Women’s Writing Workshop

Description: Whether you have always dreamed of writing and publishing a book or you want to use writing to explore your personal journey, this workshop is for you.

Dates: October 14 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

and October 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Location: Wine Women and Waves Retreats with Marcia VanderWoude, West Olive, Michigan

Cancellation Policy:  Cancel before October 1 to receive a full refund. Cancel after October 1 and receive a 1-hour private consultation.

Schedule:

Saturday, October 14 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Free retreat: bring appetizers or wine

Meet and greet, informal presentation and Q & A about writing and publishing

Up to 20 participants

Sunday, October 8 

Cost $60

10:00 Light Breakfast, Meet and Greet

10:30 Presentation on Writing Process

11:00 Developing Timelines Activity

12:00   Family History Questionnaires

12:30   Break/Light Lunch

1:30.  Showing vs. Telling

2:00   Writing Exercises: visualization, sentence structure, storytelling

3:00  Creating Outlines and Feedback

End of Day, Lisa available for individual feedback

ACT/SAT Essay Writing Workshop

Participants: high school sophomores and juniors

Size: 12-15 students

Time: 3-hour session

Feedback: writing assessment

Description:  This workshop is designed to help students understand the expectations for taking the essay portions of the ACT and SAT exams. The workshop highlights 8 characteristics that graders of the exams are looking for and teaches students strategies for meeting the expectations.

Students will

• Analyze sample essays

• Learn to use the prompts to formulate their answers

• Practice writing thesis statements and introductions

• Learn about how to incorporate support in essays

• Write a practice essay

• Receive a critique of their writing with recommendations.

The goal of the workshop is to help students understand the testing expectations and situation in order to give them the confidence to meet this challenge.  Students are encouraged to ask questions and to use the skills from the workshop as they practice independently. 

8-Session Writing Workshop

Participants: any writers

Size: 10-12 students

Time: 8 sessions of 2 hours each

Feedback: mid-workshop and end of workshop writing assessments

Description:  This workshop is similar to the 5-Session workshop, but allots more time to develop key skills in the writing process. The focus is also the trio of tasks that lead to good writing: directed practice, feedback, and revision.  Students will follow the writing process through guided group activities to produce written texts.  The workshop will involve group interaction and feedback.

Through the activities, students will

• Explore creative strategies for idea generation

• Analyze and develop effective thesis statements using a proven writing technique

• Learn the process of organizing ideas to achieve effective synthesis

• Learn about the most common strategies for writing introductions and conclusions

• Gain skills in drafting, revising and editing

• Participate in activities to emphasize key skills.

 The workshop complements what students should already be learning in school and provides extra practice and new insight into the writing process.

College Application Essay Workshop

 Participants: high school juniors and seniors

Size: 4 or 5 students

Time: 4-hour workshop + 2 hours one-on-one

Feedback: critique of application essay

Description:  One of the most anxiety-ridden tasks for a student is to write the personal essay required by many colleges to judge admittance. This workshop offers common advice on how to write the college application essay, but with a distinctive difference: students are walked through the process: through the course of the workshop they will produce a final essay. Additionally, students have one-on-one time with the facilitator during which they will receive individualized instruction and feedback. Students will :

• Receive guidelines for common do’s and don’ts

• Get help organizing the application process with checklists

• Develop strategies for effectively addressing individual institutions

• Learn about the Common Application process

• Write their essays, with step-by-step instruction

 Students should come with information about essays requirements for the college(s) where they are applying.  While the focus will be on completing one essay, students may gain insight into how to write for more than one school.

Need to Know: College Success Workshop 

Participants: ideal for high school juniors and seniors, open to any students

Size: 15 participants

Time: 8 sessions of 2 ½ hours each

Description:  Need to Know addresses issues students need to learn about by engaging in problem solving, self-evaluation and goal setting. The workshop covers key success skills to

• help students understand themselves as learners,

• clarify academic culture and expectations,

• improve soft skills needed for success,

• work on academic skills.

