WRITING

Looking for a writing group? Join one of ours!

Friday Morning Writing Group at the Senior Citizen’s Center

with Sarah Combs

Fridays, January 20-March 23, 10:00 am – 11:30 am -Free

If you’ve reached that golden age, join this writing group, which meets atthe Lexington Senior Center, 1530 Nicholasville Road. This course features in-class writing exercises; feedback for family stories, memoirs, poems and stories; tips for reading and publishing your work; and lively conversation and fellowship. Note: Classes held at the Senior Center do not meet if Fayette County schools are closed due to inclement weather.

Free Writing Practice (Please specify Evening or Day when registering)

EVENING with Doug Begley: Mondays, January 23-March 19,
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Free

DAYTIME with Gail Koehler: Fridays, January 13-March 23,
Noon – 1:30 pm, Free

Energize your story-telling and writing skills using word prompts and timed writings in an environment free from criticism. This on-going, drop-in practice is free: join a session at any time. Suitable for writers from all genres (memoir, fiction, nonfiction, poetry). All you need is your writer’s notebook and pen—and the spirit of play and discovery! Recommended reading is Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg (not required).

Dreambuilding: Goal Group for Writers

with Fiona Young-Brown

First and third Wednesday of the month, January 18-May 16; noon-1:00 pm, Free

A safe and supportive environment for poets, writers and artists to state, discover, discuss and fine-tune their short and long-term goals, both creative and career-related. This is also an opportunity for writers to learn from each other’s experience as well as help one another.

Grantwriting Boot Camp

with Jennifer Mattox

Friday, March 16, 9:30 am-4:30 pm
$110 (includes lunch)

In this intensive course, you’ll learn how to write a grant through first-hand experience. You’ll explore grant opportunities, create a project budget, and write a narrative—finishing a draft by the end of the day. No previous experience necessary. This class is geared toward grantwriting for non-profit organizations and artists and is instructed by an experienced grantwriter. Lunch provided.

Elements of Writing

with Jason Howard

Mondays, January 9-March 5 (no class January 16), 5:30-7:00 pm – $96

Whether you are a beginning writer or would simply like to refine your skills, this class offers the essential methods to quality writing: Beginnings, Sense of Place, Plot & Pacing, Characterization, Dialogue, Revision, Writer’s Toolbox and Getting Published. Incorporating creative nonfiction, poetry
and fiction in a cross-genre perspective, these sessions will get your creative juices flowing through lively instruction, discussions and writing exercises.

Screenwriting

with Grayson Johnson

Thursdays, February 9-March 29
5:30-7:30 pm $96

Do you have a story you feel should be made into a movie? Or do you already have a script that could use some second opinions? This course will teach screenwriting terminology, formatting and rules while applying helpful practices and tips of the trade. Then it’s time to get it on paper. This workshop environment will allow you to get instant feedback on your work and to learn from you classmates as well, inviting all levels of screenwriting experience to participate in helping each other get our ideas onto the big screen.

NONFICTION COURSES

Nonfiction Writing Group

with Neil Chethik

Tuesdays, January 10-March 27, Noon- 1:30 pm
$120

Join a lively, diverse group of people in exploring nonfiction writing, including personal essays, columns, magazine pieces, and autobiography. This is a chance to limber up as a writer, get feedback from others, and gain confidence in an affirming atmosphere. Bring your enthusiasm and a writing pad!

Life Writing for Everyone

with Leatha Kendrick

Mondays, February 27-April 16, 5:00-7:00 pm – $96

THIS CLASS IS NOW FULL. PLEASE TRY ANOTHER WRITING WORKSHOPS!
We write about our lives in order to discover the story behind and within its events. Crafting concrete and coherent narratives of experience, we have a chance to mend the broken stories and add depth and vitality to the stories we think we already know. This class series focuses on ways to elicit and articulate life stories for pleasure or publication.

Life Writing: Advanced

with Leatha Kendrick

Tuesdays, February 28-April 17, 5:00-7:30 pm $120

A continuation of Life Writing for those engaged in completing a book-length work. An opportunity to generate what is missing in your book, to explore revision techniques, and to look at ways to shape a finished work based on writing already completed or in process. Intended for writers completing a book-length work based on life experience. Limit: 12 participants.

Writing the Personal Essay

with James Wright

Wednesdays, April 11-May 16, 5:30-7:00 pm $72

In the sixteenth century, Michel de Montaigne wrote essays on cannibals, vanity, glory, and even thumbs. He set the stage for a new form of essay in which we can explore our personal connections to the world around us. In this workshop, you will read short essays that beguile, surprise, and delight.You will write about your personal real-life experiences, focusing on the unusual, unique moments in your life. Bring a notebook, and come ready to be encouraged!

