Event—Adult Education

Read to Write Better: A Book Study for Writers

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How can you use your reading to become a better writer? What literary and analytic strategies can you implement into your craft?

Writing workshop. Source: Elke Wetzig, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Class Description

Writers are frequently advised to read more to write better. The problem is, no one explains how to use reading to elevate their writing practice. Reading alone is not enough.

In this class, we will use The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier as a mentor text for engaging in deep analysis, discussion, Q&A, and writing exercises, so that writers can apply what they learn from their reading and elevate their writing. We will focus on the elements of story question, structure, character development, narrative drive, foreshadowing, and language.

You’ll complete a writing exercise and receive written feedback along with the opportunity to participate in hot-seat coaching based on their exercise. The goal for this workshop is to enable writers to analyze great books and use the insights they gain in their own writing going forward.

Robin Henry is an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach and holds an MLS (Library Science) and MA in Humanities. She has over twenty years of experience working with books and authors as a librarian, reviewer, teacher, and coach.

Materials List

Required

  • Herve Le Tellier, The Anomaly. Other Press, 2021. ISBN: 9781635421699

First Reading

  • Please be prepared to write/revise a scene or scenes from a novel you are currently writing. Writing exercises will be limited to 250 words, so a short scene or excerpt would be ideal.

Cost and Registration

One session, $58 ($53 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.

To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.

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