Scholarship for Writing the Other Weekend Intensive!
Apply May 8 - 15 for the Sentient Squid Scholarship to attend the Writing the Other Weekend Intensive session held online June 10 - 12.
In recognition of the fact that many of the writers who would benefit from and want to take our class cannot afford it financially, an anonymous donor has allowed us to offer one spot in this session to the student we select based on:
A brief (1000 or fewer words) writing sample and
A brief (300 or fewer words) statement on why they want to take the class and need financial assistance to do so.
Please send both in the body of an email (no attachments, please) to wto at ktempestbradford dot com by 11:59PM Pacific May 15.
Instructors Nisi Shawl and K. Tempest Bradford will announce the scholarship recipient May 22.
PLEASE NOTE: This is not the last opportunity to take this class. We are giving another one in August and will announce dates later in the month. And we plan to give several other weekend and month-long WtO classes throughout the rest of the year.
Are you afraid to write about characters whose racial heritage, sexual orientation, or religion differs from your own? Do you think you'll get it wrong or cause offense?
In this renowned workshop, basis for the classic text Writing the Other: A Practical Approach, authors and editors Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward teach you to write sensitively and convincingly about characters of diverse backgrounds.
Appropriate for all fiction writers, Writing the Other: Bridging Cultural Differences for Successful Fiction combines lectures, discussions, and writing exercises in a safe, supportive atmosphere.
When: 2PM - 7PM (Eastern) Sunday March 13, 2016
Location: ONLINE via GoToMeeting
Price: $150 + service fee
PLEASE NOTE
This is an introductory workshop for the concept and practice of writing the other, and it is the basis for the writing handbook Writing the Other. If you have read the book, this workshop repeats the information given there in a different format and offers students the opportunity to do the exercises and get feedback from the instructors and your peers. It is different in scope from the 6 week and weekend intensive workshops.
The class will cover:
Identifying differences from the unmarked state that are, in this culture, considered to be deeply significant differences
The Dominant Paradigm
The Marked and Unmarked States
Parallax
Categorical Thinking
Congruence
Resonance
This workshop is appropriate for all writers (fiction, plays, comics, screenplays, and games included) from all backgrounds and any skill level. Technical requirements below.
Price
The class fee is $150 + a service fee charged by the ticketing provider.
Want a reminder when we give this or other similar seminars or classes again? Join our announcement list
Where Will The Class Take Place?
For the first time we're bringing the original workshop online. Students will meet in a virtual classroom using GoToMeeting and do in-class exercises using Google Drive. To participate, you must have a Google account. We'll email students the link to the private GoToMeeting classroom and private Google Drive folder the day before the seminar begins.
You do not need a webcam to participate, but you do need a working microphone for discussions and headphones/earbuds for the best audio quality. You also don't need to sign into GoToMeeting on your computer if your system requirements don't match. GTM is available as a smartphone app for iOS and Android. If you attend the class using your phone, you'll also need to be in front of your computer for the exercises.
LENGTH: Five hours, including a 60-minute lunch break.
IMPORTANT: Please ensure your computer or phone can handle a GoToMeeting virtual meeting before you sign up for this class. For computers, please join this test meeting to do so.
On mobile devices, download the app, open it, enter your name and the session ID 406-552-062 to test.
What Do I Need To Bring?
We will do several writing exercises in class. You can do these in Google Docs, in a word processing program on your computer, or with paper and pen. Whatever feels most comfortable. Many of the exercises will use your characters from existing short stories or novels. It's not compulsory for the exercise results to be shared with the class.
Instructors
Nisi Shawl is the Tiptree Award-winning author of Filter House and a co-founder of the Carl Brandon Society, a nonprofit furthering the presence of racial minorities in the fantastic genres. She is the editor of WisCon Chronicles 5: Writing and Racial Identity, and the co-author, with Dr. Rebecca Holden, of Strange Matings: Octavia E. Butler, Science Fiction, Feminism, and African-American Voices. Find her website at NisiShawl.com
Cynthia Ward's fiction has appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Athena's Daughters, and other anthologies and magazines. She is the editor of the diversity themed anthologies Lost Trails: Forgotten Tales of the Weird West: Volumes One and Two (WolfSinger Publications). With Nisi Shawl, she is coauthor of the diversity fiction-writing handbook Writing the Other: A Practical Approach (Aqueduct Press). Find her website at CynthiaWard.com
The Art of Writing the Other® - Weekend Intensive 2016
This is a new version of our class condensed into a shorter time frame (2.5 days) that also costs less. Please read all the info below!
