Lynne is the author of nine books and thousands of articles and a marketing entrepreneur, writing coach and host of the Make Meaning Podcast. After working as a journalist in New York and Washington, D.C., Lynne returned to Detroit. She helps authors create writing careers, book marketing strategies and finish book projects. In 2023, Lynne founded Scotia Road Books, an independent publishing imprint for women over 40. Lynne’s writing has appeared in 45^th Parallel, Moment Magazine, Great Lakes Review, Saveur, the Chicago Tribune, Better Homes and Gardens, Midwest Living, the Detroit Free Press, Porridge Magazine, the Jewish Literary Journal, The Good Life Review, Hadassah Magazine, The Forward, Valiant Scribe, Story Unlikely, The Dillydoun Review, QuibbleLit, bioStories and YourTango, among many more publications. Plus, one of her essays was a finalist in the Annie Dillard Creative Nonfiction contest at Bellingham Review.

In this four-week class for writers of all ages and stages, we’ll eliminate the frustration of not knowing what to write about by looking close to home for inspiration. Subject matter is all around you, all the time! This class will help you open your eyes and awaken your creativity to the myriad stories just waiting for you to tell them from your own life and experiences.

Class sessions will include writing to prompt and the option to share work. Participants will be able to submit work for feedback twice during the course. Writers will look at people, place, experiences, memories and more from their own lives, and learn how to write about them without intruding on other people’s privacy, without needing permission, and with a purpose that elevates each piece.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week One: Writing About People In this session we will begin with introductions and build a class community, engage in brainstorming/free-writing exercises & discuss cultivating topics to write about from our own lives. We’ll explore personal writing goals as well as the fears that keep us from writing our own stories. We’ll also look at how to respectfully and rightfully write about the people in our lives, even if they don’t want us to. And we’ll learn why everything we write has nothing to do with anyone else, but rather exists to impart a compelling and inspiring message for all readers.

Week Two: Writing About Places In this session, we’ll find inspiration from the places we’ve been and consider how the details of those places are representative of bigger stories and messages. We’ll write to prompt to generate new material and explore published pieces that do this well, examining them for the nuance and flair that makes them strong.

Week Three: Writing From Memory It’s hard to remember every detail – so how can you write compellingly about an experience you’ve had? This week, we’ll explore how to write from memory, aiming for accuracy with some flexibility for when your memories lack details. We’ll talk about how to research to fill in blanks in your memory and practice cultivating the details that build scenes from memory and read compelling scenes by other writers as examples to inspire us. We’ll write to prompt to generate new material and practice what we learn in the lesson.

Week Four: Publishing & Permissions In our final session, we’ll discuss how to write about real life without offending other people. Not everyone writes to publish, but everyone has the right to share their work with the world! We’ll explore individual goals and the purpose of writing, how to gather the courage to consider publishing pieces, and how to know when a piece of writing is ready to go out into the world. Participants will have an opportunity to share something they’ve written during the course and ask final questions about where to go next to continue their momentum.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Learn how to find inspiration from daily life and create an endless list of subject matter for writing
• Confront the fears that surround writing about real life
• Build courage and confidence to write creatively and consider publishing
• Generate new work from writing prompts
• Harness memory, place, experience and relationship to create compelling writing
• Learn how to build scenes to create compelling writing using details, dialogue and action
• Experiment with structure and theme to learn about narrative arc
• Gain insight into what it takes to create cohesive, compelling writing
• Embrace the idea that writing is 80% revision and learn how to revise with a keen eye
• Submit up to 2 pieces for instructor feedback
• Share writing during class
• Grow a repertoire of writing habits and a written body of work

STUDENTS LOVE LYNNE: