Fall & Winter Courses at Muse!
Plus two classes from Joanna through Writers.com & some notes on the eclipse
How’s your October going? There’s a full moon and a partial lunar eclipse coming up on Saturday the 28th. According to the astrologers I follow on social media, being in between the solar eclipse of the beginning of the month and this lunar eclipse puts us in eclipse season, a time of integrating lessons, when life and reality may feel wobbly and, frankly, tiring. (From what I hear, we are closing out a cycle that began in November 2021.) There’s something to be said for going through a cosmic portal— I mean, who doesn’t love a portal?— but it is a lot to integrate, so I hope you’re taking it slow and giving yourself plenty of time to rest.
I’m looking forward to teaching my prose poem workshop “Through the Veil” on Saturday. That one is sold out, but I have another generative workshop coming up the following Saturday, November 4th, and maybe I’ll incorporate some spookiness into that one, too!
Keep reading for more news about our upcoming courses, including a sale through 11/11/23 on The Writer as Researcher from Megan Baxter!
Joanna
Below is the current lineup of our courses for the end of fall & early winter 2023. (Please note: Due to unexpected events affecting her schedule, we’ve had to postpone Joelle Fraser’s Thirty-Minute Memoir. We hope to offer it again in the future!)
The Writer as Researcher , 5-week course on Wet Ink platform
Instructor: Megan Baxter
December 11th-January 20th
A five-week introduction to the techniques, tools, and use of research in creative writing, open to all genres. Through weekly lessons which include written lectures, reading, research activities, and writing prompts, this course is designed to help any writer who is embarking on a research journey. We’ll begin by examining brainstorming and associative techniques to help jump-start research then detail the best practices, and practical consideration for conducting interviews, traveling as a researcher, and using source material from books, archives, and online sources.
Finally, we’ll explore how we can use research creatively through world-building, conversation, and collaboration. Each week you’ll receive instructor feedback on your research activity and creative writing prompts. You’ll also get the chance to participate in an online peer workshop with fellow writers and researchers. This course is a great guide for writers of all genres who are considering conducting creative research.
The course is entirely asynchronous, through the Wet Ink platform. Log on according to your own schedule to participate in weekly activities and discussions.
Students loved Megan Baxter’s last course, Memoir in Collage, and we’re so lucky to have her back for The Writer as Researcher.
ON SALE! $250 through November 11th
Fall Drop-In Generative Writing Workshops
This series of drop-in Zoom workshops wraps up with two more sessions, Sat. 11/4 and Sat. 12/2. These two-hour workshops can be taken together or separately. They’re suitable for anyone writing short, autobiographical work (primarily poets and essayists). $40 each, $25 for paid subscribers to this newsletter.
Writing the Lyric Essay (self-guided) opened last week on 10/22, but enrollment is open through 10/29 if you’d like to jump in and join the group on Wet Ink. $50
Additionally, I am offering a course through Writers.com in November.
Stringing the Beads: Craft Your Personal Essay begins November 1st and runs for four weeks on the Wet Ink platform. (With a week off for Thanksgiving.) $295
In this course for intermediate writers, you’ll learn to more powerfully shape your life-based personal essays. We will focus on identifying that which moves us (or baffles us) as seeds for our writing; grounding our writing in specific images and scenes; learning how to make conscious choices about how and where the essay will “move”; and revising drafts to make them really compelling for a reader, in terms of voice, style, and subject matter.