Classes for Adults

Spring I : February 21 - April 29, 2012

TUITION: 9 weeks for $265
Monday classes - 8 weeks for $235*

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Register online below or download our mail-in Registration Form

The Writers Circle for Adults

Our Adult Writers Circles are the heart of our workshops. They're where The Writers Circle began. We provide a supportive environment where writers work freely various forms and genres, exploring projects developed in class or on their own.  Craft issues like structure, point-of-view, character development, pace, and style are addressed, as is the ever-changing publishing marketplace. With great respect for each writer, our workshops take on a life of their own as writers learn to trust each other for ongoing critique and inspiration as they move toward completion of work and eventual publication.

Monday Mornings 9:00-11:00 AM Sages Pages, 300 Main Street, Madison, NJ taught by Michelle Cameron	Register
Wednesday Mornings 9:15-11:15 AM St. George's Church, 550 Ridgewood Road, Maplewood, NJ taught by Judith Lindbergh	Register
Wednesday Evenings 7:00-9:00 PM Sages Pages, 300 Main Street, Madison, NJ taught by Michelle Cameron	Register
Thursday Evenings 7:30-9:15 PM (South Orange-Maplewood Adult School) taught by Judith Lindbergh	Contact the Adult School directly for dates, fees and registration.

Writing & Selling Your Memoir taught by Paula Balzer

There's more to writing a memoir than just writing your life story. A memoir isn't one
long diary entry. Rather, it's a well-crafted story about a crucial, often exceptionally
difficult, time in someone's life. This class will take readers through the process of
telling their most personal stories in a compelling, relatable, and readable manner. Our
goal is to show writers how to approach the genre with love, respect, and know-how
without sentimentalizing it.

Here’s Just Some of What You’ll Learn:

• The Anatomy of a Good Hook: Mastering the Crucial Difference Between Hooks
  and Themes, How to find your hook, How to use a hook to catch agent’s or the
  media’s attention.
• How to Manage Your Material: How to self-edit so that your memoir isn’t over
  flooded with details, descriptions and stories.
• Using Structure Creatively: How the structure you choose for your story can add
  to the marketability of your memoir.
• Voice: What Makes Your Writing Yours. Surprising ways to find your voice,
  hone it, and perfect it.
• How to Do Market Research Like a Pro.
• How to Have a Platform Before You Pitch Agents: How Facebook, Twitter and
  other social media platforms can give you an edge on getting an agent.

Wednesday Evenings 7:30-9:30 PM Sparkhouse, 19 Scotland Road, South Orange, NJ

Register

Beginning Your Novel taught by Michelle Cameron

Begin the novel you've always wanted to write! Learn to structure your plot,write description, develop characters, explore different points of view and improve dialogue-writing skills. Discussions, writing prompts and supportive feedback will finally get your novel off to an energetic start.

Monday Evenings 7:00-9:00 PM Sages Pages, 300 Main Street, Madison, NJ

Register

Crafting a Fictional Thrill Ride: Suspense, Thrillers, Mystery
  & Crime Fiction taught by Jenny Milchman - NEW!

Suspense fiction is one of the most enduring and popular literary forms. Today’s classics were yesterday’s thrillers: think Fyodor Dostoevsky, Edgar Allan Poe, and even Harper Lee. In this workshop, explore why crime fiction has such wide appeal, and the role that story plays in ordering a disordered universe. Learn the suspense equivalents of each traditional element of fiction: inciting incident, reversal, twist, cliffhanger, and climax. By the end of class you will have several scenes (or more) written for your mystery, suspense novel, or thriller.

Tuesday Evenings 7:00-8:30 PM Sparkhouse, 19 Scotland Road, South Orange, NJ

Register

* Monday classes start a week later due to the President's Day holiday. All workshops skip April 8-14 for Spring Break.

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Here’s what TWC adult students and private clients have to say about their experience: "I just received word from a publication that they'd like to publish one of the stories I worked on with Michelle Cameron. It's a pro paying market that has published, among many big name authors, Harlan Ellison. I'm thrilled beyond words. I really can't thank Michelle enough for all her help with the story, and for that matter, with all my stories. This tale simply would not have gotten to where it is without Michelle's guidance and advice." - Jeff Samson, musician, graphic artist, writer "Judy Lindbergh's writing workshops were invaluable to the publication of The Last Leaf. Her open and welcoming classes were a terrific forum for writing and editing the book's chapters. And Judy, a published novelist, is a wonderful resource for navigating the unknown waters of publishing and publicity." - Stuart Lutz, author of The Last Leaf: Voices of History's Last Known Survivors "Judy gave me the motivation and the confidence I needed to take my book from scattered ideas and scribbles to detailed outline and manuscript draft. I’m a hundred pages in (so far!) and she’s still guiding me with her nurturing, insightful, deeply intelligent advice for dealing with not only the logistical struggles but also the emotional trials of writing." - Sandra Joseph, on writing “Phantom Girl”, a memoir of her ten years as the female lead of Broadway’s The Phantom of the Opera “Judith Lindbergh’s professional writing support is truly remarkable. It is so important to work with an editor or writing coach who is not only skilled at the craft of writing, but who is respectful, responsible, and sensitive as a human being. Writing is often such a personal endeavor that it is essential to work with people who know how to communicate what they see in your writing so that you can really grow. Judy has been providing me with such editorial care and my work has taken off as a result.” - Ruth Henderson, Ph.D., on writing “The Mysteries of Forgiveness: Finding Freedom and Peace in the Aftermath of Trauma” Judith has created a supportive, yet productive environment. As someone who has spent his adult life critiquing and being critiqued, I can tell you how rare that is. Most critiques fall into one of two categories: "learn by being crushed" or "Everything everyone does is just awesome, we're all having a such a great time being creative." Both a waste of time. Thanks for “getting it". - Michael Pilla, Pilla Creative Marketing I've been in many writing groups in both NYC and suburbia, and benefited significantly from the experience. However, the diversity of people in the Writers Circle is unique and special; the supportive atmosphere is great. And sometimes, a session turns out to be not only useful but terrifically enjoyable too! Who could ask for anything more? - Jerry (Jay) Kaplan, columnist, memoir and fiction writer, retired textbook author