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Advanced Short Story Writing
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
This class is an in-depth study of short stories and how to write them. It covers different elements of short stories, and looks at how writers can improve their use of each element. Students will be reading and discussing short stories. There is an emphasis on learning through practice, and so students will be completing writing exercises and writing short stories. This course is ideal for students with a serious interest in the short story genre and in creative writing. It is unique in that it uses different methods to learn and become better authors. The combination of traditional lessons and teaching, writing exercises and creative thought, and reading and studying short stories allows students to learn in a variety of ways. All students with an interest in the subject matter and a proficient level of written English are welcomed to the course. Most students will have had some previous writing experience.
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Breaking Into the Freelance Greeting Card Market
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
Fun, easy course in greeting card writing - and you don't need to be funny! We all have great ideas but if they're not submitted in the proper form, it's the same as having no idea at all. And the proper form is easy. Maybe you'd like the extra income $$$$ . I'll show you how I have added a sweet side income to my life. I'll share with you my experience in this field learned in over 35 years writing greeting card text. Everything you need to know will be presented within this course. I'll give you honest feedback on your ideas marketability. I'm always available by email and interested in your success. One student made $75 for TWO words on a post-it note: When's recess? The company added a picture of a frazzled looking teacher and sent him a $75 check! When's the last time you made $37.50 per word? That check could have been YOURS.
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Bringing Your Characters To Life
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
Creating believable characters is key to writing a good story or novel. People may not be able to recall every detail of the plot of their favorite movie or book, but they generally can tell you every eccentricity of their favorite hero. Assuming, of course, that the writer created an actual 'character' and didn't just resort to using quickly forgotten cardboard stereotypes. In this course, students will learn how to turn 'stock' characters into three dimensional people that readers will never forget. Since writing is best learned by doing, coursework consists of creating and critiquing sample character scenes. Throughout the course, participants will explore various aspects of their main character and will begin to 'flesh out' their hero to create a memorable protagonist.
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Children's Fiction: In-Depth Plotting
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
Plot designs are not something 'set-in-stone' by magazine editors (or teachers of Creative Writing courses). Just as an architect uses blueprints, so do writers of short stories for children. No one buys a house if the architect does not know how to design blueprints. Short story plots are the the children's fiction writer's blueprints. Four basic 'blueprints' will be covered in this class: the Incidental plot, the 'did-it -by-myself, the wishful thought fulfilled, and the turn-around story. From these, students will write from four to five stories. Each story will be individually critiqued by the instructor. Rewriting assistance and feedback will be given. The end focus will be marketing the finished manuscripts for paid publication. This course is designed for authors with some experience at writing, particularly in the area or short stories for children. It will concern plotting, writing, rewriting and actively marketing four different types of children's stories. If you haven't completed 'Writing Short Short Stories for Children,' please email the instructor at web-request@UniversalClass.com for information on qualifications for this class.
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Creative Writing 101: Strategies, Exercises and Support
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
'Creative Energy-Flow and the Written Word' is an attempt to capture what cannot be held in hand or thought--the elusive riddle of human creativity as we find it in our writing. Here we look at various forms and genres (books, dramas and plays, poetry, essays, film-writing, stories in general, etc.) as they relate to the creative impulse. We also talk about the Writer's Voice and personality, writing as therapy, illusions about writing, legend and mythos, and other areas where a creative writer may find inspiration, advice or enlightening conjecture. This self-paced course is offered to writers everywhere with hat-in-hand, for what it may be worth. Test and review questions, and also lesson exercises are included at the end of each lesson to build mastery.
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Creative Writing Series: Creative Writing I, II and III
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
This course consists of all three creative writing courses in one! It starts with Creative Writing I, which shows you how to free your creative expression through some really exciting exercises that expand your imagination and creativity. Creative Writing II explores the nine possibilities for writing styles and tries your hand at a rainbow of writing in the various non-fiction and fiction genres. Creative Writing III shows you the bedazzling techniques of the pros through an experiential journey of exercises: characterization, dialogue, perspective, rhythm and pace, symbolism-foreshadowing-legacy, sensory details and color. The course gives you far more than your money's worth, particularly if you are planning on taking one of the creative writing courses. The course is rich in experiential exercises that take you on a writer's journey.
