Novel workshop at Highlights Foundation this summer

Darcy Pattison has taught her Novel Revision retreat locally, and thought we might be interested in her Master Class in Novel Writing that she's teaching at Highlights Foundation this summer.

Writing teacher Darcy Pattison will be teaching a Master Class in Novel Writing at the Highlights Foundation on June 14-16, 2016.

Pattison says, “In every craft, the top artists say that they are constantly learning new things, even after they’ve achieved a level of success. Yet in writing, it seems we find fewer ways to do this than in other crafts. I want to challenge successful writers to try something different, to see a technique a different way, to stretch their craft, to go home excited and hopeful that they can at last try the novel they scares them silly, scares them because they worry that they can’t do the story justice.”

More on what Darcy Pattison says about the retreat here:

http://eepurl.com/bXfWbH

The retreat will be held at the Highlights Foundation retreat center outside Honesdale, PA. Prices include workshops, housing, food, and transportation to and from local airports. Learn more here: http://www.highlightsfoundation.org/workshops/master-class-in-novel-writing-2016/

Highlights master class info

Great information, passed along by Joni Sensel:

Darcy Pattison is going to be teaching a Master Class in Novel Writing next summer at Highlights Foundation. In order to attend, writers must be published or have attended one of my novel revision classes. For this first time, the topics are plot and point of view. I'm just contacting some people from previous retreats to start letting them know because the class is limited to only 8 people. Please pass along the info as you like.



Thanks!
Darcy

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Kirby Larson joins Highlights Foundation Whole Novel faculty

Here's a wonderful opportunity for children's fiction writers, as announced by Kirby Larson:

With the push toward Common Core Standards, historical fiction may be the next "hot trend." 

Or maybe not. 

But if you have a passion for the genre, please consider attending the Highlights Foundation Whole Novel Workshop, with a focus on historical fiction. Faculty includes editor Tamra Tuller (a spring conference faculty member), of Chronicle Books; acquiring agent Linda Pratt of Wernick and Pratt; Tracy Barrett (whose books about Sherlock Holmes' great-grandkids made a recent Best Mysteries for Kids' list); and Kirby Larson, who is just publishing her fifth novel of historical fiction. Teaching assistants include Augusta Scattergood (Glory Be) and nonfiction writer Nancy Castaldo.

The setting is lovely, the food divine, and the week's workshop provides lots of time for one-on-one with a mentor for your novel. 

What are you waiting for? Sign up!

Writing for Teens with Kathryn Erskine and Rich Wallace

In order to connect with young-adult readers, adult writers must reconnect with their teen years. Both Kathryn Erskine and Rich Wallace have mastered the ability to jump back in time and give their readers the honesty and emotion of a teen perspective.

Kathy's successes in the YA genre include her National Book Award—winning, MOCKINGBIRD. Kathy is praised for her authentic teen voice and complex, yet well developed, characters. Rich's books reveal the struggles between and within every teenager. For many of Rich's YA fiction titles, he taps into his athletic past, as he does in WRESTLING STURBRIDGE, named a YALSA 100 Best Books for the 21st Century.

Rich and Kathy share with us why they write for the young-adult audience, and how you, too, can write for teens.

Rich Wallace: I started writing about teenagers because I felt strongly compelled by my own teenage years. There were things I wanted to work out, and I did that by writing about them. Gradually, I learned how to take a few steps away from "what really happened" and craft stories that more kids would relate to.

For me, it's all about reconnecting with that part of my life, most notably the up-and-down emotions that are such a part of that age. Even if you're writing about a character very different from yourself, you'll connect with your readers more effectively by conveying believable emotions.

Kathy Erskine: It's a great age. The whole world is opening up for you. You're experiencing freedoms you never had. You're on the brink of adulthood, deciding what you're going to do with your life. Wow! Plus, young adults have a sophisticated sense of humor, which is fun to incorporate into writing! We're all just teens in grown-up bodies. Even when we're old it's easy to remember being a teen—it's such a significant, powerful, memorable part of life.

I think [the young-adult book market] is strong. Younger people are reading YA and many adults are, too, and are no longer afraid to admit it. I read more YA literature than adult, and not just because I write for that market. There's some fantastic writing out there in the YA realm.

Rich and Kathy will lead the Highlights Foundation YA Bootcamp: What Young-Adult Readers Expect from You, June 7-10, 2012. Learn the ins and outs of writing for young adults through lectures, hands-on writing sessions, and one-on-one manuscript critiques.

For more information about this workshop, which takes places near Honesdale, Pennsylvania, or to request an application, please visit our website or contact Jo Lloyd at Jo.Lloyd@highlightsfoundation.org.

