Novel Writing Workshops for August 2012 at The Buttonwood Tree

Hosted by award-winning writer and former ABC and NPR journalist Eileen Albrizio

Saturday, August 11 from 1 P.M.- 3 P.M.
Exploring the Beginning Stages of Developing a Story
It’s a simple philosophy, write what you know—perhaps too simple. We are creative people and writing about only what we’ve experienced seems limiting. What does it actually mean anyway? How can you write a science fiction, horror or fantasy novel if what you write must be based on only what you’ve experience in real life? Then again, how do you write what you don’t know? Does that mean spending time and energy doing large amounts of research? The answer is simpler than you think. Writing what you know is actually a good philosophy, but it’s not the entire philosophy. It’s just the start. In this workshop we will explore what it means to write what you know, then go outside the realm of our own experiences and write what we don’t know.

Saturday, August 25 from 1 P.M. to 3 P.M.
What "Show Don't Tell"  Means in Fiction and Creative Nonfiction
One of the most frustrating phrases we’ve heard as writers will frustrate you no more! Yes, you’ve slammed into the phrase countless times and although it sounds like simple logic, when it comes right down to crafting your novel or memoir, you still end up telling the story instead of showing it. You try to be more descriptive, yet you are, again, told that the writing is telling. “How can that be!” you scream at your computer, head pounding in pain from beating it against your desk in defeat. Here’s part of the problem. Writing a novel is a long process and much of that process is spent working to move the story forward. We spend a lot of time trying to get from here to there, moving step by step through the story to get to the conclusion. What we aren’t doing is making each step of the journey vivid, real, tangible and engaging. This workshop will not only make sense out of “show don’t tell,” but will make the craft of showing your story enjoyable and exciting!
$25 per person. Registration required.

Call 860-347-4957, or email Eileen at EileenRain@aol.com

www.EileenAlbrizio.com