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Pennwriters, Inc.
P.O. Box 957
Somerset, PA 15501
info@Pennwriters.org

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HomeOverview of Courses

Online Classes Overview

A Year's Worth of Classes

All Pennwriters Courses are conducted in a "live" presentation format utilizing the Zoom platform. If a conflict arises based on the required meeting times, please contact the instructor and Online Courses Coordinator to find a possible solution. ALL sessions will be recorded and will be available for students.

Please note that days and times of meetings vary each month. If you have further questions, please contact DJ Stevenson.

All Pennwriters events, including online classes and other meetings are easily found on the website calendar.



September Online Class: Weaving History Into the Historical Novel
Instructor: Kathy Otten
Class Meeting Dates: September 8, 15, 22,   29 on Zoom
1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
See details below
October Online Class: Writing Meaningfully in an Election Year: The Poetry of Politics and Witness
Instructor: Keith Kopka
Class Meeting Dates: October 2, 9, 16,   23 on Zoom
7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
See details below
November Online Class: Mastering the Mystery of Crime Fiction
Instructor: Annette Dashovy
Class Meeting Dates: November 2, 9, 16,   23 on Zoom
1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
See details below


 

Line Up of Classes for 2024


September Online Class: Marketing, Promoting, and Selling During the Holiday Season
Instructor: Kathleen Shoop

Read all the details and register at this link: Marketing, Promoting, and Selling During the Holiday Season w/Kathleen Shoop - 9/3/2024 

Course Details

Marketing, Promoting, and Selling During the Holiday Season is a course for fiction and nonfiction writers who are published or who want to publish. It’s never too early or late to start your Holiday Selling plan! This course pairs nicely with the Christmas in July course, but authors are NOT expected to have taken that course or to have a published holiday book/novella/story/article in order to take this course. With some tweaks the holiday selling principles can be applied to the business of books all year long.


September Online Class: Weaving History Into the Historical Novel
Kathy Otten

Follow this link: Weaving History Into the Historical Novel with Kathy Otten - 9/8/2024

Course Details

Readers of historical fiction want to be transported to another time and place. They want to experience your world along with your characters. So, how do you weave all your research into your novel without creating long paragraphs of historical text? How do you describe settings and details without telling? In this workshop, we’ll talk about ways to create realistic characters of the time, while balancing those characters with the socially accepted norms of the modern reader. We’ll examine dialogue, again harmonizing historical language with modern. We’ll look at research, what to search for and where to find it, and ultimately what to do when you make a mistake.


October Online Class: Writing Meaningfully in an Election Year: The Poetry of Politics and Witness
Instructor: Keith Kopka

Find all the details and register here: Writing Meaningfully in an Election Year w/ Keith Kopka - 10/2/2024

Poetry has always served as a form of social and political resistance. From the ghettos of warn-torn Warsaw to the American civil rights movement, poets have historically been a voice for the unrepresented and catalysts for social change. In our cultural moment, more and more writers are compelled to engage in political topics in their work. However, due to the misinformation on social media, the overwhelming nature of the 24-hour news cycle, and the often-isolating culture of our craft, finding meaningful ways to incorporate our political selves into our poetry is often challenging. With these challenges in mind, this workshop will explore how our current social & political landscape has galvanized this traditional political role of the writer and provide tools and exercises to find one’s political voice in their writing practice.


November Online Class: Mastering the Mystery of Crime Fiction
Instructor: Annette Dashovy
Find all the details here: Mastering the Mystery of Crime Fiction with Annette Dashovy - 11/2/2024

Course Details:
A course geared toward those seeking to delve into the world of crime fiction or those who have already drafted a mystery or suspense story that maybe isn’t as mysterious or suspenseful as you’d hoped. As an award-winning author of more than 15 novels of mystery and suspense, Annette Dashofy will share what she’s learned about creating a page-turning whodunit that will keep readers on the edge of their seats, guessing and second-guessing the identity of the killer. She has taught this material in individual segments over the years for various Sisters in Crime chapters both online and in person, at Pennwriters Conferences, and other writing conferences around the country. In this course, she’ll combine the separate classes into one course.







How do I register for an online class?


Calendar

Online Coordinator

I have a question about the fees for this or another class...


Any and all money questions should be directed to our Club Treasurer.

Treasurer