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Creative Writing Workshop
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
Creative Writing Workshop Write. Learn. Belong. Tap into the creative writer within you. Whether you are a beginner or experienced writer, this writing workshop is for you. You will write poetry and prose using similes, metaphors, alliteration, and more through practice and daily writing exercises with a live, interactive, online teacher you can talk with. Creative Writing Workshop offers you inspiration, a wealth of concrete examples, and the step by step guidance you need in order to write creatively. I will show you writing prompts and samples from my own journal to provide you a model, and to give you the support you need. Bring a desire to learn, and a commitment to write every day throughout the entire course.. You will also be given honest, but gentle and constructive feedback. Imagine composing your own Writing Journal full of fresh and exciting prompts, poems, and ideas to keep you writing. Write, learn, and belong to the community of writers here at Universal Class. ~ Discover the joys of writing. Join us now. Look for my other class, Memoir Writing and write your family stories.
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How to Get Published: What You Absolutely Must Know
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
This is a savvy, must-do course that gives aspiring writers a real edge by revealing the required formats, necessary steps and vital inside secrets for getting publishers to say 'yes.' This course reveals facts about the publishing industry that most writers don't know about. The pros and cons of all four publishing routes are compared: large publishers, small publishers, vanity presses and self-publishing. It provides sample guides that show you not only the standard submission formats for writing manuscripts, query letters, proposals and synopses, but also when each of them are used and what specific key elements editors look for and are impressed by, in those submissions. The writer is walked through each step of the publishing process, and given tools for doing so effectively. Secrets of the publishing world are exposed, revealing how writers can get into hot water with editors, agents and publishers, without even knowing it. Unspoken ethics, rules of etiquette, taboos, stereotypes and behavior publishers expected of writers, are discussed at length. Finally, the course focuses on various important aspects of the publishing contract. Royalties, advances, free book copies, rights, right of first refusal, creative input, aspects of performance and duration are addressed, as well as what they need to be aware of and alerted to in negotiating a contract. This course is aimed at writers who have a serious interest in getting published, but need to know the steps for doing so and can benefit from some savvy inside tips along the way. It does an excellent job of taking the mystery out of getting published and the industry, itself. By the time you are done with this course, you will be well-equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary to pitch your project to publishers.
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How To Write A Screenplay
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
Learn to write a screenplay! This course is for anyone who loves movies and loves to write. This is the first exciting step to writing and completing a feature length screenplay. This class will consist of 11 lessons, 10 quizzes, 10 practical assignments, and one final assignment that will be your first screenplay draft of the 1st Act. The student will begin to construct an original completed screenplay one step at a time from story idea through the ending. The student will learn valuable techniques in creating great characters and dialogue, supercharged scenes, well-constructed acts, and a storyline that jumps off the page. Each Lesson creates screenwriting building blocks that are designed to propel the student to a completed screenplay. During the screenwriting process the student will be exposed to all types of movies and written screenplays as examples.
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Memoir Writing
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
Memoir Writing ~ Yo u have a story to tell ~ Write. Learn. Belong. Pass on your family stories to future generations. Interactive live teacher you can talk with No time limits on assignments Would you like to pass on your family stories and precious memories to your children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren? Or maybe you want to remember them for yourself. A real, live, interactive teacher will guide you to recall and write your life stories through step by step writing prompts and exercises in a fun, and supportive atmosphere. Gift a gift of yourself. Preserve, and pass on your family heritage through writing your memoirs. You will record your stories of joy and sorrow, of failure and success in this family journal. Memorable experiences will pour from your pen like spilled ink on a page. Excerpts from my own journal will provide you with specific examples. This online writing class is for you, whether you are the creative type or not, whether or not you have ever kept a journal, and even if you think you don’t think you have enough recollections stored. Start a memory journal for you and your loved ones. If you want to preserve memories for future generations, or share a meaningful gift of yourself, then join me. ~ Join now ~
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Novel Writing 101
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
From character and plot-conflict development to infusing a unique style and specialized writing techniques, the steps to writing a novel--while not utterly impossible--do require a dedicated, disciplined approach. By committing to the steps outlined within this course, aspiring (and even experienced) novelists can find the structure they need to create a well-crafted manuscript, one they will be proud to shop to potential agents and publishers. While some creative types may balk at the idea of adhering to a framework, the truth is that following such guidelines actually frees up writers to focus on the genesis and flow of ideas as opposed to be bogged down by the myriad of format and publishing style particulars. That is why we have provided you with insights into how, from start to finish, you can develop the varying elements of your novel: characters, plotlines, setting, tone, conflict, climax, and resolution\denouement. Labeled as dramatic construction, every novel ought to have a foundation in these basic principles. Plus, we will help take you one step further by offering you the specifics as to what is required to submit your completed work to potential agents and publishers. With an end goal in mind, this will help inspire you to actually finish your novel. Outfitted with both practical and creative writers' tools, there is no reason you can not successfully write a novel and get it published. If indeed you are truly committed and willing to invest the necessary time and effort to put your literary skills to the test, there should be nothing, absolutely nothing, stopping you from producing memorable prose.
