From now until December 31, 2021, we’re releasing 12 classes from the WLT Vault. That’s right! For the first time ever, you have the chance to access a curated list of previously recorded classes taught by your favorite instructors. Each bundle is valued at $300, but we’re making them available for only $60!
We’ve put together 4 class bundles for you to choose from, but you can also “Build Your Own Bundle” to curate the perfect package for your writing life. Simply click on the image representing the bundle you’re interested in, and you’ll be taken to a page where you can purchase it.
NOTE: This is not a live class registration. When you register for access to these bundles, you’ll be receiving access to previously recorded classes taught for a live audience. Registration includes access to any handouts, readings, and slides the instructor originally shared with students. The videos will be available for viewing immediately upon purchase, and will expire on March 31, 2022.
Descriptions for each class recording available are at the bottom of the page.
Class & Event Registration Policy
Once a purchase has been made, registrations are not refundable and cannot be transferred to a different class or event. No exceptions will be made. If you purchase a registration and no longer want access to these recordings, you can transfer your registration to someone else. Simply contact us at wlt@writersleague.org and let us know the name and contact information for the person who will be using the registration so that we can update the class or event roster.
Not sure how to access your recordings?
- Log into your account
- Under the “Member Pages” menu, click “My Purchases”
- Locate your Class recordings
- Click on the button with the play icon by the class you’d like to watch
Bundle Options
These three classes will help you finally write that novel you’ve been thinking about. You’ll learn the tools you need to bring your idea to life, keep the momentum going through character and conflict, and how to end with a bang. And then you can do it again and again and again.
CLASS 1: “The Novel Hatchery: From Idea to the Page” with Stacey Swann
CLASS 2: “Throw More Stones: Building Character through Conflict” with Samantha M. Clark
CLASS 3: “Final Pages, Final Paragraphs: Finding the Right Ending for Fiction” with Chaitali Sen
These three classes will prepare you for what it takes to tell the story of your life. From moving beyond the personal, to figuring out what it is that you want to say with your story, to how to structure your life into a book, you’ll walk away with everything you need to finally write your memoir.
CLASS 1: “Mining the World for Meaning: How to Move Beyond the Personal in Memoir” with Donna M. Johnson
CLASS 2: “Developing Your Perspective in Memoir” with Charlotte Gullick
CLASS 3: “Memory Bones: Structuring the Literary Memoir” with M.M. Adjarian
Learn the ins and outs of what it takes to traditionally publish your book and support your writing life. These classes will walk you through everything from finding an agent, applying to fellowships and residencies, and everything authors need to know about the publishing process. You will walk away ready to take on all of your publishing dreams.
CLASS 1: “The Agent Search: Tips, Tricks, and Timeless Advice” with Becka Oliver
CLASS 2: “Publishing 101: What Authors Need to Know” with Leila Sales
CLASS 3: “Applying to Fellowships and Residencies with Confidence” with Faylita Hicks
You’re probably a writer because you love playing with words. These three classes will offer you exciting new ways to hone your writing skills, while still having fun with the work you’re doing. Hone your craft in short fiction, nonfiction, and put it to the test with a variety of prompts.
CLASS 1: “Flash Fiction: The Art of the Very Short Story” with Katharine Duckett
CLASS 2: “How to Conceive and Structure Personal Essays” with Antonio Ruiz-Camacho
CLASS 3: “10 Prompts for 10 Stories: A Generative Writing Workshop” with John Pipkin
Not everyone’s writing journey is the same. Pick any three classes from the below list and create a series customized for where you’re at in the process.
Descriptions for each class recording available are at the bottom of the page.
Do you want to gift a bundle? Reach out to us, and we can make that happen. Send us an email at wlt@writersleague.org with “Class Bundle Gift” in the subject line, and we’ll walk through the process with you.
Class Descriptions
“The Novel Hatchery: From Idea to the Page” with Stacey Swann
Runtime: 2:53:40 Original Class Date: 2/6/2021
Do you have a great idea for a novel but aren’t sure how to dive in? Or have you already begun but hit an early wall?
