Building a Story From the Ground Up

OPEN ENROLLMENT

Instructor: Amy Harke-Moore

Method: One-on-one instruction, work at your own pace.

Time Frame: To be completed within four months.

Objective: To create a marketable short story, from idea to finished product.

Start Date: Students may enroll for independent study at any time.

Writing level: Beginner, intermediate, or anyone who loves a creative challenge.

Cost: $75

If paying with check, send to: The Write Helper, 104 Harke Lane, Old Monroe, MO 63369. For those paying via online, use PayPal button below, and you will receive a confirmation from us by email.

Curriculum: Each week the instructor will send a class lesson and homework assignment via weekly email attachments. Students will submit assignments for the instructor to critique before the following week’s class.

Week #1: Generating Fruitful Ideas

Story ideas come from many different sources. We’ll explore various methods for generating the raw material from which stories are made.

Week #2: Creating Remarkable Characters

What do we mean by remarkable characters? Characters worthy of notice. We’ll learn techniques to develop flesh-and-blood people, warts and all.

Week #3: Outlining vs. Winging It

How much detail should the writer include in the pre-writing stage? Depends on the writer. We’ll discuss several options and help students discover the ideal method for them. 

Week #4: Choosing Point-of-View

Whose story is it, anyway? We’ll examine the often-mysterious world of POV—the dreaded topic of critique groups everywhere—to help students discover which character (or characters) should tell their story.

Week #5: Getting It Down on Paper

Time for putting it all together—fearlessly. Check perfectionism at the door. Students will write the first draft of their story. We’ll take a look at creating the first draft—methods that work, pitfalls to avoid.

Week #6: Revision or Re-vision

Welcome the internal editor! Now is the time for revision—or re-vision. With fresh critique from the instructor, students will improve their story and develop it for submitting to contests or publications. 

Instructor bio: Amy Harke-Moore has won over sixty awards to date, most notably the Oklahoma Writers Federation Essay Award, 2001 and 2004, and Short Story Award, 2002 and 2005. Her work has appeared in the The Writer, Chicago Quarterly Review, The MacGuffin, Permafrost, Grit, Writers’ Journal, Spring Hill Review, Echoes of the Ozarks, Cuivre River Anthology, and Bellowing Ark. She also served as co-editor of the 2006 and 2007editions of the Cuivre River Anthology. She is past president of Saturday Writers, a chapter of the Missouri Writers' Guild, and co-founder of The Scribe's Tribe critique group. Currently, she is editor of Saturday Writers newsletter. In her spare time she plugs away at her suspense novel set in the early 1900s.