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Novel Writing Techniques (Part I and II) Explosive Must-Do Course for Creative Writers
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
Put fire in your writing! This is an absolute exciting must-do course for creative writers and novelists. Learn the tricks of the trade and write like a best-seller with this unparalleled course that focuses on teaching explosive creative writing and novel writing techniques for turning your pieces into masterpieces. Put cha-cha in your rhythm, ah-hah in your plots, kaboom in your action and create characters so vivid you will want to shush them up! Learn the many types of alliteration , how to form associatio n, purposeful use of landmarking and symbolism , embed various components of rhythm , staggered levels of exaggeration , animate your piece with reverse personification and personification , sensory description, spectacular detailing , theatrical plotting , and add dual voice styles to drop the jaws of your readers. This convenient, self-paced, instructor-guided, must-do online course contains 10 profound lessons, reitteratively supported through valuable assignments whereby you apply each of the techniques in your writing, supportive quizzes, polls and netlink resources. Your instructor is published author, college writing instructor, creative writing and publishing workshop facilitator, and UC's Millenium Educator award recipient, Dezra Lehr-Guthrie.
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Poetry 101: The Way We Word
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
An introduction to the tools of poetry: imagery, metaphor, sound, rhythm, rhyme, and form. By the end of the course, students should have a clear understanding of what makes a poem a poem, as well as a handful of new poems that they have written. Through a series of six lessons, we will hit upon the essential tools for creating a poem: imagery, metaphor, sound, rhythm, rhyme, and form. Each lesson expands upon the previous lesson to show the interconnectivity of these essential tools, but each one also looks at the tool in and of itself. In the process, we will look at how these tools are used in various poems, by means of definitions, explanations, and examples. The focus is not on poetic terms, but on processes; while designed for the beginning poet, the course would also be a good brush-up for intermediate and even advanced poets. Lesson by lesson, you will then apply these tools to poems of your own creation through assignments. So that we can all learn from each other, these original poems will be posted and workshopped, meaning not only will you write poems, but you will comment on others' poems. Similarly, you will receive feedback from others on your own poems. Think of the workshop aspect as one of constructive criticism, a means of creative revision, of growing as a poet.
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Poetry Writing Basics
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
Have you ever admired the rhythm and rhymes of famous poets such as Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson? Have you ever wanted to express your ideas in sharp, concise language? Have you ever wanted to express your feelings to friends or loved ones, or create a special poem for an event or gathering? If so, then this Poetry Writing Basics class is right for you. In this class, we will be looking at the basic tools of poetry, such as imagery, metaphor, concrete language, rhythm, and description, as well as different schools of contemporary poetry. We will be using assignment prompts and model poems to help you to write your own poetry and come up with ideas for future work. For this class, a basic interest in poetry and proficiency in English is required.