Find a Trusted Reader for Your Middle-Grade Novel

Writing the middle-grade novel means writing in that fine line between the mind of a child and the uncharted territory of an adolescent. At the Whole Novel Workshop, we offer trusted readers on our faculty who are also published authors and editors working on fiction targeted for middle school children. If you have a manuscript that you think deserves a trusted reader, join Tami Lewis Brown , Sarah Aronson , Melanie Kroupa, Kent Brown -- and our own Joni Sensel -- in July for the Whole Novel Workshop for Middle Grade Fiction. One of the faculty will read and critique your novel to tell you what's working and what needs work. Then, we'll spend a week writing, talking, and working together to make your story better. After it's all done, we'll send you home with a plan to keep the good work flowing.

For more information about the Whole Novel Workshop, which takes place near Honesdale, PA, contact Jo Lloyd at 570-253-1192, or email Jo at jo.lloyd@highlightsfoundation.org or visit their website.

The Craft of Nonfiction Storytelling from the Highlights Foundation

"There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories." -Ursula K. Le Guin

It's not enough to have the facts. You have to tell the story. Balancing both is the challenge of any nonfiction manuscript, and it doesn't just happen. Research has to be vetted. Stories have to be compelling and accurate. Together, facts and narrative must capture the hearts and imaginations of young readers. Sometimes, you just can't do it alone. You need a trusted reader. An experienced guide. A helping hand.

For twenty-seven years, the Highlights Foundation has been fulfilling its mission of improving the quality of children's literature by helping authors and illustrators hone their skills. The Whole Novel Workshop, launched in 2006, expands its offerings this year with a program specifically designed for nonfiction. During our week-long Nonfiction Narrative Workshop, May 20-26, you'll have the chance to learn the craft of nonfiction storytelling with our award-winning faculty, including Carolyn Yoder, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, and Elizabeth Partridge. You'll gather with other dedicated writers, talking the talk, discussing your questions, and learning the subtleties of what makes a good manuscript a great book. You can enjoy all this, along with the quiet tranquility of your own cabin and the kind of farmhouse hospitality that makes you feel right at home.

During the workshop, your full manuscript will be read and critiqued by one of our faculty, you'll have time to discuss your goals and vision for the story, and you'll leave with a revision plan that will clarify and polish the text. We'll also give you support as you prepare your pitch, query, and synopsis to ensure the manuscript is given full consideration by agents and editors. Get the help you need to tell the facts and the story. Join us for the Whole Nonfiction Narrative Workshop.

To find out more, contact Jo Lloyd at 570-253-1192, e-mail Jo at jo.lloyd@highlightsfoundation.org, or visit www.highlightsfoundation.org to request an application. 

To view more 2012 Founders Workshops, which take place near Honesdale, Pennsylvania, please visit www.highlightsfoundation.org.

Please feel free to share this e-mail with others who might have an interest or to include the information in blog posts or through other social networking forums.

The Highlights Foundation is a public, not-for-profit 501©3 organization. We dedicate our
efforts to connecting, nurturing, and inspiring children's book writers and illustrators.

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Highlights Foundation, Inc.
814 Court Street
Honesdale, PA 18431
Phone: (570) 251-4500
E-mail: contact@highlightsfoundation.org
www.highlightsfoundation.org

Good News for Barbara Jean Hicks (and a chance to help her out!).

Good News for Barbara Jean Hicks!!! Barbara has received confirmation that she'll be leading a 3-day Founders Workshop for the Highlights Foundation in September 2012 in Honesdale, PA.

"Writing for Little Eyes and Little Ears" will be focused on writing read-alouds for pre-schoolers. Now she just has to plan the workshop! She'd love to hear what fellow SCBWI WWA member's favorite read-alouds are, both old and new, to add to her research.

Please add your comment on this post to help Barbara out!! For more information on Barbara, and her work, visit her website.

Highlights Whole Novel Workshop

You’ve written a novel, something that everyone seems to talk about doing but almost no one manages. But you . . . you have done it. What an accomplishment!

Now what? Once your book lands on an editor’s desk, it has about three seconds to grab the editor and hold his or her attention. Three seconds. After all of your work, your struggle, the heart and soul you have put into those pages. Three seconds. Your next step is crucial: you must be certain—before you send the book out—that it is ready for editorial review.

The Highlights Foundation, along with Newbery-honor author Carolyn Coman, created the Whole Novel Workshop for writers like you. This workshop does what an MFA program does—without the added time and expense. It provides the writer with an accomplished mentor. That mentor will read and critique your entire novel before the workshop begins and then work with you for a full week, guiding you as you polish your book so that an editor will pick it up and not want to put it down until the last page has been turned.

During the Whole Novel Workshop, you will enjoy
• focused one-on-one response to your entire novel in progress from acclaimed author Carolyn Coman or accomplished editor Joy Neaves;
• group critiques;
• seminars on technique and craft; and
• ample time to write and revise in a private, rustic cabin.

