.gif){kind=small}
Classes for Adults
Winter/Spring session registration will begin on Monday, Dec. 5, for McLean tax district residents and Monday, Dec. 12 for all others.
Writing Your Life History I
Writing Your LIfe History II
Introduction to Poetry
Writing Your Novel or Memoir
Writing Your Life History I
A journey of self discovery. You will learn how to recall experiences that occurred in your past, recording them and leaving a lasting legacy to family and friends. You will receive guidance on how to research the specifics of your past using aids for recall and suggested topics basic to every age with an abundance of assistance to help you over the hurdles. Valuable tools include prodders and much more set out in your 139-page manual. Instructor: Hilda K. Ross, Ph.D.
8 lessons @ 1.5 hrs., $73/$60 McLean district residents. Materials fee: $20, make check payable to Hilda Ross. Fee is due to the instructor on the first day of class.
1650.312 F, 1/13-3/16 10:30 a.m.-noon
Writing Your Life History II
A discussion group for students who have attended the Writing Your Life History class.
1 lesson @ 90 mins, $10/Free McLean district residents.
1652.312 M, 1/19 10:30 a.m.-noon
1653.312 M, 2/13 10:30 a.m.-noon
1654.312 M, 3/12 10:30 a.m.-noon
1655.312 M, 4/9 10:30 a.m.-noon
1656.312 M, 5/7 10:30 a.m.-noon
The Writer’s Center cultivates the creation, publication, presentation and dissemination of literary work. It is an independent literary organization with a global reach, rooted in a dynamic community of writers. As one of the premier centers of its kind in the country, The Writer’s Center staff believes the craft of writing is open to people of all backgrounds and ages. Writing is interdisciplinary and unique among the arts for its ability to touch on all aspects of the human experience. It enriches our lives and opens doors to knowledge and understanding. The Writer’s Center membership discount will apply to qualifying members.
Introduction to Poetry
This workshop aims to help each attendee discover the poetic style, techniques and tools that work best for them. We’ll first take a look at verse written over the last few centuries to get a sense of how poetry has evolved with the language. This will include a brief look at forms, perspectives and the social role of the poet as, variously, entertainer, educator, philosopher and critic. We will then read and discuss our own and each other’s poems to better understand our individual voices, skills and challenges. At that point we can begin to discuss how and when to publish. Instructor: M.A. Schaffner.
6 lessons @ 2.5 hrs., $396/$330 McLean district residents.
1766.312 W, 1/11-2/15 7-9:30 p.m.
Instructor M. A. Schaffner has recent poems in Poetry Ireland, Poetry Salzburg, Stand, The Dalhousie Review and Illumination, as well as previous appearances in morethan 200 other journals. He also has authored the collection The Good Opinion of Squirrels and War Boys, a coming-of-age novel set during the Vietnam War..
Writing Your Novel or Memoir
Working from 20 pages of your own writing, learn character and scene development, dialogue, tone, language, point of view, plot and focus---the essential directions for writing your book and not getting lost in the process. Also, tips on how to publish will be shared.
6 lessons @ 2.5 hrs., $396/$330 McLean district residents.
1767.312 Tu, 3/6-4/17 7-9:30 p.m.
No lesson on 4/3.
Barbara Esstman’s two novels, The Other Anna and Night Ride Home, were published by Harcourt Brace and HarperCollins and are in numerous foreign editions. Both books were adapted for television by Hallmark Productions. She has taught extensively in universities.