Best-selling and award-winning author, professor of creative writing, and co-founder of James River Writers and The Podium Foundation, David L. Robbins will conduct a series of 8 short fiction workshops weekly for advanced adult writers. The focus will be on craft, self-editing, and the structural components of good storytelling.
- Dates: Wednesday evenings, 6:30-9:00, June 19-August 7.
- Location: For more information contact lmbumgarner@
thepodiumfoundation.org or call Lindy at 804-921-2328. - $500/JRW members
- $550/non-members
- 10 slot minimum/12 slot maximum
- A 50% deposit is required (refundable only if minimum number of slots is not reached).
- 100% of the proceeds will be donated equally to James River Writers and The Podium Foundation, both 501(c)(3) organizations.
- Please consult with your tax advisor about a tax-deductible donation.
A Note from David
For The Art of the Narrative, I’m looking for serious-minded writers, folks who see themselves on a path towards publication of their work. You need not already be published, but I want a room full of people dedicated to learning and improving their writing craft.
The concentration on short stories will allow us to focus on practicing the principals of storytelling in a concise format, lessons that will extrapolate to long-form novels, even documentary writing, for the precepts of a well told tale extend across genres. Each student will have the opportunity to write 3-4 times, and will edit classmates’ work for every session. This will provide lots of opportunity for learning the nuances of editing others and one’s own work.
We will practice and I will lecture on a variety of topics, including integration of the physical worlds into the story, how to handle back story, pace, tension, brevity, character development, voice, fantasy and action writing, scene selection… I won’t spend a lot of time assessing your creativity or imagination, feeling that these are individual traits each artist brings to his/her own work and should not really be subjected to my influence. You bring in the stories – my job will be to give you the tools and practice needed to tell those stories effectively and artfully. I will not alter what you write, but you have my word that we will change the way you write it.
Lastly, this will be fun. I like an energetic and safe environment in my classrooms. Everyone participates equally, and everyone teaches. Please keep in mind that this is a fundraiser for two very worthy Richmond charities, both focused on aspiring writers.Please consider taking the class, and thereby helping James River Writers and The Podium Foundation.
Sincerely,
David Robbins
