Tag: Seattle writing courses

How to Write a Dramatic Outline Discussed in Seattle Writing Class

 

Writing for Story: Seattle Writing Class.
Writing for Story: class text for summer Seattle Writing Class.

In my Seattle writing classes, I’ve learned that structure is the biggest challenge for most writers. While most writers understand sentence structure and paragraphing, they have trouble organizing paragraphs into a larger story. This is one of the things we’ll discuss in my upcoming summer Seattle writing class, Writing for Story. One of the best ways of structuring a story is to begin with an outline, This needn’t run pages and pages: sometimes even a simple three or four sentence outline can do the trick, such as the one I’ll explain below. By using this outline, whether for a story or book, you’ll discern out the larger shape of the story in advance. If you fail to do this, it’s like building a house without a strong foundation; it can easily collapse.

The dramatic outline allows you to chart the emotional peaks and valleys of the story so that you’ll know where you’re heading when you sit down to write. The five short statements below describe the major actions in the story. There is one statement for each major focus. This is not like the outline you wrote in English composition class; these statements highlight on the dramatic actions in story. They help you focus on what’s essential to the story, one of the things I address in my Seattle writing classes. This is a conflict—resolution outline, with the conflict introduced in the first statement, developed in the next three statements, and resolved in the last statement.

1) Complication – Make it simple and active. Have you chosen active verbs to show action? Is the main character included statement? How will you illustrate the main action? Do you have the source material for this? Is the action dramatic enough?

2) Development Action – Clear, cogent, related to complication.

3) Development Action – Clear, cogent related to complication, tied to previous development, tied to main character.

4) Development Action — Clear, cogent related to complication, tied to previous development, tied to main character.

For more on dramatic outlines and Seattle writing classes: Writing for Story.

How to Create Strong Characters in Writing Classes

Captain Ahab and Seattle writing classes.
Captain Ahab and Seattle writing classes.

In my writing classes, I emphasize the need to bring people to life on the page. Strong characters are the heart and soul of every great story, whether fiction or nonfiction. To make your story compelling, you have to ensure that readers care about your characters, whether in an epic like Moby Dick or a nonfiction book like Basin and Range.  Even a topic as seemingly dull and unpromising as Great Basin geology can enchant readers if the story comes through someone who cares deeply about it. This is exactly the strategy John McPhee employs in his book, Basin and Range. McPhee is a writer interested in everything: the Merchant Marine, Russian Art, the Swiss Army, the cultivation of oranges, the building of birch bark canoes, the collection and consumption of road kills. Yet he doesn’t assume a similar level of interest from his readers. Instead he courts them by seeking colorful individuals through whom he tells the story and so entices readers into the subject. In Basin and Range, he chose the geologist Kenneth Deffeyes.

“Deffeyes is a big man with a tenured waistline. His hair flies behind him like Ludwig van Beethoven’s. He lectures in sneakers. His voice is syllabic, elocutionary, operatic. He has been described by a colleague as ‘an intellectual roving shortstop, with more ideas per square meter than anyone else in the department–they just tumble out.'”

McPhee’s quick character sketch provides readers with a glimpse of the energetic, idiosyncratic geologist, the kind of man who should prove a worthy guide to the narrative. McPhee selected Deffeyes as the central character for his personality and familiarity with the Great Basin. The geologist serves as the entry point into the subject. Though him, general readers learn to care about such arcane subjects continental drift, subduction zones and seafloor spreading. They might never crack the cover of a geology textbook, but once they get to know Deffeyes, chances are, they’ll be hooked.

We’ll discuss how to create strong characters as part of my upcoming Seattle writing classes. There’s still room; let me know if you’d like to sign up!

 

 

How to Make the Perfect Pitch

Virginia Smyth teaches students how to make the perfect pitch in Seattle writing classes.
Virginia Smyth teaches students how to make the perfect pitch in Seattle writing classes.

Pitching story ideas is a critical skill for every freelance writer. Virginia Smyth, the executive editor of Seattle Magazine, recently spoke to my Seattle writing classes about how to make the perfect pitch.

“One of the most important questions in a pitch is, ‘Why now?’” she said. “We try to always have a timely angle for our stories.”

Smyth encourages potential freelancers to read the magazine carefully so they’ll know what it publishes. She says that every magazine has a formula, with columns, features, and other kinds of stories. For example, Seattle publishes a lot of stories on the food and dining scene in the city.

