The Crossing Arts Alliance presents “Elements of Creative Writing Series” at the Q Gallery located at the Franklin Art Center, 1001 Kingwood Street, Brainerd, Saturdays 9 a.m. to noon, January 11, January 25, February 8 and February 22.  The class series includes: Memoir I and Memoir II, instructed by Angela Foster and Creating Place in Fiction and Creating Characters in Fiction, instructed by Sheila O’Connor. Class fee is $15 per class, or $10 for Crossing Arts Alliance members.  Classes are intended for all levels of writers.  Writers may sign up for one or all classes.  Call 833-0416 to register or visit www.crossingarts.org.  Class size is limited.

Foster teaches memoir at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, MN, and holds a Masters in Creative Nonfiction from Pine Manor College in Boston, MA. O’Connor is an award-winning author, a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is a professor in the Hamline University writing program.

Memoir I and II class description:  “Do you have a story to tell but need a nudge to get it on the page? Or are you ready to revise some of the work you have already written? In this class, we will study the elements of writing an engaging personal story–dialogue, setting, description and scene. Through a variety of fast moving writing exercises, we’ll dig deep to find the great stories.  There will be time to share your work with fellow students and receive feedback on your work. Bring your ideas and your questions and let’s write some great stories!”

Creating Place in Fiction class description: Whether we’re placing our story in a familiar landscape, or inventing a fictional reality, the world our characters inhabit will shape their actions and their destinies. How, then, do we create a world so vivid and convincing readers will feel as if they’ve actually inhabited that place? How do we develop the relationship between character, conflict, and setting? Through discussion, reading, and writing, we will explore these questions as we develop our own settings. Participants will complete a series of writing exercises designed to help them establish their story’s world.

Creating Character in Fiction class description: Character is at the center of good fiction, but how do writers create complex, three-dimensional characters?  What tricks help writers inhabit a character’s heart and mind? What makes a character unforgettable? Where do characters begin? How do we find the character’s voice?  These are some of the questions we will explore as we do a series of creative exercises designed to create vivid, convincing characters.

Download Registration: CreativeWritingForm

This activity is funded, in part, by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Five Wings Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund; and grants from Sertoma Winter Wonderland, Brainerd Service League, Mid Minnesota Federal Credit Union, and the Anderson Family Legacy Fund.