The Story Within

WORKSHOPS

Show and Tell Workshop: How to Make Your Reader Experience a Story 

Open to the public at St. John's College, Saturday, June 9th, 9:30-noon. $50, includes breakfast. Call 410-626-2881 or 410-626-2530 to register.

Writing Literary Humor Workshop Laugh while getting serious about the craft of writing humor. This workshop is a rare opportunity to learn a powerful skill. We will meet one time only: Saturday morning June 23rd at St. John's College. Includes breakfast. Fee $50.  Call 410-626-2530. 

CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS

  Bay to Ocean Writers Conference February 25th, Saturday, at Chesapeake College, Wye Mills, MD. Presenting "Style: Putting your Personality on the Page."  www.baytoocean.com

The Writer's Center Annapolis location: "Everything you Need to Know About Publishing Workshop," Saturday April 14th, $50. Call Zachary at 301-654-8664.

The Annapolis Book Festival, April 21st at Key School in Annapolis. Solo presentation "How to Use the Past: Telling the Story Only You Can Tell" and The Writers Center panel discussion, "Can Creative Writing Be Taught?" Check website for upcoming details.

The Writer's Center Leesburg location:   The Power of Setting. June 1st, evening. Email lauraoliver2@yahoo.com or check website for details this spring.

Creative Writing Workshops

Whether  well -published or a novice, you can gain knowledge and inspiration by attending  a St. John's College writing workshop or a Writer's Center  workshop offered in Annapolis at Maryland Hall. Participants learn concrete elements of craft from how to structure a plot to how to write dialogue. Beginners learn how to find their subject and voice, how to explore, honor, and cherish events and relationships on the page. In addition to craft, participants learn how to design and sustain a viable writing practice and how to submit and publish their work. 

Writers of fiction, memoir and essay will benefit equally from working with an award- winning author with over 16 years of university- level teaching experience who is also actively writing and publishing.  

For information email lauraoliver2@yahoo.com 

 Photo by Tony Lewis, Jr. Courtesy of What's Up Media Group

Have a book or a draft? Writers who need guidance in shaping their manuscripts for publication find inspiration and direction here. For information email lauraoliver2@yahoo.com. You may request an estimate and set your ownbudget. 

Individual Mentoring

Consider acquiring your own personal writing coach.  Together we will discuss your goals and decide on a flexible approach that allows you to improve your writing while amassing a polished and publishable body of work. See "Frequently Asked Questions" for more details.

What people say...

 “Packed with new ideas and deeply engaging, The Story Within inspires, instructs and entertains. Laura Oliver is an immensely talented writer, teacher and storyteller. This book is fun to read and will make you a better writer.”

          --Jon Franklin, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism and the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.

 I envy Oliver's students, who must thrive under her understanding and enthusiasm. I happened to pick up The Story Within during a week when I was in a foul mood about writing in general, and by the time I was halfway through, to my amazement, Oliver had made me want to sit down and get back to work.”

                       --Cynthia Gorney, Graduate School of Journalism, U.C. Berkeley Contributing Writer, The New York Times Magazine and National Geographic Magazine