As a story development editor, I have had the privilege of working with writers and their manuscripts for over 20 years. Through this process, I’ve been able to identify some basic and recurring issues that challenge writers. My workshops have been created to highlight these issues and show you how to avoid the pitfalls. They are all focused sessions and designed to encourage, inspire, and improve both your short and longer works.
Below you will see listings for my private workshops and those that I teach for The Writer's Center. All are taught online through Zoom.
Note: I will be posting new dates for my private Tiny Tales Series and summer workshops for The Writer’s Center at the end of April. If you’d like to be on the “interested list” for Tiny Tales, email me at lynnauldschwartz@gmail.com
My Upcoming Zoom Workshops
THE TINY TALES SERIES (Workshops 1, 2, 3, and 4)
Flash Fiction and Micro-Memoir
Over the last several years, I have designed and revised this Tiny Tales Series to include Micro-memoir, Flash Fiction, and Flash Nonfiction (stories under 1,000 words). They have remained my most popular and ongoing workshops. The series begins with an overview of the form, followed by beginning and intermediate practice, and culminates in an advanced, check-in meeting where we generate new writing and polish for publication.
Learning this tiny form results in big impact writing. The power of these stories lies in their brevity, often examining one small moment with an unexpected revelation. When crafted well, these little gems can take a reader's breath away by exposing new insights and truths.
Tiny Tales (a name I call short-format writing) are certainly compelling on their own (many literary magazines are looking for quality work in this genre to publish and numerous students who have taken these workshops have placed their mini stories), but there is another benefit to mastering the form. I have found that practicing the tiny tale will make you a better writer overall. The form also lends itself well when authors are crafting short, powerful chapters (or a scene) for a novel or memoir, leaving the reader eager to turn the page.
DATE: Zoom, Thursday, Jan 25
TIME: 6:30 - 8:30 pm (ET)
COST: $55
REGISTER: to reserve your spot, email Lynn your interest lynnauldschwartz@gmail.com
(10% discount if two or more workshops are taken in this current series)
Workshop 1.
Tiny Tales: An Introductory Overview
Learn what defines the short format (flash fiction and micro-memoir). Begin to understand the techniques and benefits of writing small. This is the prerequisite class for the Tiny Tales workshops that follow.
DATES: Zoom, Thursday: Feb 1, 8, 15, 22
TIME: 6:30 - 8:30 pm (ET)
COST: $185
REGISTER: to reserve your spot, email Lynn your interest lynnauldschwartz@gmail.com
(10% discount if two or more workshops are taken in this current series)
Workshop 2.
Tiny Tales, Beginning: Take Your Writing to The Next Level with Flash Fiction and Micro-Memoir
Prerequisite: This workshop is limited to a small group of students who have taken Lynn's Tiny Tales Introductory Overview (Workshop 1) or have a beginning grasp of the micro-memoir and/or flash fiction format.
This workshop is for beginning, short-format writers who want to try out what they have learned in the Introductory Overview workshop. Short reading assignments will illustrate craft and weekly, writing exercises will put those techniques into practice. Participants will have the opportunity to have their mini exercises discussed in class.
Note: If you have taken this Tiny Tales workshop before, you are welcome to repeat. Many participants find that the repetition helps them come to a deeper understanding of not only the genre, but also, the elements of craft.
DATES: Zoom, Thursday, March 7, 14, 21, 28
TIME: 6:30 - 8:30 pm (ET)
COST: $185
REGISTER: to reserve your spot, email Lynn your interest lynnauldschwartz@gmail.com
(10% discount if two or more workshops are taken in this current series)
Workshop 3.
Tiny Tales, Intermediate: A Generative Lab for Creating New Writing and Polishing Works-in-Progress for Publication
Prerequisite: This workshop is limited to a small group of students who have taken Lynn's Tiny Tales Beginning Workshop 2 (or have the equivalent writing experience and have a good grasp of the micro-memoir and/or flash fiction format).
We will be focused on producing new work and sharpening skills for short-format writing with the goal of publication. Participants who are styling their memoir or novel chapters in the short format are also encouraged to attend.
*If you have taken this workshop before, I am happy to have you join us again.
DATE: Zoom, New date is not yet announced
TIME: TBA (ET)
COST:
REGISTER: to reserve your spot, email Lynn your interest lynnauldschwartz@gmail.com
Workshop 4.
Tiny Tales Check-in: Polish and Publish
Prerequisite: This workshop is limited to a small group of students who have taken Lynn's Tiny Tales Beginning and Intermediate workshops and have a strong grasp of the micro-memoir and/or flash fiction format.
This is a check-in opportunity to present new or revised work to fellow writers, to polish for publication, and to discuss the challenges/concerns and successes of the publishing process. This workshop may be repeated as many times as you wish.
FOR THE WRITER’S CENTER
10 Prompts To Deepen Your Writing
We’ll use other art forms to explore what’s beneath the surface — learning to layer emotion, theme, and universal truths into stories that will matter to a reader.
This workshop is designed to inspire you to deepen your writing with emotional weight. By examining your response to a variety of visual and musical prompts including painting, sculpture, photography, short film, dance, and music video, we’ll learn to notice underlying emotion. Since everything we create is a representation of something larger, we’ll practice translating your feelings to the page so that they can live in your characters and resonate with readers. Participants will leave with fresh ideas for their memoir and fiction, and the confidence to move beyond surface-level writing.
In this workshop you'll learn to:
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Create underlying emotion
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Make the ordinary extraordinary
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Define your story’s intention and purpose
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Find meaningful connections
*This workshop is open to all writers, especially fiction and memoir writers, who are interested in deepening their ideas and creating emotional resonance on the page.
DATE: Zoom, Saturday, Feb 10
9:30 am – 12:30 pm (ET)
COST: $60
REGISTER
Life Stories Intensive
Learn how your real-life story can depict what it means to be human.
Whether you want to write a memoir, blog, letter to your granddaughter, or use your own life as the basis for fiction, life story writing requires that we tell where we come from and who we are. Consider other people’s feelings without allowing this to censor your experience or keep you from writing. Learn to identify your story's essence, the truth
it reveals, and to engage the reader through fictional techniques. Participants will leave inspired to begin or improve a work-in-progress.
In this workshop we'll explore:
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What is the truth in memoir?
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Anecdote vs. Story
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How to let your experience illustrate universal truths
*This overview is for beginning and intermediate writers who want to understand the components of life story writing and learn what pitfalls to avoid.
Mapping Strategies For Story Structure
Exploratory mapping exercises, tools, and techniques to discover where your story is going and how you will get there.
There is no one-size-fits-all strategy for story structure. Let’s discuss a plan that is right for you. We’ll brainstorm the strengths and weaknesses of your specific story’s destination and the journey along the way. Is there a rich narrative and character arc, a strong point of entry, appropriate placement of flashbacks, a transformative and
resonant ending, and will a reader care? We will play with maps, sketches, diagrams, and understand the importance of revising your initial plan as your story takes on a life of its own. Bring your specific idea for a short story, memoir, or novel.
In this workshop we'll explore the following:
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A flexible outline that works for your plot
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The true purpose of your story
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Techniques for beginnings and endings
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Character arcs, yearning, internal and external conflict, and transformation
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Components of a successful scene
*This workshop is designed for beginning and intermediate writers who hope to gain the confidence to start, finish, and revise their manuscript’s plot and structure.