Classes
Creative and Business Writing Classes
I offer several writing courses through Chattanooga State’s Continuing Education program.
Creative Writing
Creative Writing for Absolute Beginners
A stress-free introduction to writing for anyone who has wanted to write but hasn’t known how or where to start. The class focuses on finding and using your own natural material, discovering what inspires you, creating your own ideal writing process, generating first drafts, and learning how to keep a writer’s notebook. You’ll learn the basics of writing memoir, fiction, and poetry.
$125
M Sept. 17 – Oct. 8 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
The Writing Habit
This class is for those who have either taken “Creative Writing for Absolute Beginners” or have experience with creative writing. The class provides more in-depth information on dialogue, structure, pacing, proportion, backstory, point of view, setting, editing, and more. Lots of hands-on exercises and discussions to strengthen your writing skills and plenty of tips to encourage your writing practice.
$145
M Jan. 7-28 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Strategies for Writing Memoir
We all have a story to tell, but writing memoir is more than just sitting down and writing our life stories. This class will focus on how we uncover memories and details from our past and how we translate these recollections into meaningful prose. We will read memoir excerpts, use writing exercises, learn about the craft of writing memoir, discover our voice, and learn the art of reflection. Whether you want to write a personal essay, a collection of stories, or even work on a book, this course will provide useful tools for current and ongoing writing projects.
$169
M Oct. 22 – Nov. 26 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Business Writing Courses
High-Impact Business Writing
Want your documents to get noticed for all the right reasons? This course offers a review of common business writing grammar and punctuation problems, while focusing on writing for different business genres, improving summarizing and paraphrasing skills, and developing editing techniques. It emphasizes clarity and conciseness and allows time for direct application of the what is covered in class. Participants end up with skills for planning, writing, and editing professional documents.
$169
TBA
Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Business Writing
No matter whether you write reports, white papers, letters or emails, becoming a good business writer is just a matter of mastering several technique. This 3-hour class will give you 10 ways to improve your writing immediately.
$69
W Oct. 24 1:00 – 4:00
Memos, Letters and Emails
Two-thirds of workers are now expected to produce professional e-mails, memos, letters and more. In today’s fast-paced, highly competitive world clear and concise writing is no longer a specialized skill — it’s essential. Learn techniques to make your daily writing responsibilities easier and more professional.
$69
Th Nov. 15 1:00 – 4:00
Banishing the Most Common Business Writing Errors
Whether we are writing e-mails, letters, reports or business cases, it’s nice to have a quick review of some of the finer grammar and punctuation rules. And let’s face it, some of them have changed over the years. This class is for people who write in their jobs — I’ve had everyone from receptionists to business owners come and improve their skills. We’ll look at the most common mistakes everyone makes in business writing and how to correct them.
$69
Th Sept. 27 1:00 – 4:00
