The Odyssey Writing Workshop is now offering writing classes online. Classes are designed for adult writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Each class is focused on a particular element of fiction writing and is designed for writers at a particular skill level, from beginners to professional writers. The application period for the first class, “Showing versus Telling”, runs until 10 December 2009. The class itself will run from 6 January to 10 February 2010.
Odyssey Director Jeanne Cavelos explains, “For fifteen years, Odyssey has pursued its mission to help developing writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror improve their work by holding its annual six-week workshop. But we can only help sixteen writers each year at the workshop. We wanted to be able to help more writers. So we’ve taken the teaching techniques that are so effective at the workshop and adapted them to create online classes. We’ve worked very hard to ensure that our online classes are of the same quality and caliber as our in-person workshop and that they deserve to carry the name of Odyssey.”
Odyssey’s Online Classes will offer live lectures and discussions using Web conferencing software. At class time, students call the class phone number and go to the appropriate Web site. The instructor is live on the other end of the phone, giving the lecture, and students’ computer screens become the class blackboard, where the instructor displays various examples and notes. By clicking on the appropriate icon, a student can raise his hand, use the phone to ask a question, and listen to the questions of other students, who are all on the same conference call.
Odyssey’s Online Classes will be “rigorous and demanding, packing valuable content into each session and providing assignments that challenge students to take their writing to the next level. The classes will provide the tools and techniques students need to improve their writing, along with feedback on their work that reveals whether they are successfully using those tools and techniques.”
Cavelos notes that taking one of the online classes is not equivalent to attending the Odyssey Workshop, and should not be considered a substitute. “But writers can improve through many different experiences, and for many, attending a six-week in-person workshop is not possible.”
Cavelos says, “If you’re ready to hear about the weaknesses in your writing and ready to work to overcome them, you’d be welcome to apply to one of our online classes.” Classes provide a supportive yet challenging, energizing atmosphere, with a class size limited to fourteen students and close contact with the instructor.
Cavelos will teach “Showing versus Telling.” Sessions will be held for one hour each week for six weeks. Tuition is $295. More information is available at www.odysseyworkshop.org or by e-mailing Cavelos at jcavelos at sff dot net.
Cavloes also reminds writers that the Odyssey Web site offers many resources for writers, including free podcasts, writing and publishing tips, a weekly writing blog, and a critique service.