2015 Summer Writing Workshops with Author-Teacher Susan L. Lipson
Now celebrating 18 years of inspiring awe for words and awesome writing!
All classes taught in Poway.
June 23-25, 2:30-5:30 p.m.
“Words-in-Motion Workshop for Enriching Word Power and Finding Joy in Writing”
By exploring lively, detail-rich writings and discussing them aloud in class, students will learn to emulate effective techniques in their own writings. We will read fun novel excerpts and poetry, and look at intriguing photos and artworks, as prompts for their own writings. I will teach (or review, for past students) the use of my now widely practiced D.A.D. and M.O.M. techniques for vivid writing in all genres. Some of our lessons will be based on my second book, Writing Success Through Poetry. Limited to 10 students.
Fee: $180; nonrefundable deposit of $50 due by June 12 to reserve your spot.
Workshop Two—A three-day writing workshop (TWTh) for ages 12 and up:
July 7, 8, 9—Tues., Wed., Thurs., from 2:30-5:30 p.m.
“The Universal Realism of Unreal Fictional Worlds: Using YA Sci-Fi & Fantasy Fiction as Prompts for Writing New Memorable Words”
This is the kind of class that kids look forward to taking in college—a reading/writing exploration of socially relevant books, the kinds that many of them read for pleasure. Students will examine literary techniques of some popular and classic sci-fi and fantasy writers whose works manage to MOVE, not simply entertain, readers with emotionally realistic characters facing universally relatable conflicts, even in surreal settings and alternative worlds. Through analyzing passages and emulating techniques and styles, writing students will develop their skills in characterization, description, conciseness, dialogue, mood-setting, subtle revelation of plot, pacing, tension-building, and more. The class will include a visit from a local, successful, young adult sci-fi author, Stephanie Diaz (Extraction, Rebellion, and Evolution), who published her first novel at age 22, while studying at SDSU. Limited to 10 students.
Fee: $180; nonrefundable deposit of $50 due by June 12 to reserve your spot.
Workshop Three—A three-day workshop for ages 11 and up, on powerful written and oral communication:
July 14, 15, 16—Tues., Wed., Thurs., from 2:30-5:30 p.m.
“Communicating Clearly, Concisely, Convincingly, and Comfortably”
In this class, co-taught by my actress daughter, Lainey Lipson (a series regular on “Awesomeness TV” on Nickelodeon, and a former drama instructor for kids) students will learn how to present written works aloud in an engaging, lively manner worthy of their powerful words. Students will compose heartfelt personal narratives and/or poems to share aloud. They will explore the basics of public speaking (enunciation, pitch, volume, pace, tone, expression, posture, and body language) via practice, constructive feedback, and more practice with reading aloud. They will observe and evaluate speakers via online, recorded speeches, and then discuss the various types of typical beginning speakers—The Mumbler, The Racer, The Whisperer, The Robot, and The Overdoer—and how to rise above those types to become The Communicator. They will receive positive feedback and gentle encouragement to find a new level of comfort in reading aloud to a group. Fun improv games will be led by Lainey, a comedic actress with a warm personality and a background in coaching young actors in this age group. Limited to 12 students.
Fee: $180; nonrefundable deposit of $50 due by June 12 to reserve your spot.
Workshop Four—A one-evening “Fireside Poetry Workshop” for teens, Saturday, JULY 25, 7-10 p.m. An inspiring outdoor, candlelit class in which students write poetry prompted by other poems, pictures, and music, and then share their words around a glowing fire pit, culminating in roasting marshmallows and making “s’mores.”
Fee: $60, nonrefundable, due by June 12 to reserve your spot. Limited to 8 students.
(NOTE: I will not hold spaces without deposits this year.)