“When you pitch, I don’t care why you want to write the story,” she says. “Why is it right for the magazine? Make me think it has to be in my publication. I want to know why it’s right for Seattle. Do your homework. Be familiar with the publication, I get a lot of pitches where it’s obvious the writer has not read the publication.

“What’s the tone? What the demographic? Most publications have Writers guideline to help with this. Think of the elevator pitch: sum it up in three to five sentences. Make sure there’s a hook. What is great about the story? Use the pitch to demonstrate your writing style.”

Making the perfect pitch, also requires that you mention the research that you will do for the story.

“In another paragraph, tell what sources you will use. What are your sources? Why are you the right person to write the story? I’m working on a story with a writer about the Native American community. Why are you the right person to tell the story?”

Make sure to include examples of your previously published work, preferably as links, when you’re making your perfect pitch. “I want to have some confidence that you can tell the story for the magazine,” she says. “Then wait 30 days or so before getting in touch again. Be persistent but don’t stalk.”

Ten Top Tips for Pitching: How to Get Happily Published

Publishing has changed a lot over the years, but writers still need to pitch, something I discuss in my writing classes for The Writer's Workshop.
Publishing has changed a lot over the years, but writers still need to pitch, something I discuss in my writing classes for The Writer’s Workshop.

In my writing classes for The Writer’s Workshop, I always teach students how to pitch, including the Ten Top Tips for Pitching, the first step in getting happily published. There are so newspapers and magazines that neophyte writers often become overwhelmed. Where do they start? How should they approach publications? What’s the best home for their story? These are some of the questions I answer in my Seattle writing classes, travel writing classes, and online writing classes I teach for The Writer’s Workshop. I treated the first five tips in a previous posts. I’ll include the second five of these suggestions in this post. Here’s a guide to getting happily published.

1)      CONCENTRATE YOUR EFFORTS – Select a few publications and focus on them. Subscribe to them or read them regularly to understand the magazine’s style, content, history. This is one of the things I emphasize in my writing classes.

2)      WRITE A PITCH LETTER – Your letter should reflect all of your research of a publication. It should interest the editor, provide evidence of professionalism, and convince editor you are ideal for job.  As I emphasize in my Seattle writing classes, the letter should be short, about 250 words.

3)      FOLLOW UP WITH EDITORS – Email the editor within a few weeks of sending letter and/or manuscript. Did he or she get the pitch? Will it work for the magazine? Try to get a response. Once you get a response from a publication, keep going back to the editor. If you publish one story in the magazine, it will be easier to publish more.

4)      SPECIALIZATION – At least at first, zero in on a particular field, develop an expertise that will make you valuable to magazine editors. Specialize in areas you know from your job, hobby, interest or passion. As an amateur vintner, I use that expertise when writing about wine.

5)  PAYMENT – The amount of money you’ll make from a given article is often proportional to the publication’s circulation, from $25 for a local or specialty publication to several thousand dollars or more for a feature in a national magazine.

 

 

Ten Top Tips for Pitching:

Publishing has changed a lot over the years, but writers still need to pitch, something I discuss in my writing classes for The Writer's Workshop.
Publishing has changed a lot over the years, but writers still need to pitch, something I discuss in my writing classes for The Writer’s Workshop.

TEN TOP TIPS FOR PITCHING STORIES FROM THE WRITER’S WORKSHOP

Copyright The Writer’s Workshop

There are so newspapers and magazines that neophyte writers often become overwhelmed. Where do they start? How should they approach publications? What’s the best home for their story? These are some of the questions I answer in my Seattle writing classes, travel writing classes, and online writing classes I teach for The Writer’s Workshop. I’ll include the first five of these suggestions in this post and will include the rest in my next post. Here’s a guide to getting happily published.

 

  • DO SOME MARKET RESEARCH: Go to the library, book store or internet and read publications. Magazines and newspapers have distinct personalities, almost like people. Get to know them to find the right target publication.
  • READ WRITERS GUIDELINES – Google the publication’s writer’s guidelines. What is their audience? Socially conscious? Upwardly mobile? Cigar Aficionado will not want your story on the evils of second-hand smoke but Mother Jones might pick it up.
  • PUBLISHING HIERARCHY – The publishing world organizes itself in a distinct pyramid. There are a number of factors that go into this: circulation, payment, prestige of the publication. The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, National Geographic, etc. have all three things going for them. The competition is intense, making things difficult for newbies.
  • PICK A REALISTIC TARGET PUBLICATION – Local, regional, specialty publications are a great place to break in. Editors will be more willing to work with you on your first and later assignments.
  • PICK RIGHT DEPARTMENT – What part of the magazine is easiest to break into? Short profile? First person story? Book review? The writer’s guidelines will make all of this clear.

