Early adulthood is a wonderful time of growth and change and questioning, when many young adults develop a love of literature and writing. But not all schools offer much in the way of a writing curriculum, or if they offer it, many students slip through the cracks as teaching writing is one of the most time-intensive of subjects. As a result, many students move through high school without an adequate grounding in the essential skills of writing personal or argumentative essays, or trying their hand at expressing themselves through poetry, prose and fiction.
The Writer’s Workshop’s classes for young adults help solve this problem. While writing allows for great freedom, it also demands mastery of form and structure to succeed. An ability to manipulate form and structure allows a writer to create essays and stories that captivate readers.
The mastery of these techniques does not come easily, alas. It requires a clear, focused curriculum and commitment to the habit of writing and revising to craft excellent essays or stories. These young adult writing classes will help develop your child’s own habit of art, mastering the craft of persuasive and creative writing. The Writer’s Workshop’s young adult writing classes will give your child the skills and techniques to succeed in high school, college and beyond.
The Writer’s Workshop’s classes for young adults offer a smart, rigorous, focused curriculum, one-on-one critiquing and expert instruction by outstanding writers and teachers.
WRITING FOR YOUNG ADULTS – Do you have a son or daughter who loves to write but lacks quality instruction and individual attention? Does your child need help writing essays for school or college applications or simply for self-expression? If yes, consider signing up for this course, which provides expert, encouraging instruction in art of persuasive writing. The short, targeted assignments include quick grammar exercises, keys to writing effective sentences and paragraphs, and longer assignments that illuminate the writing process, organization and composition. This class will help your child reach his or her potential–whether writing an essay for a high school or college or for personal growth. Six assignments in all, including a persuasive essay and a personal essay. $500. Instructor: Michael Shilling.
INTRODUCTION TO CREATIVE WRITING FOR YOUNG ADULTS – From Harry Potter to Shakespeare to The Da Vinci Code, creative writing is one of the most satisfying and timeless art forms, teaching us universal truths about ourselves and our relationship to the world. In this course, you’ll learn the building blocks of fiction and poetry. We’ll cover the component parts of poetry by studying and writing sonnets and then delve into fiction with readings and exercises to help you establish character, setting, and structure, culminating in a 1,000-word story. All in all, there are six assignments. By the end of the course you will possess the basics needed to create work that excites, moves, and transports readers. Text: Fiction Writer’s Workshop, by Josip Novakovich. Cost: $500. Instructor: Michael Shilling.
WRITING COACHING FOR YOUNG ADULTS: Six hour-long sessions to be scheduled with the instructor, with curriculum dependent on the needs and interests of the students. Michael will meet with you and your child, come up with a plan for the tutorial, and work with your son or daughter to strengthen and improve his or her work. $600.
WRITING FOR YOUNG ADULTS: RECOMMENDED READING
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
I Heard the Owl Call my Name by Margaret Craven
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
In Our Time, by Ernest Hemingway
Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Hobbit by J.R. Tolkien
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Michael Shilling, M.F.A., who teaches Writing for Young Adults, is a Lecturer at at the University of Michigan. While at Michigan, he was a Writer In Residence at Longfellow Middle School, teaching poetry and fiction. Rock Bottom, his debut novel, was recently published by Back Bay Books/Little, Brown and Company, and is currently being made into a musical by the Landless Theater Company in Washington, DC. His fiction and journalism have appeared in The Sun, Fugue, Other Voices, The Stranger, and on MSN Music. He loves working with young writers because there’s really no match for that “Eureka!” moment when they discover that writing, despite rumors to the contrary, can be interesting, challenging, fun, and useful all at the same time. A recovering rock musician, Shilling spent three years as a member of The Long Winters, playing in 46 states and five foreign lands while enjoying all the varieties of junk food this world has to offer. He is working on a novel that takes place in 1820s England, as well as various non-fictional pursuits.