No matter what type of novel you’re writing, this video will increase your skills and confidence to jump in head first. In this recording, we explore the following areas:
- Foundational pre-writing, getting a clearer sense of our characters and their problems
- Roadmaps, whether they be detailed outlines or a handful of bullet points
- Crafting effective opening chapters
- Using craft elements to expand our drafts: stakes, theme, and setting
By the end of the video, your novels will have cracked their shells, ready to grow and fly to completion.
“Throw More Stones: Building Character through Conflict” with Samantha M. Clark
Runtime: 2:53:39 Original Class Date: 3/20/2021
No matter whether you’re writing a character-driven or plot-driven story, comedy, drama or tragedy, it’s the characters that readers follow. And to keep those characters moving and growing, you need conflict.
Conflict can be big or small, come from outside or inside, but it must be challenging. When story gurus tell students to chase their characters up a tree then throw stones at them, they’re talking about conflict. Conflict not only drives stories forward, it helps readers learn who the characters are by the decisions and actions they make. Conflict makes the story go round!
In this recording, you’ll learn:
- About developing well-rounded, fully realized characters
- The importance of conflict
- The types of conflict
- And how to use it to make your stories better
“Final Pages, Final Paragraphs: Finding the Right Ending for Fiction” with Chaitali Sen
Runtime: 2:41:42 Original Class Date: 3/27/2021
Your ending is as important as your beginning. Nailing your ending determines the success of the piece.
Many of the best stories have memorable beginnings, but endings are equally important to creating a cohesive piece that resonates with readers long after they have put it down. The best endings should both satisfy and haunt readers. In this video, we look exclusively at endings. If you can nail your ending, you have solved the hardest problem of storytelling.
This recording covers endings and their role in the story, looking at examples of effective endings, common mistakes in developing endings, and exercises that help us construct and revise endings that feel both inevitable and surprising. There will be examples from published texts and questions to prompt thinking about what makes something an effective or haunting ending.
“Mining the World for Meaning: How to Move Beyond the Personal in Memoir” with Donna M. Johnson
Runtime: 2:59:22 Original Class Date: 4/3/2021
In this class, we dig deep into our personal narratives while looking outside of ourselves for ideas, events and motifs that link our experiences with larger threads of meaning. We also explore how associative thinking, research, reflection and personal culpability expand and deepen nonfiction stories. Instruction includes brief lectures, reading and responding to short pieces of creative writing as well as the use of writing prompts.
“Developing Your Perspective in Memoir” with Charlotte Gullick
Runtime: 2:42:10 Original Class Date: 4/2/2019
Memoirist Phillip Lopate asserts that those who write memoir must develop a double-perspective on the past: the self who lived the experiences and the current self who grapples with, contemplates, and re-evaluates those experiences. Writers of this genre need to offer meaning and context to the moments we feel called to bring to the page, and we can hone our ability to do this with practice, play, and perspective-shifting.
In this recording, students learn to recognize turning points in their life stories, develop their current lens on past events, and work with imagery and setting to deepen the narrative.
“Memory Bones: Structuring the Literary Memoir” with M.M. Adjarian
Runtime: 2:56:14 Original Class Date: 5/29/2021
Every memoir offers glimpses into the complex world and consciousness of another human being. But how can you take those husks of experience we call memory and transform them into a compelling narrative?
The impulse to share our experiences with others is universal. But for a story to have “legs,” it must possess an internal anatomy that arises organically rather than artificially. So how do you craft the bones your memoir needs to not only stand up to reader scrutiny but genuinely stand out?
In this video, you will learn:
- Why A to Z chronology doesn’t suit all narratives
- How form is like “skin” and how to choose/create the best one for your “bones”
- The does and don’ts of backstory and flashback
- The importance of scene-craft and sectioning
- Structuring strategies (such as storyboarding and “plotting the big W”)
- Why tense matters
“The Agent Search: Tips, Tricks, and Timeless Advice” with Becka Oliver
Runtime: 2:57:21 Original Class Date: 1/30/2021
Learn the process and expectations for finding a literary agent for your book.
