Welcome to Course Offerings! Happy to announce my Spring/Summer 2023 classes! If you’re eager to get to it, you can pop on over to the listings page, though there are important details below regarding policies and registration.
I do want to say a bit about myself as a writer and how my experience informs my teaching, especially for those of you who haven't worked with me yet (hi!).
I have over two decades of experience as a practicing writer, and with that, my share of successes and challenges. I'm the author of the short story collection Back Talk. I've completed a novel—but it didn't sell, and I wrote about that here. I have a entirely different novel I voluntarily put in a drawer before that. Right now I'm working on a (yet another!) novel, and many short stories. I sometimes write flash fiction—shorties, as I like to call them—and essays. I've collected a lot of rejections at this point. I've been in workshops since I was 16 years old; I'm now 44. I have an MFA in Prose from the Helen Zell Writer's Program at the University of Michigan, and a BA in Creative Writing from Oberlin College. Rooms full of writers are kind of my thing. Most recently I've been running those rooms, teaching for Catapult and the 92nd Street Y as well as working with writers one-on-one as a coach and manuscript consultant.
When we work together, I trust my experience but I trust yours, too. I'll offer advice and guidance but I think of my job as teaching you, to borrow from the book Art and Fear, how to work on your work, and how to honor the work you do by showing up for it, and in turn, for yourself. I will do my best to teach you how to trust yourself, and how to ride the wild, sometimes busted, oftentimes thrilling roller coaster of being a writer no matter what stage you're at.
I'm gentle but firm. I'll push you, and my expectations will be high, though by no means am I the sort of teacher who assumes your end goal is a book deal (and if it is, that is great, too!). There's a good chance I'll make you write by hand and try things you probably won't want to try. Sometimes I will be wrong about them and if I'm right, maybe a bit smug about it? I'll make lots of dumb jokes and use my hands when I talk and I'll curse, a lot. I will improve your actual work, and your commitment to it, and pleasure in it.
I'm happy to have you here, and excited to start working together.
General policies for all classes are below followed by descriptions, registration links, dates, and any application links, and live on my website. Please read carefully. Once you've done that, feel free to email me with any outstanding questions at backtalklazarin@gmail.com or reply to this email. I do my best to respond in seven working days. Check your spam folder if you haven't heard from me in that time frame.
Hope to see you in class!
Danielle
Some general notes
◦ Courses are for fiction writers unless otherwise specified
◦ Classes/groups meet on Zoom. All times are EST.
◦ I don't record my classes for absences or other purposes. I do provide handouts and select slides depending on the class. If you are looking at a class and are planning on missing sessions, please reconsider enrolling until you are available for the full sessions.
◦ Open to trade classes: For selected classes, I offer spots at partial or full trade if you are teaching classes (writing classes but other kinds of classes, too; please ask!) I'd like to enroll in in the next year. All trades must be discussed and confirmed with me via email before enrollment.
◦ Sliding scale spots are available for historically underrepresented writers experiencing financial hardship. Email me to talk it through.
◦ Payments are made using Stripe (aka you can use a credit card) and will appear as TALKSOON.SUBSTACK.COM on your statements. For multi-week classes, a deposit of 25% of class fees are required to secure your spot. Remaining fees are due 5 days before the first class. For single-day classes, payment is due in full.
◦ Refunds, minus processing fees, are only available if another writer can be pulled from a waitlist for a canceled spot.
◦ During these months, I'm open for limited one-on-one coaching and manuscript consultations. More details on those services on my website. MFA application prep, with some exciting updates, will open soon. Any new classes will be released through this newsletter.
Group Coaching for Fiction Writers (By Application Only)
Designed for writers looking for accountability and guidance as they move through their work, group coaching offers the support system you need to get your work done — or, often, to get to a place where you can even begin. Whether it’s solving questions of craft and process or clearing aside psychological or practical blocks, these groups are designed to improve not only your work, but your relationship to it in a structured and supportive environment.
During our six weeks together, I'll be your honest, expansive, realistic (yet encouraging!) guide for learning how to integrate writing into your actual life — and how to stay connected to your work in a way that feels meaningful and productive. Together we'll decide on a structure, direction, and set of shared goals based on the interests of the group. Our meeting times will be divided between these agreed-upon topics — such as detailed craft discussions, the realities of publishing, existential questions of the writing life, and stubborn points in process — and a rotating spotlight on an individual group member's particular circumstances and concerns.
Currently, these groups are open to previous students only. A brief application (no sample required) can be found here. You will hear back from me within seven working days if you're offered a spot.
Meets: 6 times over 12 weeks
Option A: Tuesdays, 5:30 – 7 pm EST, April 18; May 2, 16, 30; June 13, 27
Option B: Tuesdays, 11:30 am – 1 pm EST, April 25; May 9, 23; June 6, 20; July 11
Both groups will be filled only if there is enough demand; otherwise I will start with the group with the most interest. I'm open to other times if we can get a mutually agreeable one on the calendar. If neither of these times work for you, but you are interested in this arrangement, please fill out the application anyway, and note as much in the scheduling section.
Enrollment: 5-6
Best for: Fiction writers at all levels who want accountability, community, and structure.
Cost: $450
Open to trades?: No
1-Day Seminar: Creating a Sustainable Writing Practice* (Listed through Writing Co-Lab)
How do you build a writing practice that allows you to actually practice writing? How do you develop accountability to yourself so that you can get the work you've always wanted to do done? In this one-day seminar, we'll dive deep into how to create a personal, sustainable writing practice, one that doesn’t sacrifice ambition or pleasure. Though we will discuss practical approaches, this is not a productivity class. Rather, it’s a course about assessing your needs and constraints (obligations, energy, caretaking, etc.) — looking frankly at what you have and developing approaches and habits to work with it rather than against it.
I'll lead you through individual reflection and planning exercises that will help you take charge of your writing practice so the work gets done according to your own needs, aims, and constraints. We'll talk about how to create healthy boundaries around working time (and the time itself); set up a writing space; and make actionable plans that meet you where you are now, as well as where you will be in the future. Open to writers of all genres with all levels of experience, this lecture-based class is designed to help the writer understand and optimize their practice wherever they are in their life or writing career.
*This is an evolution of my course “Beyond Word Count” taught at Catapult. This course pairs nicely with “Essential Processes for Your Writing Practice” (June 8), but it stands alone.
Meets: Thursday, May 18th, 5-7PM EST
Enrollment: 25
Best for: all levels, all genres
Cost: $75
Open to trades?: Yes!
1-Day Seminar: Essential Processes for Your Writing Practice* (Listed through Writing Co-Lab)
Though it looks great on a movie screen (and on social media), there’s more to writing than clacking on keys. This lecture-based class identifies and examines stages and processes essential to writing and helps you plan your work in a way that lets you see the road ahead with clarity, not anxiety. We'll look at everything that goes into writing beyond typing words into a document, breaking down each process so that you can approach your work with intention, focus, and confidence that you’ve gathered the tools you need and will know the right times to employ them.
Developed for prose but open to writers of all genres with all levels of experience, this lecture-based class is designed to help writers understand and optimize their process wherever they are in their life or writing career. We’ll cover methods for setting goals and for accomplishing work through collecting ideas, drafting (you do, after all, have to clack on keys at some point!), revising, researching, and more, as well as some key assessments. We’ll also talk about how to return to a project after an absence, when to bring in outside readers, and how to know when it’s time to step back from a project. I’ll give key strategies, definitions, and resources while leading you through individual exercises for reflection and planning — all developed to ensure the work gets done according to your ambitions while maintaining connection to your creative spark.
* This is an evolution of my course “Beyond Word Count” taught at Catapult. This course pairs nicely with “Creating a Sustainable Writing Practice” (May 18), but it stands alone.
Meets: Thursday, June 8th, 5-7PM EST
Cost: $75
Enrollment: 25
Best For: all levels, prose writers
Open to trades?: Yes!
Generative 1: Building the Writing Muscle
This six-week generative fiction class is intended for those new to fiction or anyone who needs an infusion of energy in their current practice. Over the six weeks, you’ll gain practice in accessing the generative impulse as well as concrete strategies for spotting opportunities in your earliest drafts. I’ll guide you through thoughtfully designed (and fun!) exercises developed to get the ideas you’ve been holding onto out of your head and onto the page — as well as chip away at the blocks that often prevent us from sitting down to write.
A good portion of the live class time is devoted to writing, so you don’t need to worry about finding writing time outside of these hours. These six weeks provide a regular, accountable writing practice during which you’ll build up (or build back up) a writing muscle. We’ll also devote time to working through any fears or reticence you may have about generating new work so that you can access the magic of writing without the unnecessary and paralyzing preoccupation of where it’s going, if it’s any good, or what it means (yet!). We’ll discuss what makes a scene a scene, plus how to turn your starts into scenes and from there into the building blocks of larger works.
Although we will talk through our process, there’s no workshop or formal work-sharing component in this class. The primary goal here is to strengthen your relationship with starting new work, as well as generating actual pages that can grow into viable projects.
Meets: Thursdays, 5 – 7 pm EST, June 15, 22, 29; July 13, 20, 27
Enrollment: 12
Best for: Fiction writers, all levels and all forms (short story, novels, flash fiction)
Cost: $450
Open to trades?: Yes
Craft Intensive: Reverse Outlining for Fiction Projects (Listed Through Writing Co-Lab)
Reverse outlining is a game-changing process for fiction writers in both the generative and revision stages of a project. In this one-day hands-on craft intensive, you will be carefully led through the method and how it can be used across prose projects. You will learn what a reverse outline is and when to use it, as well as the many ways it can serve your project and shift your big-picture thinking at various drafting stages (which we will clearly define). Additionally, we will talk about what it means to see and work on the level of story.
During class, you will work with 5–20 pages of your prose* to, in real-time, practice reverse outlining, helping you both gain footing on the project at hand and experience with the tools and tactics that can be applied to future work. This course will work best if you are mid-project — beyond conceptualization — of any length.
We will be working through the reverse outline process during class time. Please bring 5-20 pages of a single prose project to the class. Pages must be printed! If you cannot work by hand for accessibility reasons, please be in touch after enrolling and we will figure out the best approach together.
*The course is designed and will be taught for fiction, but the method applies to creative nonfiction as well.
Meets: Tuesday, July 18th, 4-6PM EST
Enrollment: 15
Best for: Writers with a prose work-in-progress. The course is designed and will be taught for fiction, but the method applies to creative nonfiction as well.
Cost: $95
Open to trades?: Yes!
Thanks for getting all the way to here!