 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
One-On-One Consultation / Writing Coaching Laura provides one-on-one services to writers who want to work closely with a coach on any phase of their project, whether it's in the idea, middle draft, or the editing phase. She specializes in fiction, creative nonfiction, and environmental writing. Click here to find out more. Testimonial:
-- Rachel Maizes
The exterior landscape can influence and illuminate the internal landscape of characters. This class will explore the relationship between the two: How can the natural world illustrate our characters? How can our characters help us experience nature in new ways? The play between the internal and external can be a powerful tool in creating characters and rendering their experience, as well as incorporating the natural world into our work. Using examples and ideas set forth by writers such as Barry Lopez, Eudora Welty, and Rick Bass, this class will explore how (and to what effect) the internal and external landscapes unite. Through a series of creative and generative class activities, participants will explore how to bring the internal and external together in stories/essays. Discussions are pertinent to both creative nonfiction and fiction. Writing Sex Well Sex is not always good, but it's always revealing! Whether it's fantastic, boring, strange, or predictable, sex is one of the most powerful unions and sensations we experience, and it shouldn't be skipped or avoided in writing. On the other hand, a sex scene shouldn't be included unless it serves a purpose, which is to illustrate the characters and the larger themes of the work. This workshop will introduce and explore some ideas about writing sex well how to direct an honest gaze at this most fascinating activity. With a Nod to the Greats In a discussion focused on practical advice for writers, this class will focus on one well-known poem, one story, and one essay; and each example of "great writing" will include a corresponding craft-focused writing activity. Students will leave with a collection of writing activities designed to assist their own creative explorations of form and technique, and will gain practical tips for stealing (well, borrowing) ideas and inspiration from great works in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Environmental Writing: Changing the World Nature/environmental writing is a growing trend in publishing today . . . . and no wonder. We are at the cusp of great changes in America as we work towards sustainable living and honoring our natural resources. Feeling deeply connected to issues/places demands expression; many nature-lovers seek a way to communicate their ideas/bonds/hopes to a larger audience. This class will look at what contemporary nature writers are doing, how they're doing it, and to what effect. It will be an intense, in-depth look at successful writing (the best way to learn). It will also focus on the application of two of the most important features of nature writing: 1) understanding how to communicate with "universality" --- as in, how to make others care about what you care about; and 2) to relay information in an engaging manner, specifically through the use of story. Using Place for Character Development "Our place is part of what we are, writes Gary Snyder. "Yet even a place' has a kind of fluidity: it passes through space and time. A place will have been grasslands, then conifers, then beech and elm." This course will explore what place is, the basic elements of setting and how they are effectively achieved, and how various authors have used place and to what effect. It will then explore how to use place as a way of illustrating your character's needs/wants/desires. Other
Workshops: Introduction to Writing and Publishing, How a Book Becomes
a Book, Journey of a Writer, Voice and Characterization, Writing the
Short Story, etc. Available for schools and groups. Presentations Fees
October
2-4 -- Western Literature Association,
Speaker
Book
groups I love visiting book groups and meeting readers out there. Due to the volume of requests, I find that I'm unable to visit them all, but I do as many as I can (and sometimes it's helpful if you pair up with another group). Please feel free to email me at l_pritchett@msn.com to check for availability. In exchange for my time, I do ask that the group donate $35 (or more) to one of two great nonprofits that I sit on the Board of: The
Rocky Mountain Land Library (www.landlibrary.org)
Teacher/Presenter
bio for Laura Pritchett: Laura Pritchett is an award-winning author of two books of fiction and the editor of two books of nonfiction. Her novel, Sky Bridge (2005), won the WILLA Literary Award and was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award and the Dublin International Award. Her collection of short stories, Hell's Bottom, Colorado (2001), won the PEN USA award and the Milkweed National Fiction Prize. Pritchett is co-editor and contributor to two books: Home Land: Ranching and a West that Works (2007) and The Pulse of the River: Colorado Writers Speak for the Endangered Cache la Poudre (2006). Pritchett's work has also appeared in numerous magazines, including The Sun, Orion, High Country News, Elle, 5280 (Denver's Magazine), Matter Journal, U.S. Catholic, Natural Resources Journal, High Desert Journal, The Colorado Review, and others; and her essays have appeared in the books Comeback Wolves: Western Writers Welcome the Wolf Home and Social Issues Firsthand: The Environment. Pritchett holds a Ph.D. in Literature from Purdue University. She teaches at both universities and writing workshops around the country, including Denver, Boulder, New Hampshire, Oregon, Wyoming, and others. Please see her vita for more details. |