Join a former literary agent for an informative, candid, no-holds-barred class on finding the ideal agent for you—and how to navigate the relationship once you’ve found that perfect match. This class covers everything from nailing your pitch and presentation materials, identifying the most promising agents to approach for representation, avoiding the pitfalls that lead to rejection, asking the right questions (and never ever the wrong ones), and most everything in between.
“Publishing 101: What Authors Need to Know” with Leila Sales
Runtime: 2:49:41 Original Class Date: 6/10/2020
Being a writer is a craft, but being an author is a career. Get an insider’s view of how the book publishing business works.
This class recording aims to demystify the inner workings of the publishing business for authors: those approaching their first publication as well as those who have books out and those who simply want a better understanding of the business side of things. Writers who will benefit most from this video are those who find the publication process to be something of a black box and want to have more control over their relationships with publishers. Topics covered include how responsibilities are divvied up within a publisher (as well as what responsibilities are the author’s), how to understand the terms of your contract, how your books’ finances and rights work, how to interact most effectively with your editor and publicist, and much more about what to expect all the way from submission through publication.
“Applying to Fellowships and Residencies with Confidence” with Faylita Hicks
Runtime: 2:47:45 Original Class Date: 1/23/2021
Every writer could benefit from a little space and some dedicated time to improve their craft. In this video, we learn how you can get both!
Emerging and mid-career writers are encouraged to watch this class recording in which we:
- Identify and navigate free and paid resources that regularly update opportunities to apply to fellowships and residencies.
- Learn several tips to improve your resume and CV for creative projects—even if you haven’t published yet!
- Prepare for the five most commonly found sections on applications.
- Learn how to develop a creative project proposal that will stand out from the crowd.
- Discuss how to choose and edit a creative sample for the application.
Participants will leave with sample outlines, examples of winning proposals, an application plan, and a calendar of upcoming state and national opportunities, delineated by genre and level of experience.
“Flash Fiction: The Art of the Very Short Story” with Katharine Duckett
Runtime: 2:29:31 Original Class Date: 2/24/2021
Can you tell a story in only 1500 words? How about six?
Flash fiction is both an engagingly efficient literary form in itself and an effective tool for enhancing the quality and impact of your storytelling skills. By playing with the enabling constraints of flash fiction, writers can hone their craft and learn to create unforgettable stories in the space of a few paragraphs. As an increasingly popular form of short fiction, flash fiction also offers many paths to publication, which is discussed in this video in addition to the form’s craft aspects.
“How to Conceive and Structure Personal Essays” with Antonio Ruiz-Camacho
Runtime: 2:39:28 Original Class Date: 12/16/2020
This video will teach you how to turn your own experiences, anecdotes, fears and ideas into compelling essays.
One of the most popular and innovative forms of writing today is the personal essay. In this class recording, students learn to pair traditional journalistic methods and structures with the narrative energy of short fiction and memoir in order to craft compelling essays.
The video focuses on:
- Basic elements and structures
- Figuring out the frame of the essay
- What to summarize and what to put into short scenes
- How structure changes depending on length (800 words versus, say, 2000)
- Expectations of fact-checkers and how to fact check your own memory
“10 Prompts for 10 Stories: A Generative Writing Workshop” with John Pipkin
Runtime: 3:30:03 Original Class Date: 7/22/2020
Sometimes you just don’t have enough time to write. And sometimes, like, say, during a pandemic quarantine, you might have all the time in the world, but you just can’t focus on a single idea.
This video looks at strategies for focusing your creative energy in brief, fast-paced, 10-minute sessions to produce the beginnings of 10 new stories. We will make use of 10 different writing prompts, and write intensely for 10 minutes on each prompt. The goal is that by the end of the recording, you’ll be exhausted, but you’ll also have the foundations for 10 new stories that you can develop later. We spend a few minutes before each prompt discussing structures and approaches to help you think in terms of narrative, plotting, and character. You’ll also be able to take the prompts with you after the video to use over and over again.