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Screenwriting 101: The Nuts and Bolts and Rewards
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
This is a basic, nuts-and-bolts course, for people who wish to write screenplays, but don't know much about it. Because screenwriting is demanding both technically and in the market for jobs and sales, 'Getting Into The Screenwriting Game to Win' attempts to go through each essential aspect needed for a beginner to get started, stick with it, and yes, make a sale or get a job. In this course you will learn basic rules and skills. There's no excuse for a poorly formatted script, you're really only wasting your time. Traditional three-act structure for film-stores can be debated endlessly, but it works, it's very functional, it's fairly easy to understand, and you can't neglect at least a passing familiarity with this mode of expression for your stories. Get in touch with the industry, the markets, what's selling, where to find opportunities, how to deal with people. Approach your work standards and work environment seriously, because you'll be spending a lot of time there. If you get a deal, don't get screwed for careless anticipation of the money involved, and if you get screwed, don't be surprised. And remember that if you can't make it to the top and win an Oscar for some super-big film you wrote, it's still a wonderful way to make a buck at your computer doing smaller gigs and 'for-hire' work. Screenwriting is also therapy. It's good for you, and your imagination and thoughts will develop wonderfully as you work through each visualization---but be sensitive to the audience, don't exploit our world with endless images of violence and gore (at least not without a reason), and don't hop in bed with unethical projects or money-sources just because you can. It's a wild world for films and film-makers---stay on the bright side and keep it safe and legal. The hope is that for the beginner, this course presents a working knowledge of what is needed to get started writing screenplays in a realistic and informed way. Beyond this, you're now free to roam where no screenwriter has gone before---and what a wonder it is to wonder.
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Short Story Writing
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
Have you ever read a story and thought that you could have written it better? Have you ever had a brilliant idea for a story, but not known how to actually write it? Have you ever had children beg you for one more story before they go to sleep? If so, then you are interested in short stories. Short stories are a great way to begin prose writing. This course teaches you how to write them. Lessons focus on practical instruction, including how to come up with ideas, how to begin writing, and how to form a story. Attention is also paid to developing your work and possibly publishing it. This course is intended for beginning writers who would like to either learn how to write stories or improve their writing abilities. If you are interested in creative writing and have at least a high-school reading and writing level, then you will benefit from this course. It allows for individualization so that you can focus on the elements important to your writing, and so that you can receive personalized reading recommendations and writing critiques.
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Write Short Stories for Children
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
This course is designed for those who wish to write short stories for children. It will lead the student through the basics of this art form into the specifics of characterization, age groups, plotting and outlining, drafting a story for children, rewriting and polishing the work. Final lessons will cover manuscript preparation and marketing strategies. Students will receive personal instructor feedback and critique. The goal of this course is to increase a student's chance for publication.
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Write Tidbits for Tots through Teens
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
This course is designed for those who consider writing nonfiction for kids a creative venture. It is designed to help the writer sell two types of short fillers that abound in children's magazines: crafts and recipes. A short segment also will concern writing cute kid sayings for adult markets. The student will learn how to build an Idea Bank to work from, how to study a magazine and build a market list for each writing. Marketing strategies and basic manuscript format will be covered. Students will leave the class with 15 'tidbit' writings ready to market--and enough ideas to keep them busy writing for months.
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Writing Articles for the Niche Market
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
This course is an introduction to the nonfiction niche market and techniques for placing articles with these publishers. Magazines that specialize in niche topics -- such as particular hobbies, sports, historical eras or political causes -- offer a large market for new writers wishing to become established as freelancers. This course will discuss these markets and give step-by-step procedures for preparing a completed article. The instructor is a freelance writer, with articles published in BackHome, Spiritual Life, Writer's Forum, Fate, Bibliophiles, 'What Makes People Successful?,' Julian's Journal, and Emerging Awareness.
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Writing the Great American Short Story
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Course Description:
1.0 Continuing Education Units are available at course completion.
A pair of hands on the keyboard, a blank screen, and a single wish: You want to write the Great American Short Story! You've read many of them -- Poe's Black Cat, Cheever's Enormous Radio, Welty's The Worn Path -- but have you come close to writing a tale that lingers with readers after the last page is turned? In this class, you will gain the inspiration and the discipline to write a short story of 1000 to 8000 words. We will use examples from all genres, exploring the techniques of plot, style, flow, voice and tone that will make your fiction sing. This close reading of master works is accompanied by tried and true methods for putting words on the page, revising, and handling criticism from others. One thing's for sure: Your stories are ready to tell themselves to you. And, if all goes well enough, they'll tell themselves to the world as well. So, are you ready to start writing?
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