Writers Collective

Spring 2011 Courses
About the Instructors

For experienced and novice writers, this Collective will help you to take your writing to the next level. Courses are taught by professional writers with a gift for sharing their insights on the craft of writing. Inspired by discussions with others who are passionate, serious, and savvy about writing, you will develop new work. Delve into a variety of genres, including fiction, journalism, creative nonfiction, screenwriting, and technical and grant/proposal writing. Designed for writers who want more—more practice, more feedback, more skills, and more opportunities to write and publish.

Courses
1     Writing Your Life: Introduction to Memoir Writing
2     Getting Published
3     Grant/Proposal Writing
4     Fiction Writing
5     Poet’s Corner
6     Cultural Journalism
7     Screenwriting
8     Technical Writing
9     Playwriting
10   Writing About and Reviewing Film
11   Writing About and Reviewing Theatre

SPRING 2011 Courses

Early Registration Discount
This discount applies to registrations received (paid in full) by Jan. 28.

*CLOSED* Playwriting
Write—and complete—your own one act play! Explore the art and craft of playwriting with fun, creative, and specific exercises designed to help you write the play of your dreams. Weekly readings of your work will enable you to revise and edit your scripts into viable works for the theatre. Learn the practical elements of copyrighting, finding an agent, and getting your play produced.
AWR9280.10 / $320
AWR9280.11 / $295 (Purchase College employees and alumni, and early registration discount)
Instructor: Frank Ingrasciotta
Thurs., 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Feb. 17–April 28 (10 sessions; no class Mar. 31)
Humanities Bldg., Room 2077

Grant/Proposal Writing
Learn to research and write proposals that get funded. Explore relevant funding sources: corporate, foundation, and government. Construct coherent proposals by creating effective cover sheets, narratives, background pages, and both stakeholder and third-party evaluation plans. Discover the quickest and most efficient research methods. Examine the criteria that funders use to determine whether grant proposals are funded or rejected.
HCE9055.10 / $299
HCE9055.11 / $275 (ADO members, Purchase employees and alumni, and early registration discounts)
Instructor: William E. Jeffries III, MCP
Wed., 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Feb. 16–March 16 (5 sessions)
Humanities Bldg., Room 2077

Other Courses in the Program

Writers Collective courses are also offered during summer session.

Writing Your Life: Introduction to Memoir Writing
Explore various approaches to writing memoirs, autobiography, family history, autobiography-based fiction, or other “life stories,” incorporating the classic elements of the personal essay. Develop creative techniques for writing and crafting your memoir, including approach and selecting a topic, research, and organization, as well as stylistic and creative concerns. Create your life stories and apply such elements as character, plot, description, and dialogue. Learn how to and where to market your work.
AWR9220.10
AWR9220.11 (Purchase College employees and alumni, and early registration discount)

Fiction Writing
Develop your individual narrative skills, style, and talent. Learn to produce short stories or novels with elements of character, plot, point of view, description, dialogue, setting, pacing, voice, and theme. Use lecture, feedback from instructors and classmates, and class exercises to improve your writing. Improve at your own pace in developing your perceptual, technical, and imaginative abilities.
AWR9240.10
AWR9240.11 (Purchase College employees and alumni, and early registration discount)

Poet’s Corner
Explore various ways to analyze and understand poetry in order to create your own poems. Discuss aspects of craft and technique, using published poems from a diverse menu of poets. Produce and refine your poems through writing exercises, reading discussions, written and oral peer-feedback, and notebook assignments. The in-class exercises and notebook assignments are designed to give you experience in generating poems and fine-tuning your analytical skills.
AWR9250.10
AWR9250.11 (Purchase College employees and alumni, and early registration discount)

Screenwriting
Develop the craft of screenwriting by writing proposals, treatments, and scripts for original short films. Starting with visual storytelling, concentrate on the two fundamental elements of drama—structure and character—and examine standard formatting practices and dialogue. Includes lectures, discussion of current TV shows and movies, and in-class reading and critique of peer work.
AWR9285.10
AWR9285.11 (Purchase College employees and alumni, and early registration discount)