The major difference:  Need to Know allows students to work through activities to help them develop their own style of learning and to reach their potential.

College readiness goes beyond academics:

Academic Skills

College Success Skills

Reading a text book

Managing time and multiple demands

Studying for exams

Working in teams

Taking exams

Forming Academic Arguments

Writing college papers

Building networks and support systems

Taking notes in class

Interacting with professors

Participating in class discussions

Overcoming challenges

Creating Study Groups

Setting and reaching goals

Students are required to purchase the workbook that includes the activities along with five chapters that explain significant skills and knowledge to help students entering college feel more confident.  The fundamental idea is that the responsibility for education lies with the student, and by learning and using the skills that have led others to success, a student can reduce stress and perform to his or her potential.

Workshops for Business Professionals

Business-to-Business and Business-to-Client Blogging

Participants: Business professionals, aspiring bloggers

Size:  10-12 participants

Time Commitment: 8 sessions of 2 hours each

Description: Blogging is a powerful way to reach potential customers and build a business base.  With planning, writing a blog can be quick and effective, building credibility and demonstrating expertise in your business.

Participants will learn how to

• strategically plan a blog,

• capitalize on SEO,

• coordinate blogs with business and seasonal cycles,

• manage multiple writers into a cohesive blog,

• develop individual blog topics and

• generate ideas for effective blogs.

 Writing for Your Audience

Participants: Business professionals

Size:  10-12 participants

Time Commitment: 3-hour session

Description: In this workshop, participants will start by considering who the stakeholders in their projects are and what writing strategies will best serve their audience.  Participants will learn how to reach their audience and achieve their communications goals by

• conducting an audience analysis,

• understanding how they might reach different types of audience,

• controlling structure, tone, word choice, content

• employing persuasive strategies.

The workshop can be based on case study or actual project.

Getting the Writing You Want from Your Staff 

Participants: Business professionals, especially managers

Time Commitment: 4-hour session

Description: Many managers lose time and profitability because team members produce unclear reports. This starts a cycle: poor writing, followed by requests for revision then slightly better writing, and additional requests for revision.  In this workshop managers will learn techniques to guide their teams toward written communication that is clear, effective and productive.  The process uses three steps:

1) setting up the writing situation,

2) designing effective templates, and

3) providing feedback.

Using the CASE System of Writing, this workshop will provide planning strategies so reports will be on target the first time. Teams will define key areas: Content, Audience, Structure and Editing.

Workshop activities will focus on the following:

• Developing lists of key decision factors and steps to action (Content)

• Defining stakeholders and their communications needs (Audience)

• Designing and revising templates to provide effective writing guidance (Structure)

• Defining writing standards for clarity and effectiveness (Editing)

Professional Writing for Career Advancement 

Participants:  Business professionals

Time Commitment: 8 sessions of 2 hours, 6 weekly follow-up calls of ½ hour

Description: The workshop will present the CASE System of Writing: Content, Audience, Structure, Editing.  Participants will learn how to manage the multiple and challenging demands of professional writing through comprehensive analysis of each CASE component. 

The workshop is designed to help individual writers, following the same format as that for managers.  Workshop activities will focus on the following:

• Developing lists of key decision factors and steps to action (Content)

• Defining stakeholders and their communications needs (Audience)

• Designing and revising templates to provide effective writing guidance (Structure)

• Defining writing standards for clarity and effectiveness (Editing)

The Final Edit

Participants: Business professionals

Time Commitment: 2-hour session

Description:  Having correct and appropriate content is the substance of good writing.  Most readers judge the credibility and value of a written text based on grammatical correctness and style issues.  This workshop instructs participants in the editing skills needed to develop credibility with readers.

Participants can work with their own or provided texts to focus on:

• Key editing skills

• Common grammatical errors and fixes

• Sentence clarity

• Effective language usage