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Writing Classes with The Writer’s Workshop

Seattle writing classes discuss best story openings.

Narrative Writing Classes

Have a compelling story? Want to learn the craft of narrative writing? Dr. Nick O’Connell teaches time-honored principles with a relaxed style in a sequence of four enjoyable Seattle writing courses, from nut graph to structure, from lead to climax.

Preview our Narrative Writing Classes

Travel writing classes in Provence.

Travel Writing in Europe

This course uses all of an author’s skills—ranging from dramatic scenes, character sketches, concrete detail, point of view, and scene by scene construction—to compose compelling, engaging travel narratives.

Preview our Travel Writing Classes

Online travel writing classes are ideal for the fast-paced contemporary world.

Online Writing Classes

Have you always wanted to write but needing a refresher course on the nuts and bolts of creative writing? Would you like to extend and enhance your writing techniques? If so, these online writing classes will help you communicate clearly and effectively in email, reports, letters, essays as wells as learning the art and craft of fiction and nonfiction narrative.

Preview our Online Writing Classes

Reviews from Past Students

Sometimes the most influential people have no idea of the impact they have on others. I just wanted you to know what a tremendous difference you have made to my writing life and to share the great news that an essay of mine will be published in a Seal Press anthology, Ask Me About My Divorce: Women Open Up About Moving On, that is scheduled for release in May 2009. Your kindness, your style, your generous sharing of your craft, your respect for everyone… it all had a deep impact on me and gave me the courage to write from my heart.

Susan Carol Stein is a freelance writer from Seattle.

Nick, thanks so much for all your guidance and help: the classes, the feedback, and the positive attitude towards criticism all contributed to my successful book proposal. The structure of the class plus your positive spin on incorporating suggestions really altered my attitude. Given my lifetime history of a critical mother, that was some change!

Patty Cogen whose book, Parenting Internationally Adopted Children, was published by Harvard Common Press.

About six years ago I took your Creative Nonfiction online writing class. I enjoyed it immensely and think I even learned something. Fast forward to October, 2006. The editorial board of the University of South Carolina Press met this afternoon. My proposal for a book called Longitude by Wire: Finding North America was on the agenda. At a little after two this afternoon I received this e-mail from the editor: “Project approved for publication. Congratulations.” Who would ever have thought I would get this far? Just amazing!

Richard Stachurski is a freelance writer from Bellevue, Washington.

Nick, I am so grateful for the opportunity to take your summer nonfiction seminar through The Writer’s Workshop.  It was the summer of 2008, and I was in the midst of making big changes in my professional life.  The writing class proved to be the kick-off to my new path as a food and wine writer on the east coast.  Now as wine columnist and a restaurant reviewer for the Boston Globe, I regularly use the techniques of narrative writing to bring readers into the action of a story and to create engaging scenes out of everyday moments.  Thank you for fostering a supportive learning environment in your writing classes that played a key role in my development as a professional writer.

Ellen Bhang is a Boston Globe Correspondent from Boston, MA.

Nick’s great sense of humor, his keen eye for clean, compelling prose, and his years of practical writing experience make learning productive and entertaining. Nick successfully guided me through my first job as a newspaper reporter and has provided advice and mentoring since. He’s a great teacher for the beginning writer and a superb coach for the experienced professional.

Deirdre Allen Timmons is a Seattle-based contributor to Underwire, Seattle Homes and Lifestyles and many other places. She’s currently working on her second screenplay.

Nick is one of the most approachable and helpful writing teachers I’ve ever met. He’s not just a good teacher, but a veteran writer himself, who knows all of the ins and outs of the business. I’d recommend his Seattle writing classes not only to the beginner, but also to established writers who are looking to improve and broaden their skill set.

Cory Graff whose book Strike and Return: American Airpower and the Fight for Iwo Jima was published by Specialty Press.

Before taking Nick O’Connell’s Creative Nonfiction Seattle writing class, I sent stories off to editors with a sinking feeling in my stomach. I was nervous that I would be found out. The truth was I was winging it. I didn’t know how to write a nut graph or a compelling lead. From scenic leads to nut graphs and character development, I learned techniques that made my stories stand out. That’s how I landed my job as Associate Editor at San Francisco Downtown Magazine, only six months after taking Nick’s course. I was up against Brown and Oxford graduates–one of whom was on staff at Time Out magazine–but I was offered the job because my stories had strong themes, clear structures and, most importantly, kept the reader reading. Nick’s course gave me the confidence and, most importantly, the techniques I needed to bring my stories to life.

Vanessa Sharp is Associate Editor of San Francisco Downtown Magazine.

GUESS WHAT!!!! Equus has accepted my article! OK, so they are only paying me $50, but I really don’t care about that. Thank you so much for helping me, Nick. I have really enjoyed and benefited tremendously from working through the writing process with you in this online writing class. Your comments and assignments kept me inspired and enabled me to write an article I had been thinking about for a long time. I don’t think that I could have done this without you. This is amazing! Just wanted to share the news!

Katharine Maccornack, Ph.D. is a writer from Summit, New Jersey.

Read more reviews

The Storms of Denali: Book Trailer with Nicholas O’Connell

Email or Call Today: (206) 284-7121

Have you always wanted to write but haven’t known where to start?

Have you written in the past but need a refresher? Are you an experienced author who wants to perfect and extend your technique?

We offer a wide variety of writing classes, including Seattle writing classes, travel writing classes and online writing classes to meet the needs of a wide range of writers. All of our instructors have extensive teaching and professional writing experience, allowing them to guide you through the sometimes bewildering world of newspaper, magazine and book publication. We provide expert, constructive criticism to help you master the art and craft of writing.

Find the writing class that’s perfect for you >

Meet your writing instructor Nicholas O’Connell

Hello & welcome!

Learn the secrets of narrative writing in my writing classes and:

I look forward to working with you!

Yours,

Nicholas O’Connell, M.F.A., Ph.D.
Send me an email
(206) 284-7121

Nicholas O'Connell, founder of The Writer's Workshop.

Writing classes help writers tell compelling stories.

Reach a wide audience and satisfy some of your deepest yearnings for pattern, mystery, and coherence in your life.

Narrative writing allows for great scope and ambition, but it requires commitment to the habit of art to succeed. Our writing classes will help you develop your own habit of art, mastering the art and craft of narrative writing essential to creating fiction and nonfiction stories.

We teach Seattle writing classestravel writing classes and a wide range of online writing classes.

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