for poets, fiction & nonfiction writers

Instructor: Nina Schuyler

Course Dates: September 1 to September 30, 2011

Sign up here

Nina Schuyler's first novel, The Painting, (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2004), was a finalist for the Northern California Book Awards. It was also selected by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the Best Books for 2004 and a "Great Debut from 2004" by the Rocky Mountain News. Her second novel, Accidental Birds, will be published by Vagabondage Press in 2012. She is the Fiction Editor of Able Muse.

One of her short stories was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poems, short stories and essays have appeared in ZYZZYVA, Santa Clara Review, Fugue, Tumbleweed Review, Oxygen, EM Literary, Watchwordpress, Red Weather: A Journal of Poetry and Culture, Transfer, Sojourn Literary Arts Journal, New Town, Newsday and other publications. She was a finalist in the Lewis "Buddy" Nordan Fiction Contest. Two of her short stories have been nominated for Best New American Voices. Her nonfiction has appeared in Health, Geezerjock, Newsday and Stanford magazine.

She attended Stanford University for her undergraduate degree, earned a law degree at Hastings College of the Law and an MFA in fiction with an emphasis on poetry at San Francisco State University. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco and is working on a third novel.

Introduction & Highlights

It takes an inordinate amount of time to plan, prepare and put together an effective 30-day writing program. However, the minimal cost contributed by the participants of this course will incentivize celebrated poets, writers and educators to participate in the programs. What's more we're launching this program with the Able Muse Fiction Editor, Nina Schuyler! As you can see from the biography above, Nina's accomplishments as a writer, poet and educator are extensive. She has already put together a day-by-day program for this course sure to challenge, inspire and even entertain the participants, all of whom will derive immense benefits from this course, as detailed below.

Many of you may never make it to the AWP or WCU conferences or a writer’s retreat due to travel and conference costs involved, or time constraints. This course is in no way a substitute, but we hope that you'll derive several of their benefits and none of the drawbacks. Some of the features of this writing program are as follows:

• even though it will be online, we will provide as close to a physical classroom experience as possible
• a forum will be set aside for participants to discuss the assignment, or other issues or interest, and the instructor may drop in as warranted
• a weekly lecture/interview session will be provided, which will include computer-based online interactive tools for workshop members. The technology will allow voice and video interaction with the instructor and between participants comfortable with such an interaction. Your web browser will be the only software tool needed to join in! Those who are technology-challenged will be able to link into the conversation from their regular home phones.
• for thirty days, you’ll receive a series of triggers: a writing exercise trigger, a sentence trigger, and random words trigger.
• weekly interview with a published author about his or her process.
• weekly craft lecture.

There should be none to minimal time-of-day and time-zone issues for participants:

• For one, when to work on the daily triggers is under the control of the participants at the time they receive it.
• For another, the weekly interview/lectures will be at a time convenient to the instructor and lecturer, and she’ll also poll the participants and make sure that events are scheduled as close to the majority choice as possible.
• Still, even for those who can’t participate live, they’ll be provided with a link to the full recording of the lecture/interview session to read/view/ listen to after the fact. So, the only thing that might be missed in that case would be the live interaction, but all the contents will still be available to all the participants.

All this for a minimal stipend, less than one buck daily! Now, compare this to the cost of traveling to a brick-and-mortar workshop venue for just a couple of days for a comparable course!

What You Get

Sign up now for The Able Muse Writing Program and you will get the following:

• The online conference room implemented such that participants can interactively see other class members.
• The class members can virtually raise their hands and ask the teacher a question during the lecture/interview sessions.
• During the craft lectures or interview, the classroom will be able to interactively follow the teacher’s slide and listen to him or her talk either through their computer speakers or headphones, or for those technically challenged, through their telephones via a special call-in number.
• The weekly interview/lectures will be at a time convenient to the instructor and lecturer, and she’ll also poll the participants and make sure that events are scheduled as close to the majority choice as possible.
• Still, even for those who can’t participate live, they’ll be provided with a link to the full recording of the lecture/interview session to read/view/ listen to after the fact. So, the only thing that might be missed in that case would be the live interaction, but all the contents will still be available to all the participants.
• An online forum is set aside for the participants at Eratosphere to interact amongst themselves and with the teacher who may drop in as warranted.
• Daily writing triggers, applicable for any genre (poetry, fiction and nonfiction) will be emailed directly to the participants for 30 DAYS!  Yes, for thirty days, you’ll receive a series of triggers: a writing exercise trigger, a sentence trigger, and random words trigger. If all three compel you to write something—so much the better.  If only one triggers the imagination, then leap into that one. Use the inspiration from these triggers to write poems, novels, stories, personal essays, memoirs.
• Weekly interview with a published author about his or her process.
• Weekly craft lecture.
• A chance to be published at Able Muse, online and/or print. At the end of the thirty days, submit your best work. We will choose a first, second and third place winner for fiction, poetry and nonfiction. .

All of this for just $20.00. That’s less than a buck a day! Compare this to the cost of traveling away to brick and mortar writing program for just a couple of days! Join us now and reap the reward of 30-day worth of new poems, fiction or nonfiction work.

 

Registration

1. ONLINE --Preferred registration method
   1. securely through Google Checkout, a major online payment processor with any credit card.

2. Least favorite option: you can send a check/money order for $20 (please include your email address!) to:

Able Muse Review
467 Saratoga Avenue #602
San Jose, CA 95129
USA

(NOTE: Check payable to Able Muse Review. Also, contact us here immediately after payment with 1) your full name, 2) check date, and 3) check number so that your registration can be activated promptly despite potential postal delays).

If you have any question about the Able Muse 30-Day Writing Program, contact us here.