Category: Writers Seminar

Seminar
Saturday, January 21, 2017

Presented by: Jack and Josh Grapes

“Method Writing” is an organic approach to writing, much as method acting is an organic approach to acting, stressing inner process and deep voice. “Method Writing” consists of various concepts that take the writer through techniques designed to make the writing more compelling and more effective, publishable and productive.

Back by popular demand, Jack Grapes will present this overview of the writer’s creative process, focusing on his book “Method Writing,” a technique he’s developed and used in his writing workshops over the last 35 years.

Jack will discuss the nature of the creative process, and how that applies to “Method Writing.” So bring something to write on: paper and pen, parchment and quill, stone and chisel — whatever works.

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Seminar
Saturday, November 14, 2015

Storytelling is the hottest new literary form – from The Moth to David Sedaris. In Los Angeles, there are many spoken-word events every night of the week. The competition is tough, and most tellers need help with creating the text and/or a relaxed performance technique.

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Seminar:
Saturday, October 17, 2015

Don’t drown in the sea of published books. Learn how to compete against the publishing Big Fish using the same highly effective book promotion techniques … without spending thousands of dollars.

Discover how to use the secret power of book reviews to ensure that the media, buyers and consumers start paying attention to and buying your book, spreading the word around the globe.

Get exclusive access to …

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Seminar
Saturday, September 19, 2015

The historical novel is one of the most popular genres in fiction. But writing one presents some special challenges. In this seminar Gerald Everett Jones uses his recent novel ‘Bonfire of the Vanderbilts” as a case study into the more than 15 years he spent trying to unravel the secrets hidden in Julius Stewart’s 1892 painting “The Baptism.” His searching included art history, unpublished scholars’ whitepapers, genealogy, steamship passenger records, Episcopal church history and archives, private memoirs and ephemera, oral history and even family rumors, image archives, rare book collections, and more.

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Seminar
Saturday, July 18, 2015

WordPress! You’ve heard and keep hearing the name. “THE way you should set up your website.” “THE way Google will better rank your website.” “THE #1 choice people are using to get their message, their writing, out to the world.”

Maybe you’ve heard that it can be difficult. Maybe you’ve even tried to use it and got stuck. …

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Seminar
Saturday, June 20, 2015

Whether we’re at a cocktail party, on an airplane, or face to face with an agent or producer, we’re always pitching. Even experienced writers get tongue-tied when it comes to presenting their work aloud in the best possible light. IWOSC is pleased to welcome back one of the best pitching instructors anywhere: Pilar Alessandra, director of the writing program “On the Page.”

In this seminar, you will …

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Seminar
Saturday, May 16, 2015

There’s an oft-told story that Michelangelo, when asked how he could possibly create a statue as beautiful as David from a block of marble, answered, “I simply chip away everything that’s not David.”

As writers, we don’t start with a block of marble. If we want to get at the beautiful work of art, what do we do?

As our presenter, Deborah Edler Brown, will explain, we have to “write” the marble, then chip away at it.

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Seminar
Saturday, April 25, 2015

Nearly all nonfiction books are sold with a proposal that enlists the aid of a literary agent in convincing an acquisitions editor at a publishing entity to advance funds to a writer with an idea.

Bring paper and pen (or a laptop or iPad) and your best idea for a nonfiction* book, and learn how to write irresistible query letters and book proposals. Marvin J. Wolf, author of a dozen nonfiction books, as well as a novel and several photography books, will take you through the seven steps to a successful book.

*Except for a handful of superstars, selling a novel or a screenplay requires that the writer create a brilliant first draft of the work. Nevertheless, novelists and screenwriters will find this workshop valuable.

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Seminar
Saturday, March 21, 2015

Reading your work aloud is a powerful marketing tool for the writer, if done right. If you lack performance skills, however, a great piece of writing can sound like sour mud. Many writers are reclusive, but sometimes you just have to get out there and present your work by reading to an audience. Some people are inherently gifted in this discipline, but most of us need the simple tips, tricks, and pointers that are offered in this workshop — which include microphone technique, dealing with stage fright, vocal strength, and communicating the emotional meaning of language. We will aim to give individual time to each student.

In keeping with this year’s theme of exploring the writing process, this seminar will tell you what to expect and how to make it happen.

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Seminar
Saturday, February 21, 2015

Everyone takes pictures these days, with cellphones, tablets, and cameras of all sizes and capabilities. But are they pictures or snapshots? If you hope to illustrate your story with photos, or sell photos from your travels, the three simple principles of professional photography that you will learn during Erika Fabian’s presentation will help you to do so. Based on years of worldwide assignments using the techniques of National Geographic photography, Erika Fabian will show and tell…

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Seminar
Saturday, January 17, 2015

In this short, interactive program, Jasmine Powers, multimedia marketing expert, will teach how to:
Set up or optimize your Twitter account
Build strategic relationships on Twitter
Define a Twitter strategy
Connect with potential clients and friends with shared interests.

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