Best Wines for Thanksgiving

Wild Turkey and Wine Pairing from Travel Writing Classes.
Wild Turkey and Wine Pairing from Travel Writing Classes.

In my travel writing classes, I have the pleasure of visiting places that have had centuries to find perfect pairings for food and wine. We Americans are newer to this, but we keep getting better. Practice makes perfect!

It’s hard to beat champagne as a classic wine for Thanksgiving as it goes well with everything: turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, even pumpkin pie. Widely available Moët & Chandon or Veuve Clicquot Brut NV are excellent choices. They give dinner a celebratory, special occasion quality that I prize, if they cost a bit more. Thanksgiving is a day for giving thanks and celebrating our family and friends and country. Champagne is a great way to do this.

Closer to home, domestic sparkling wines offer great value. I especially enjoy the crisp, food-friendly wines from Washington’s Domaine Ste. Michelle, such as Brut or Brut Rosé from the Columbia Valley. These pair well with Thanksgiving fare. California’s Roederer Estate makes consistently dry, appealing sparkling wine. Check out the estate’s Anderson Valley Brut Sparkling Wine.

Rosé is often considered a summer patio wine, but it goes well with turkey. There are many great affordable rosés from southern France, including Campuget or Domaine Sorin. My favorite French rosé is Domaine de la Mordoree, which I had the pleasure of visiting as part of one of my travel writing classes in Provence. It’s more expensive, but has a beautiful blood-orange color and a deep, savory, satisfying flavor. In Washington, Barnard Griffin makes a lovely Rosé of Sangiovese that is delicious and affordable.

There are many red wines that make great pairings. I recommend pulling out a bottle from the cellar, or the closet, or the store room, wherever you keep that special bottle from an occasion some years ago. Uncork it on Thanksgiving. You never know how long wine will last and it’s a great sorrow to open a bottle that’s past its prime. Bottles like this will memorialize the occasion. I have many bottles like this, gathered from my travel writing classes in Europe. I plan to open at least one this Thursday.

Let me know if this has been helpful or if you have other suggestions.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nick O’Connell

Here are some additional suggestions from Eric Asimov:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/dining/drinks/review-thanksgiving-wines.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_ck_20171103&nl=cooking&nlid=77347986&_r=0

Dramatic Scene in Seattle Writing Classes

Big Ben London and Seattle writing classes.
Big Ben London: Dramatic scenes and Seattle writing classes.

Dramatic scene is an especially effective way of organizing stories, one of the techniques I teach in my Seattle writing classes. In my Seattle writing classes, I explain how to use dramatic scenes to give life and movement to stories, whether fiction on nonfiction. It’s a technique that also helps you as a writer organize the story. You don’t need to go into detail about everything, but rather just the key moments that made the trip memorable.

On a recent trip to England, I used dramatic scene to highlight some of the adventures of the trip. Although travel stories tend to highlight the pleasures of a trip, I also like to write about the challenges and inconveniences. One of the biggest challenges was driving on the LEFT side of the road, with a clutch in my left hand. The whole operation was widely counter intuitive, with lots of honking drivers, speeding motorcyclists and phone-distracted pedestrians thrown into the mix.

As I tell students in my Seattle writing classes, it’s a good idea to always take a notebook with you to record your adventures. I took a reporter’s notebook and filled it with impressions of the trip, especially those involving driving. The hardest part was rewiring my brain to go left, not right, at key moments. This wasn’t so hard on a straightaway, but devilishly difficult on a roundabout. I followed the car in front of me, said a prayer, and plunged through it, occasionally earning a honk or other gesture.

It was a great pleasure to return the rental car to Heathrow airport and have someone else drive into London. Once there, we took the Tube and buses around, very convenient, but not the great material I found through driving on the wrong side of the road.

For more on writing with dramatic scenes, please sign up for my winter Seattle Writing class, The Arc of the Story.

