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Writing Programs
Discover or develop the writer inside you.
Our writing faculty and staff are proud of our reputation as the
best resource for writers in the Midwest. We make learning how
to write convenient with many options including: noncredit workshops
(online and on-campus), distance learning via postal mail, retreats,
summer conferences, critique services, credit courses (online and
on-campus) and expert advice anytime. Contact us by calling 608-262-3447
or by e-mail.
Programs include
- Madison Area Classes: Evening and
weekend workshops are offered in creative writing,
fiction writing, freelance career writing and more.
- Critique Service: We help all types
of writers hone their skills and find solutions to roadblocks
on the way to publication, successful freelance writing or writing
for pure enjoyment. Call 608-262-3447 or e-mail cdesmet@dcs.wisc.edu for more information.
- Online workshops:
Featuring a variety of formats, from e-mail based, shorter workshops,
to those that use more detailed web site applications and writing
texts. You can start anytime, and there are no deadlines. Instructors
are available anytime for these workshops. Teachers note: 30-hour
online workshops are included, which may help with your relicensure.
- The Writers' Institute: This 2-day annual conference for writers covers a variety of topics,
from the basics to the business. Novels, TV and motion picture
scripts, nonfiction books, freelance writing, book sales, a writing
contest and lots of take-home materials are featured. Congratulations
to the winners of our Writers'
Institute 2009 "Poem or a Page"
Writing Contest!
- Write-by-the-Lake Retreat: For one week
this summer immerse yourself in
your own creative development, with the help of our professionals
and workshops. Held at the beautiful Pyle Center on Lake Mendota,
University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Graduate credits available.
- School of the Arts at Rhinelander:
Held every summer in Rhinelander, Wisconsin with an extensive
creative writing program. The writing curriculum includes novel
writing, poetry, playwriting and more.
- Independent
Learning: Enjoy the flexibility and
convenience of studying at home. Correspondence courses
in creative writing provide an opportunity to learn at your own
pace. Receive detailed professional feedback and your instructor's
undivided attention through mail-in assignments and critiques.
Both credit and noncredit options available.
- The Writing News is a free, e-mailed
newsletter designed to give you news and views from the writing
staff at Liberal Studies and the Arts. It gives you fuller descriptions
of upcoming events and is usually issued 4-5 times a year. We
also tell you about the successes of our participants -- writers
like you -- as we hear about them. This is our programming news
in a handy format with everything you need to know all in one
place. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to: join-writing-news@lists.wisc.edu.
- Gift Certificates: Give a wonderful gift to a writer or aspiring writer. Show the writer in your life that you "share their dream." Surprise them on their birthday, at a holiday, or any day of the week.
We can provide a gift certificate for any of our programs. Explore our website for the choices. You'll find top-notch, award-winning writing instructors and programs for all budgets and types of writers, beginning and advanced, and in the fields of fiction (including screenwriting) and nonfiction writing, freelancing, and poetry. If you need advice on appropriate programs for the skill level of the gift recipient, we can help you make the right selection. Contact us anytime. To find out more details or to order a gift certificate, contact Christine DeSmet, UW-Madison Liberal Studies & the Arts, 21 N Park St., 7th Floor, Madison, WI 53715; (608) 262-3447; e-mail cdesmet@dcs.wisc.edu
Related resources
- Business writing
workshops: Offered through the UW-Madison Department of Professional
Development and Applied Studies. Noncredit, professional development
workshops in topics such as grammar and punctuation for business
and letter writing, desktop
publishing and grant
writing are found here.
- The Department of Professional
Development and Applied Studies now offers desktop publishing
workshops. Check out the currently upcoming programs in the UW-Madison
Continuing Studies catalog.
- The Department of English:
Find credit and degree program information here, including an
MFA in Creative Writing. Be sure to check out the Writing
Center and its links pages for sites on grammar, punctuation
and more information of use to any writer. The Department of English
also helps sponsor credit courses for returning adults, such as
the credit attached to our Write-by-the-Lake Writer's Workshop
& Retreat. Also of importance in the Department of English,The
Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, offers six fellowships
of $25,000 for MFA graduates who have not yet published a book.
