Showing posts with label graduate readers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label graduate readers. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

More Kudos and Another Reading

The DWC congratulates one of its long-time students, Martin Willitts Jr. on the publication of his new chapbook, VAN GOGH'S SUNFLOWERS FOR CEZANNE” forthcoming from Finishing Line Press.

According to Martin, these poems are about the last ten years of Van Gogh’s life, letters, and art, including his loneliness, insanity, visionary experiences. Some of the poems have appeared in Bent Pin, Big City Lit, Blue Fifth Review, Hotmetalpress.net, Paper Boats, Pulse, World Audience.

Finishing Line is looking for 55 pre-orders to begin printing. If you are interested in purchasing this chapbook, you may contact Martin directly here: mwillitts01@yahoo.com.

Also . . . don't forget the last of our DWC PRO Graduate Readings this Friday at 6:30. This week features poet Daniel Reinhold, and fiction writers John Sheedy and Kim DeHaven. Please join us for a reception and another stellar reading.

Congratulations to Martin, and to all of our DWC PRO graduates!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Forward Motion: Writing and the Writing Community at DWC PRO

by Peter McShane

It's true that writing is a solitary pursuit, but ironically you can't do it alone.

When I decided to try my hand at writing a memoir, the words flowed, thousands of them. It read like a confessional. A few family members said it was terrific. They love me; I knew better. I wanted to write something that non-relatives would read.

I decided to take a few courses at the DWC and quickly learned that I didn't know anything about writing. In the words of acclaimed writer and educator John Gardner, the key to writing stories is creating for the reader a vivid and continuous dream. This holds true whether it's creative non-fiction or fiction. It's difficult to pull it off with exposition alone. Adding characters who interact draw the reader into their lives. Successful writers use a combination of exposition and dialog. This helps to create what Gardner calls profluence, or forward motion, drawing the reader in and holding his/her attention.

What's next after you've learned all this procedural stuff, like genre, style, theme, point of view, plotting; the nuts and bolts? It's finding readers to test drive your work; people willing to read through your early drafts and tell you what works and what doesn't. That's what workshops are all about. It's an eye-opening, humbling experience, but your writing will improve. You'll get encouragement from your instructors and peers, and one-on-one tutorials with experienced, published writers who provide valuable insight and suggestions for fine-tuning your work.

All this is what you get in the DWC PRO program: people serious about writing stories and instructors who validate your work. More importantly, it's an introduction to the writer's community. This is how successful writers do it. It's not easy, but the reward is a reader who can't put your story down.


Peter McShane and nine other DWC PRO students will be featured readers this spring, and in June will comprise the very first DWC PRO graduating class.