Give your work its best chance to pass the three-second test. Devote a week of your summer

(June 5-12, 2011) to polishing your novel at the Whole Novel Workshop.

Applications for the Whole Novel Workshop are being accepted through March 25, 2001. You will be notified of acceptance status by April 8, 2011. Only eight students will be accepted, to ensure that each novel receives the close attention it deserves. To apply, contact Jo Lloyd at 570-253-1192, e-mail jo.lloyd@highlightsfoundation.org, or request an application online.

Highlights Foundation Founders Workshops take place near Honesdale, Pennsylvania. You’ll stay in your own cozy cabin, surrounded by 1,300 wooded acres and hiking trails. Workshop fee includes individual cabins; all meals (provided by a top-notch chef); airport pickup service, if
needed; and an intimate teaching setting at the homeplace of the Founders of Highlights for Children. For more information on this workshop, the faculty, etc. visit the Highlights Foundation website.

Ignite Kids’ Love of Science and Nature

Science and nature books and articles can have a profound influence on young minds. They can stimulate kids to make discoveries, to solve problems, and to become caring stewards of the planet. But before that can happen, kids need to make a deep connection with nature, and they need to understand that science is an ongoing, self-correcting process of discovery. That’s where science and nature writers like you come in!

How can you become an author who ignites the love of science and nature in today’s young readers? Join Highlights and Boyds Mills Press science editor Andy Boyles for Science Writing Boot Camp! This newly created Highlights
Foundation workshop will take place April 27-May 1.

Through lectures, one-to-one critiques, ample writing time, and daily nature walks, this workshop will give you the tools and insights you need to advance on your path to success. Andy will be joined by guest faculty members Mark Baldwin, director of education at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History; award-winning science author Loree Griffin Burns; Patricia Janes, executive editor of Scholastic Inc.’s Science World, SuperScience, and DynaMath; and award-winning photographer and author Doug Wechsler.

You’ll discover the importance of a sense of story, dig deep into the research process, and uncover the ins and outs of interviewing. You will also explore the benefits of nature journaling for developing observation skills and learn how adding photography skills to your writer’s pack can make your work more marketable.

Science Writing Boot Camp is limited to fifteen participants. To secure your spot before the workshop fills, or for more information, contact Jo Lloyd at 570-253-1192, e-mail jo.lloyd@highlightsfoundation.org, or request an application online. Attendees are encouraged to submit their works in progress for one-on-one critiques to Andy Boyles at least three weeks before the workshop begins. (Deadline for receipt is April 4)

Highlights Foundation Founders Workshops take place near Honesdale, Pennsylvania. You’ll stay in your own cozy cabin, surrounded by 1,300 wooded acres and hiking trails. Workshop fee includes individual cabins; all meals (provided by a top-notch chef); airport pickup service, if needed; and an intimate teaching setting at the homeplace of the Founders of Highlights for Children.

Highlights Foundation Whole Novel Workshop

If you’re a fan of children’s fantasy, then it’s likely that you’ve read and loved the work of two of fantasy’s best: Laura Ruby and Anne Ursu. Laura authored the standout books THE WALL AND THE WING and its sequel THE CHAOS KING. Anne penned the amazing middle grade novel, THE SHADOW THIEVES. Most of us would stand in line a long time to get either author’s autography, but now a select eight writers will have the opportunity to spend an entire week learning directly from these two fantasy stars!

Join Laura and Anne for the Whole Novel Workshop for Fantasy, May 1-8. These two outstanding writers will mentor you toward significant improvement on your novel. In this workshop, Laura and Anne will discuss issues of craft along with issues specific to the genre, including

• using physical details to build a vivid fantasy world;
• defining your magical system without losing a sense of wonder;
• ensuring your characters are as interesting as your world;
• communicating your world through your storytelling; and
• finding the right narrative voice.

Fantasy lovers often become fantasy writers, but few have a chance to learn directly from authors of such renown. Whole Novel Workshops are by application, and applications must be submitted by February 25 for
consideration. For more information visit the webpage.

Highlights Foundation 2011 Chautauqua Scholarship Program

You may know someone who is hesitating to pursue his or her Chautauqua dream due to finances. The Highlights Foundation offers scholarships and now is the time to find out more.

A lot of children’s writers dream of the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua. “Next year,” they promise themselves. “Next year, I’m going to Chautauqua!” Then reality sets in. The drive and talent to support the dream are there, but the finances . . . maybe not.

Please encourage your writing friends to stop dreaming and start planning! Pass along our scholarship newsletter. Scholarships will be considered in two groups. Early applications will be accepted through December 15, 2010.
(Final scholarship deadline is February 11, 2011.)

For more information visit the Highlights Foundation website.