- The Department of Communication
Arts: You'll find credit classes in film theory and history,
film and video production, scriptwriting and more.
- The School of Journalism
and Mass Communications: Visit here for credit course degree
programs for working in the media.
- The Department of Life Sciences
Communication: Credit courses and degree programs in agricultural
and science writing are offered by this department. You'll find
classes in news and feature writing, ag advertising and more.
- Independent Learning:
Do you want to earn UW credit from home for writing courses in
literature and more? Are you a current degree student on campus
who can't make the schedule work but need to add a writing credit
class? Explore this catalog for a variety of credit courses that
use the Internet and your postal mailbox. It's a convenient way
to earn credits towards a degree program!
- Wisconsin
Union Mini-Courses: Perhaps you just want a short course on
an evening or two about a certain writing topic? Topics and fees
vary. Students, faculty, and the community who are members of
the Wisconsin Union (anybody can join) have a potpourri of fun
writing courses from which to choose each semester. They're usually
held at the student unions and other locations around campus.
Also of interest
- The
Wisconsin Wrights New Play Project, coordinated by UW-Madison
Continuing Studies in Theatre, was created to foster the development
of new works by Wisconsin playwrights. Three playwrights
will receive artist residencies at Edenfred Mansion with workshops
and readings through the University Theatre. One play
will be selected for further development through the Madison
Repertory Theatre's Madison New Play Festival. Submissions
are due in January.
News
Retreat attendee Maureen Holtz, Monticello, IL, published
Write-by-the-Lake Writer’s Workshop & Retreat alumna Maureen Holtz of Monticello, Illinois, has co-authored a biography called Robert Allerton: The Private Man and the Public Gifts, available September 2009 from The News-Gazette. The book covers the life of the heir to a Chicago stockyard and banking fortune, and “Chicago’s Richest Bachelor” of 1906. He never married but at the age of 87 became the first Illinoisian to adopt another adult, his sixty-year-old "protege." His legacy to the public: acres of formal gardens and nature trails, vast art collections, and an aura of mystery surrounding his private life. Congratulations, Maureen, on your first book!
New author talks about our retreat as a “game changer.”
“I will forever be grateful for Laurel Yourke’s encouragement and critical eye. I can honestly say that taking her novel revision class two years ago during Write-by-the-Lake was a game changer for me. Her approach to evaluating prose was eye-opening and the tools she taught for assessing narrative perspective were incredibly useful. I’m also glad that after rewriting my YA novel, I used the critique service to have her look at the first 50 pages. Again, her global comments were insightful and constructive, while her line edits blew me away. I realized how much over-writing I was doing at sentence level. Following her rigorous approach, I polished the rest of my manuscript. I know that last revision made all the difference. In January this year, a great agent offered me representation and within two weeks he sold my novel to Scholastic in a two-book deal. I’m thrilled to say that Dark Life is due in bookstores in May, 2010. Thanks for all the help and guidance!!” Kat Falls, Evanston, Il.
First sale for Kirsten Johnson, Madison, WI
Kirsten Johnson’s first novel, Footsteps (Plain View Press), presents the intriguing and richly-detailed life of a girl growing up in Kenya and going through the passage to womanhood. Check out the beautiful cover at her publisher’s website, where you can also buy a copy of the book. Kirsten is a past attendee of our programs featuring critique workshops and she also worked with Christine DeSmet through our Critique Services. Congratulations, Kirsten, on your first sale!
Check out more writer success stories
Writing programs contact information
Independent Learning, Madison area classes & workshops: Laurel
Yourke, 608-265-3972 e-mail: lyourke@dcs.wisc.edu
Critique service, traveling workshops and Annual Writers' Institute:
Christine DeSmet, 608-262-3447 e-mail: cdesmet@dcs.wisc.edu
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