Story You Want to Tell: on the page, on stage or on the web

A 6-month writing workshop with Nina Wise
September 2023 – February 2024
Thursdays 4:30 – 6:00pm

In the workshops I’ve been teaching over the last couple of years, I’ve laid out essential craft issues that strengthen a writer’s work and discussed the common misperceptions that weaken it. Many of my students have experienced deep insights about their own lives and the lives of others. They have also noted that their writing has improved by leaps and bounds.

Now they have expressed a desire to take a story from beginning creation stages to a completed draft.

So here we go.

Over the course of this 6-month workshop you will be invited to identify the story you want to tell, develop the story, and if possible complete a first draft.

PRIVATE SESSIONS

You will have two private sessions with Nina to review your work (up to 3000 words). 

WORKSHOP STRUCTURE

Each week we will focus on a single craft issue. I will give a teaching, guide a visualization and you will have 1 or 2 timed writing practices. You will then go into breakout rooms to read your work aloud to one another.

Week One: Overview and General Guidelines 
Week Two: Finding the heart of the story
Week Three: Identifying the characters
Week Four: Process — Outline vs Writing into the Void vs Combo
Week Five: Finding the scenes that compose the story
Week Six: Scenes vs Description
Week Seven: Time — past, present, future
Week Eight: Plot, Causality 
Week Nine: Conflict 
Week Ten: Character Transformations
Week Eleven: Structure
Week Twelve: Finishing a draft
Week Thirteen: Q and A: What obstacles have emerged
Week Fourteen: TBD
Week Fifteen: Rewriting and Editing
Week Sixteen: Where to go from here
Week Seventeen: Q and A
Week Eighteen: TBD
Week Nineteen: Closing, Evaluation, Where to go from here

COHORT GROUPS

You will be invited to be a part of a cohort group of 3–4 people to meet once a week and practice what we’ve focused on in the previous session. While the cohort groups are entirely optional, I encourage you to try them out as people benefit greatly from working together.

CLASS SIZE

The workshop will be limited to 14 participants.

CLASS DATES

September 14, 21, 28
October 5, 12, 19, 26
November 2, 9, 16, 30
December 7, 14
January 11, 18, 25
February 1, 8, 15

MATERIALS PROVIDED

During the course you will receive

• Written material about the topic we focus on each week

• A reading list of suggested novels, memoirs and craft books on writing

• Excerpts from novels, essays, short stories, memoirs that elucidate particular elements of craft

RECORDINGS

Each session will be recorded so that if you miss a live class you can receive the teaching at a time that is convenient for you. The entire series of recordings will be available online until 4 weeks after the final session.

APPLICATION

Extended deadline for application: September 8
You will be notified of your acceptance by September 1, at which time the first payment is due.

To apply, please

• Email Nina — include a paragraph about why you are interested in this workshop and what you hope to experience and gain, your writing experience (if any)

• Attach a 1–2 page writing sample, no longer than 1,000 words

• Pay the $25 application fee (below)

If you have received notification of acceptance, please purchase to register.

About Nina

Nina Wise is an award-winning writer, theater artist and dharma teacher. Her book, A Big New Free Happy Unusual Life: Self-Expression and Spiritual Practice for Those Who Have Time for Neither was published by Broadway Books/Random House and translated into German and Portuguese. Her stories and essays have been featured in numerous journals including The Sun, Yoga Journal, Tricycle, Shambhala Sun, and collected in anthologies. She has been awarded multiple fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, Marin Arts Council, Theater Bay Area, Society for Experiments in Contemporary Art to name just a few. More here.

Refund Policy

We understand the unexpected can arise. And we want to do our best to support your utmost well being however, because we are limiting the number of participants in this workshop, we will not be able to offer refunds. In case of severe illness that prohibits you from completing the workshop, we will discuss on an individual basis applying a pro-rated amount of your fee to a future workshop.