I am thrilled to announce I’ve begun creative writing workshops in Princeton – last Saturday of every month! I invite you to join us. Although we’re just beginning. We are already a group of friendly, supportive writers — some just starting on the writer’s journey, others already well published.  Fiction, memoir, poetry, flash fiction, creative non-fiction, there’s something for everyone.

Sharpening the Quill Workshops are based on a creative writing course I developed for the American University in Paris, back when I lived in France.  I also taught it at WICE in Paris, and have adapted bits of it for the Geneva Writers’ Workshop, and various other workshops. In France the course was popular, with a waiting list to get in, and turned out some great writers, among them Joanne Proulx, author of Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet.

Now, I have found a wonderful new teaching ‘home’ at Acacia Restaurant, Main St. Lawrenceville, New Jersey.  We begin at 10:00, work until noon, when we break for lunch, and then regroup at 1:00, for reading and critiquing until 3:00.  You can get more details on my website’s teaching page.

I’m excited by this new endeavor for a couple of reason — first, teaching has always kept my own writing fresh, and second, I believe a writer needs a community of support.  We writers live isolated lives, and often we’re alone in our own heads too much.  Having people who understand what we’re trying to accomplish and who support our efforts is invaluable.

And as part of my class preparation, I read a ton of books on craft.  Here are a few I’ll be drawing on in the coming months:

Writing Fiction, by Janet Burroway

From Where You Dream by Robert Olen Butler

One Year to a Writing Life by Susan Tiberghien

Archetypes for Writers by Jennifer Van Bergen

The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood

Naming the World, ed. by Bret Anthony Johnston

The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler

Word Painting by Rebecca McClanahan

The Writer’s Life by Eric Maisel

The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri

And SO many more…. (the shelves are groaning with writing books old and new!)

There’s room at the table for a few more folks.  Doesn’t matter where you are on the path, we all have much to learn and much to offer.  Send me an email, or post a comment with your email address and I’ll send you a registration form.

In the meantime, here’s a writing prompt to get you going:

Look at this Edward Hopper painting:

“Hotel Room” by Edward Hopper

Set a kitchen timer and write, for the next 20 minutes (or more) about this image.  Who is the woman?  What’s happened?  What’s about to happen?  What does it smell like in this room?  What are the sounds?  What’s seen, and what’s unseen?  What do the sheet feel like?  (Use sense details — smell, sound, taste, touch, sight — and be specific!)

Look forward to seeing you at one of the workshops…..