Summary Openings Taught in Seattle Writing Classes

Charles Dickens and Seattle Writing Classes.
Charles Dickens and Seattle Writing Classes.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…

          This opening from Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities is a classic example of a summary lead, one of the techniques we’ll be learning in my fall class, Revising Your Life, which will teach you the five best ways of opening a story or book: summary, scenic, anecdotal, inventory and beginning at the end. Summary leads allow you to get to the point of your story quickly and easily. The trick is to make them appealing as well. Writers using summary leads often employ wordplay or humor to liven them up. The lead from A Tale of Two Cities does a great job of creating suspense, raising questions and leading a reader to keep going with the story. How could it possibly be the best of times and the worst of times? What does he mean by the age of wisdom and the age of foolishness? How can all of this be reconciled?

          The fall Seattle writing classes will also provide key insights into narrative writing, with an emphasis on research, interviewing, first person point of view and how to get your story happily published. The class takes place Wednesday evenings 7-9 p.m. Oct. 11 to Nov. 29 and one Monday Oct. 30. There’s still room in the class; let me know if you’d like to sign up!

Story Openings in Seattle Writing Class

Seattle writing classes discuss story openings.
Seattle writing classes discuss best story openings.

The story opening is the most important part of any story or book, one of the topics I’ll be discussing in my upcoming Seattle writing class, Revising Your Life. If your lead is not interesting, intriguing or entertaining, the reader may never get any further. Therefore, you want to spend as much time as necessary finding a strong lead. Rewrite the lead until it sparkles, presenting a lively, exciting opening to the story.

In my fall Seattle writing class, I’ll discuss the five best ways of opening a story or book: summary, scenic, anecdote, inventory and beginning at the end. Each of these techniques pulls the reader into the story quickly. The type of lead you use in a given story depends on your material and the audience you want to reach. Scenic leads lend themselves to active stories; summary and anecdotal leads often work best with more reflective stories. But there’s no rule about it; go with what works best!

SUMMARY LEADS

These leads allow you to get to the point of your story quickly and easily. The trick is to make them appealing as well. Writers using summary leads often employ wordplay or humor to liven them up.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Charles Dickens

“The philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once famously observed that “Hell is other people.” And he worked from home. Imagine if he had been one of the millions of us who are forced to navigate the psychic minefields of the modern corporation.”

Summary leads are quite effective, though they are just one strategy for a lead. In my fall Seattle writing class, Revising Your Life, I’ll also discuss how to use scenic leads, anecdotal leads, inventory leads, and starting as the end as strategies for getting a reader interested in your story immediately.

Seattle Class on Research

Seattle class in research.
Warren Winiarski: Seattle class in research helped with his interview.

In my Seattle class on research and other writing topics, I discuss how to research stories and books. Research may sound like a lot of work, but it can also be a lot of fun. In writing about apprenticing in the wine trade, I had the pleasure of visiting with Warren Winiarski, the former owner of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. In 1976, a Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet won the best red wine at the Judgment of Paris, a blind tasting in Paris, France, a competition that pitted storied French wines against the best American wines. The Americans were supposed to get trounced. Instead, American wineries like Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars triumphed, accelerating the growth of the California and the U.S. wine industries.
As I tasted through his Arcadia Vineyard and later sampled a 2013 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars SLV Vineyard Cabernet, I was doing research for the story.

In 2007, Winiarski sold Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars to Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and Marchesi Antinori, but kept his Arcadia Vineyard. Named for Roman poet Virgil’s imaginary idyllic land, Arcadia includes soils from an ancient inland lake containing the remains of diatoms. These soils give the Chardonnay from here a lively minerality, an oyster shell taste that matches well with seafood, like a good Chablis. Winiarski bought the vineyard in 1996 partly because it provided fruit for Miljenko “Mike” Grigch, the American winemaker whose 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay won the best white wine in the Judgment of Paris.
Over dinner at the Don Giovanni Bistro in Napa, I catch up with the winemaker about Arcadia’s 2016 harvest, hoping to gather insights for Crush: An Apprenticeship in the Wine Trade, a book I’m writing about working in the wine trade. Though I’ve tasted and written about wine for decades, I’m determined to delve deeper into the subject by learning about it from the ground up from some of the masters of the art like Winiarski. Now in his eighties, he remains fit, trim and passionate about wine.

Not all research is so pleasurable, but solid research underlies the best writing, whether fiction or nonfiction. I’ll be discussing research as part of my fall class, Revising Your Life, a Seattle class in research and other writing techniques. There’s still room. Let me know if you’d like some help with your own research and want to sign up!