A couple of years ago I was asked by the managing director of a publishing house in Vermont if I would teach writing because, she said, "I am getting in so many manuscripts I can't publish because people don't know how to write."
So I packed up and moved to Vermont for two years where I created 150 three hour classes taught on a weekly basis in a place called the Writer's Barn south of Burlington, VT. I taught memoir writing and I taught fiction writing along with a few poetry workshops. It was a wonderful experience.
Men and women from all walks of life were in my classes. Like all people beginning in my classes everyone was a little nervous but as they realized that the way I teach is a positive, what did you like or remember about the attendee's writing sort of way, they began to relax and not only tried new stories to write, but learned how to write believable characters, create scenes that resonated with the reader, write chapters than were page turners and much more.
Burlington, VT - in fact the entire state of VT - is a wonderful place to live. It is like walking around in a landscape painting all day - no matter where you look. The Green Mountains are to the east, the Appalachians and Lake Champlain with its sparkling waters to the West. The people are kind and generous, well read and I think most everyone has an advanced degree (or so it seemed).
Writers are the same everywhere - sensitive, empathetic, unsure of themselves, but oh the marvelous work they do when they find their true narrator's voice. Never give up saying you are a writer because you would be doing something else instead of writing if you weren't drawn to telling stories.
So I packed up and moved to Vermont for two years where I created 150 three hour classes taught on a weekly basis in a place called the Writer's Barn south of Burlington, VT. I taught memoir writing and I taught fiction writing along with a few poetry workshops. It was a wonderful experience.
Men and women from all walks of life were in my classes. Like all people beginning in my classes everyone was a little nervous but as they realized that the way I teach is a positive, what did you like or remember about the attendee's writing sort of way, they began to relax and not only tried new stories to write, but learned how to write believable characters, create scenes that resonated with the reader, write chapters than were page turners and much more.
Burlington, VT - in fact the entire state of VT - is a wonderful place to live. It is like walking around in a landscape painting all day - no matter where you look. The Green Mountains are to the east, the Appalachians and Lake Champlain with its sparkling waters to the West. The people are kind and generous, well read and I think most everyone has an advanced degree (or so it seemed).
Writers are the same everywhere - sensitive, empathetic, unsure of themselves, but oh the marvelous work they do when they find their true narrator's voice. Never give up saying you are a writer because you would be doing something else instead of writing if you weren't drawn to telling stories.
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