Cultural Journalism
Discover what it takes to pursue a career in writing for the entertainment industry. Focus on the fundamentals of writing, determining the validity of information, and the basics of news writing for the arts. Learn to research, understand what makes a story interesting, and create written work that exhibits good leads, organization, informative content, and polished endings. Develop good reporting, news-gathering, editing, and rewriting skills with an emphasis on writing feature articles, cultural news selections, and news values. Hone your ability to get the facts and tell a story with accuracy and journalistic responsibility.
AWR9300.10
AWR9300.11 (Purchase College employees and alumni, and early registration discount)

Writing About and Reviewing Film
Learn to write critiques and feature stories about the films you love (and those you don’t) for print media and the Internet. Learn how to watch them, judge them, write about them, and evaluate what others are saying. At the end of the course you will be able to discuss, think, and write as an arts reporter and critic!
AWR9310.10
AWR9310.11 Purchase College employees and alumni, and early registration discount)

Writing About and Reviewing Theatre
Explore the wonders and challenges of writing about theatre. Discover how to make judgments about the performing arts—does the work “work” and is it worth doing—and incorporate them in your feature stories and reviews for print media and the Internet. At the end of the course you will be able to discuss, think, and write as an arts reporter and critic!
AWR9315.10
AWR9315.11(Purchase College employees and alumni, and early registration discount)

Getting Published
Get your work published! Find the right literary agent and learn to work with the departments within a publishing company. Master the writing skills used in book proposals and query letters. Understand the sales of subsidiary, special, and premium rights. Develop effective Internet marketing and promotion skills. Learn how to research the competition before you write your book!
AWR9510.10
AWR9510.11 (Purchase College employees and alumni, and early registration discount)

Technical Writing
Description TBA.

About the Instructors

Theresa Benaquist is a Keene State graduate with an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing from Sarah Lawrence. She has taught college, creative, and fiction writing at Purchase College and teaches writing workshops to students from 8 to 18 years of age at Writopia in New York City.

Robert Heisler has run arts and entertainment departments for newspapers both large (NY Daily News and The New York Post), small (The Journal News and the Philadelphia Daily News), and regional (Newsday). During more than two decades as an arts journalist, Bob has also been a feature writer, reviewer, and critic. He has interviewed Oscar winners, opera divas, jazz masters, and Kermit the Frog and reviewed movies, theatre, music, opera, dance, and restaurants. Mr. Heisler has helped launch arts blogs, video reports, and interactive chats. His message is direct: When technology allows anyone to be a critic, the informed journalist who engages that community conversation—online or in print—will fill the important role of connecting the arts and its audiences. He has lived in Larchmont for 23 years.

Frank Ingrasciotta is an actor, playwright, director, and arts educator whose work has been seen on stage in New York City and the tri-state region and on television. His critically acclaimed production of Blood Type: Ragu recently concluded its off-Broadway run at the historic Actors’ Playhouse. Mr. Ingrasciotta has taught acting, playwriting, and musical theatre workshops for the School of Liberal Studies & Continuing Education since 2002. For more information, visit www.fingrasciotta.com.

William E. Jeffries, MCP, has more than 14 years of project development and grant writing experience, mainly in the performing and visual arts sectors. He has secured more than $3 million in grants and administered another $3 million in funded projects. Mr. Jeffries is a grant writer in the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs at Purchase College and grants manager for the Clay Center/West Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

Elisha Miranda is an award-winning novelist whose work has garnered critical acclaim. Her debut novel, The Sista Hood: On the Mic (the first book in a four-part young adult series) was published in July 2006 by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. A semifinalist for the National Book Award, it is now on its second printing. She is working on her second book in the Sista Hood series, Lovelines, a commercial fiction novel, and is an artist in residence for the National Book Foundation’s BookUpNYC. She has taught at Columbia University, Bard College, and the City College of New York. For more information: www.elishamiranda.com/bio.php

Updated Feb. 11, 2011

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