When: January 1 - 3 (detailed schedule below)
Where: ONLINE via Google Hangout
Price: $250 + service fee
To Register: Visit Brown Paper Tickets (Registration opens December 5th)
Writers know that it’s important to write about characters whose gender, sexual orientation, religion, racial heritage, or other aspect of identity differs from their own. But many are afraid to do so for fear that they will get it wrong–horribly, offensively wrong–and think it is better not even to try.
In truth, it is possible to write the Other sensitively and convincingly, and this workshop can start you on the path to doing just that.
Authors Nisi Shawl and K. Tempest Bradford will combine lectures, discussions, and writing exercises in a safe, supportive atmosphere.
The material covered in this course is similar to our previous 6 week classes, just heavily concentrated. This class is for writers who cannot commit to regular meetings over several weeks but can devote one weekend.
The class will cover:
Stereotypes and Tropes related to
Race and Ethnicity
Disability
Gender and Sexuality
Religion
Class
and more
Strategies for creating characters and building worlds while avoiding stereotypes and cultural appropriation
Language and Description
Dialogue and Dialect
How To Research The Other
PLEASE NOTE: Unlike our 6 week courses, this class does not include a workshop component.
The class is appropriate for all writers (fiction, plays, comics, screenplays, and games included) from all backgrounds and any skill level.
Click here to go to the Registration page. Registration opens on December 5th. If you want a reminder when that happens or a heads up when we do our next class, please join our announcement mailing list.
Weekend Intensive Schedule (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
Because this is a holiday weekend, the schedule depends on student availability. If all students have January 1st free, we’ll begin in the early afternoon and the class will end in the early evening Sunday.
If students aren’t free until after work, class will begin at 7 or 8PM Eastern time and end around 10PM Eastern on Sunday.
No matter what the start time, this class will take up the entire weekend, so please be prepared to set aside those days. Each day will have built-in breaks for food and other needs.
This is the schedule if we start after work on Friday. If we start earlier, everything shifts.
Friday, January 1
7 - 9PM
Lecture, Exercise, Homework
(NOTE: If we have students in the Pacific time zone we may be able to shift this later)
Saturday, January 2
10AM Homework Due
11AM - 1PM
Lecture, Exercise
1:30PM Break
3PM - 5PM
Lecture, Exercise
5:30pm Break
7PM - 9PM
Lecture, Exercise, Homework
Sunday, January 3
10AM Homework Due
11AM - 1PM
Lecture, Exercise
1:30PM Break
3PM - 5PM
Lecture, Exercise
5:30pm Break
7PM - 8PM
Discussion
Final Q&A with Nisi Shawl
Class ends at 10PM
The class is capped at 8 students
Please see this link for Class Requirements, refund policy, instructor bios, and other important information. Enrollment begins on December 1, 9AM eastern.
Can’t take this class but want to know when we do it again? Join the announcement mailing list and get updates (only about this!).
Writing the Other is a registered service mark of Cynthia Ward and Nisi Shawl. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Registration for our Fall class begins in Two Days
If you want an email reminder or to know about future classes (yes, there will be more in 2015 and in the Spring), please join our announcement mailing list.
Want To Know When We Teach Writing the Other Online?
Please join our handy announcement list. You’ll know first when we announce classes, when enrollment opens, and other WtO related things. This list is low traffic and announcement only. Please join today.
When: September 26th to October 31st weekly on Saturdays at 10am Pacific
Where: ONLINE via Google Hangout
Price: $450 + service fee
Registration begins: August 26th, 2015
Writers know that it's important to write about characters whose gender, sexual orientation, religion, racial heritage, or other aspect of identity differs from their own. But many are afraid to do so for fear that they will get it wrong--horribly, offensively wrong--and think it is better not even to try.
In truth, it is possible to write the Other sensitively and convincingly, and this workshop can start you on the path to doing just that.
Drawing on and updating decades-old work by Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward, authors of the acclaimed reference "Writing the Other: A Practical Approach", this six week online course delves deep into learning this sometimes tricky skill. Authors Nisi Shawl and K. Tempest Bradford will combine lectures, discussions, and writing exercises in a safe, supportive atmosphere.
The class is appropriate for all writers (fiction, plays, comics, screenplays, and games included) from all backgrounds and any skill level.
Click here for full details, including class dates, requirements, fees & payment plans, and instructor bios.
Please Note
Enrollment begins on August 26th to allow those interested to figure out their finances and get money together. We do also offer payment plan structures.