FICTION

Fiction Writing Group

with Sarah Combs

Mondays, January 30-February 27,
11:00 am-12:30 pm $72

This is an open forum for fiction writers of all genres and levels of experience. Through hands-on writing exercises and discussion of the work of contemporary fiction writers, we will examine such nuts-and-bolts elements as voice, point of view, mood, and plot.

Writing YA (Young Adult) Fiction

with Sarah Combs

Mondays, Wednesdays, January 11-February 29,
6:00-7:30 pm

$96

Young Adult Fiction has been cancelled. Please consider joining the Fiction Writing Group.

The Road to Publication

with Cynthia Ellingsen; SUBMISSIONS DUE JAN. 31

Thursdays, February 9-March 29 5:30-7:30 pm, $96

An 8-week course that will focus on submitting a completed manuscript for submission. This will include polishing three chapters for submission, writing query letters that target your specific category and submitting your work to agents. This class is for writers who have a completed and polished manuscript ready for submission. However, it would also be beneficial to those in the final draft stage of their manuscript. Open to middle-grade, teen and adult fiction only. Limit: 10 participants. Submissions will be juried. To be considered for the class, please submit a writing sample (up to 5 pages) to CCLL1@carnegiecenterlex.org by 5:00 pm on Thursday, January 31 (new deadline).

Character is Fate

with Normandi Ellis

Mondays, March 19-May 14, 5:30-7:30 pm$96

When the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said “character is fate,” he gave us a working definition for what makes great fiction. Here, we’ll explore fiction from the stance of character, studying and writing as we go. We will discover what makes memorable characters; define voice; examine how conflict and plot arise from character; and determine how to create complex major characters, foils, and antagonists. We’ll examine the proximity of author, narrator and character and where those edges blur or become more distinct. At the end of 8 weeks, you’ll have your story.

So You Want to Write a Book?

with Cynthia Ellingsen

Thursdays, April 12-May 3, 5:30-7:30 pm$48

You’ve always wanted to write a book, so let’s do it! A 4-week course designed to help the fledgling writer learn how to write a fiction novel and to get started on the process. Limit: 10 participants. Submissions will be juried. To be considered for the class, please submit a writing sample (up to 5 pages) to CCLL1@carnegiecenterlex.org by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, March 14.

Poetry

Poetry as Healing

with Jay McCoy

Tuesdays, January 17-March 6, 5:30-7:00 pm$96

Whether living with a chronic condition yourself or caring for a loved one, we often find powerful strength in poetry. In this class, we will focus on writing exercises, prompts, and visualizations to explore the challenges faced when dealing with disease whether from the perspective of the person living with illness or of the caregiver. We will take time to workshop our own poetry while also discussing the wealth of existing healing and coping poetry from classical and modern periods, from sacred and secular communities, and from Eastern and Western traditions. No matter what condition you experience, whether personally or as caregiver, and no matter what your previous experience with poetry, all are welcome.

The Path of a Poem

with Leatha Kendrick

Thursdays, March 1-April 19, 5:00-7:30 pm$120

Reading poems and writing in response to them and to prompts, we’ll explore the paths by which poems arrive and are revised toward their best selves. Bring a playful spirit, a blank notebook, and some failed work. Limit: 12 participants.

Master Class in Poetry

with Jeff Worley

Tuesdays, April 10-May 29, 5:00-7:30 pm $175

This class is intended for writers who have already spent some time wrestling with the Muse. The workshop will take shape around students’ interests in their writing and will emphasize image-building, using sound to fortify meaning, lineation, fine-tuning your voice, and developing an awareness of the various approaches to the free-verse poem. We will all support each other to improve drafts of poems. Occasional well-known Kentucky “guest poets” will also share their poems and approaches to writing. Required text: What Comes Down To Us: 25 Contemporary Kentucky Poets (University Press of Kentucky, 2009) Limit: 10 participants. Submissions will be juried. To be considered for the class, please submit an 8-page poetry writing sample to CCLL1@carnegiecenterlex.org by 5:00 pm on Thursday, March 22.

The Road to Hell is Paved with Adverbs

with former Poet Laureate, Richard Taylor

Wednesdays, April 25-May 30, 5:30-7:30 pm $72

This poetry workshop will focus on ways to build a fuller sense of language and its uses in poetry. We will discuss what constitutes apt language, general principles that may contribute to writing better poems, and the role of figurative language and metaphor. We’ll use examples and models as well as discussions of poems written in class. No special skill level required.

1-on-1 Writer Mentoring

Do you need a writing mentor? Do you need feedback on a manuscript? Could your writing improve with a dedicated coach? The Carnegie Center’s Writing Mentor Service is your opportunity to work one-on-one with a published writer. Writers of all ages are welcome. $30 for a one-hour session; fee assistance available. Visit our Writing Mentor Service page to see which mentor is the right fit for YOU.