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Workshops and Seminars

Joe Ponepinto is available to serve as a workshop leader or seminar instructor. For more information please contact him at jpon@thirdreader.com.

Writing Classes

Joe currently offers a series of fiction writing classes in the suburban Detroit (Troy/Birmingham/Royal Oak) area. Classes are for Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced writers, and  cover many aspects of creative writing. The classes are both informative and fun.

If you would like to learn the elements of the craft, or have been thinking about taking your fiction to the next level, I can help.

An outline that lists what each class covers is below. It’s also available in the attached Word file.

For those of you who don’t know me, I hold an MFA from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts, where I studied with World Fantasy Award winner Bruce Holland Rogers, popular mystery writer Elizabeth George, poet David Wagoner and many other published authors, literary agents, editors and publishers. I have had short stories, flash fiction and criticism published in many literary journals, including Vestal Review, Los Angeles Review, Fifth Wednesday Journal and others. My latest novel is currently under consideration by the Andrea Hurst Literary Agency.

The classes will meet once a week. The meeting days will be decided based on the schedules of those who sign up. Meetings run from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Classes are held in the Troy or Birmingham area. The cost is reasonable, only $75 for five 90-minute classes ($15 per session).

Please contact me at jpon@thirdreader.com if you would like to attend the class, or have questions.

Creative_Writing_Class

Class Descriptions:

Joe Ponepinto, instructor

Classes are offered at three levels, based on writing experience:

• Beginning, for those who have had little or no formal instruction
• Intermediate, for those who wish to write regularly or would like to take their writing to the next level
• Advanced, for writers whose goal is publication

Each class will accommodate no more than 12 members, so we can meet in an engaging and entertaining atmosphere.

These writing sessions are designed to foster each writer’s ability, introduce them to professional creative writing concepts, and give members opportunities to become active participants in a community of writers.

The class will include access to an interactive blog site, on which class members can post writing for critique by students and the instructor. There are also optional writing assignments.

About me: My short stories, flash fiction and criticism have been published in a variety of literary journals, including Vestal Review, Los Angeles Review, the Summerset Review’s annual anthology, and many others. I hold an MFA in Creative Writing from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts.

Recommendations (available on request):

• Bruce Holland Rogers, two-time winner of the World Fantasy Award
• Kathleen Alcalá, award-winning novelist and essayist
• Wayne Ude, novelist and director of the Northwest Institute for Literary Arts

Meetings: 7 to 8:30 pm. Days will be scheduled to accommodate as many people as possible. Currently looking at Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Location: TBA, in the Troy or Birmingham area

Cost: $75 for each five-class course ($15 per meeting)

Courses:

Beginning

1. What is Story?
   1. The human need for story
   2. Elements of story
   3. Reading like a writer
2. Plot
   1. The arc of the story
   2. Planning events using rising action
   3. Obstacles; detours; gaps and turns
   4. Story within the story (subplots)
3. Character
   1. Types and depth of characters
   2. Expressing character traits
   3. Using real people to develop your characters
   4. Understanding your characters
4. Setting
   1. Shaping your story and characters with setting
   2. Aspects: place, time, description
   3. Creating the fictional world
5. Dialogue and Exposition
   1. What each conveys
   2. Avoiding boring dialogue
   3. Subtext in dialogue
   4. Using exposition wisely

Intermediate

Prerequisite: the Beginning class, or a 5-10 page sample of your writing

1. Description and Detail
   1. Creating imagistic descriptions
   2. The “telling” detail
   3. Using nouns and verbs to describe
2. Scene and Summary
   1. When to use each
   2. Creating pace in your story
   3. Backstory
3. Beginnings, Middles and Endings
   1. Beginnings: creative and literal
   2. Middles: building a bridge to the ending
   3. Endings: revelation/epiphany; inevitable surprises
4. Point of View
   1. 1st person POV, the unreliable narrator
   2. 2nd person POV, disguised 1st person and direct address
   3. Four aspects of 3rd person POV
   4. How to decide which POV is right for your story
5. Story Subjects
   1. Discovering your story subject
   2. Psychological and situational subjects
   3. Ordinary, dramatic, transgressive and nonrealistic subjects

Advanced

Prerequisite: the Intermediate class, or a 10+ page sample of your writing

1. Voice
   1. What is voice?
   2. Figurative language
   3. Tone and vision
   4. How to determine the correct voice for your story
2. Free Indirect Style and Verisimilitude
   1. The concepts of James Wood
   2. Writing that mimics the process of the human mind
   3. Realism in writing
3. Critiques and Revision
   1. Writing criticism
   2. The pros and cons of writers’ groups
   3. Why revise?
   4. Revision techniques
4. The Writer’s Life
   1. How a writer views the world
   2. When and where do you write?
   3. Literary citizenship
5. The Publishing Business
   1. Where to find outlets for your writing
   2. How to submit, what to expect
   3. Finding an agent and a publisher for your novel

Note: The syllabi list scheduled topics for discussion, however, many other writing topics may be introduced as the discussion warrants.