Go confidently in the direction of your dreams -- live the life you have imagined.      Henry David Thoreau

 

    The Creative Writing Program at CCCC offers continuing education credits for courses in fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and creative inspiration. All classes meet on the Pittsboro campus.
    Class and workshop participants will write creatively, read their work aloud, study other writers, and above all engage in a dialogue about writing.
    Beginning and experienced writers are welcome.  Writers of all levels will find motivation, energy, and creative insights in these classes.

Earn a Certificate in Creative Writing from CCCC    Details and Forms
 
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One extends one's limits only by exceeding them.       M. Scott Peck

CCCC's Creative Writing Program instructors are professional writers who have published and taught extensively.

They will help you get started, shape your ideas, be productive, and improve your writing. 

You'll learn the craft and business of writing in a supportive and stimulating environment. 

Summer registration begins Wednesday April 4 through class start date

To register, call Continuing Education: 919-545-8044
Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else.       Gloria Steinem

ONGOING CLASSES

Instructor
Fragile Truths: Reflection and Memory in Memoir. In the best memoirs, authors not only recount events of the past but also convey what they learned from them, translating their stories into accounts that apply to the broader human experience. Through assigned readings, lectures, and short writing assignments, you'll learn techniques for identifying and adding the subtle insights and reflections that distinguish unforgettable memoirs from simple autobiography. This class is most suitable for writers who have taken a previous class in memoir or have the permission of the instructor. Tuesdays, May 22 - July 10, 6:30 PM - 9 PM.  $65

Prose in Progress.  Writers at all stages of the careers benefit from exchanging ideas about their work with other practicing writers.  This class will provide writers of any genre of fiction or non-fiction with an ongoing community of peers with whom to share encouragement and suggestions.  The class will include occasional readings, prompts, and writing exercises, but will mainly be a roundtable critique of work submitted and read by class members. Wednesdays, 6:30 - 8:30, May 16 - Aug 1 (no class July 4). $65

Melissa Delbridge (“…honest, funny, and fiercely Southern…” – Poets & Writers Magazine) has won awards from the Great Lakes Colleges Association, the Southern Humanities Review and the Southern Women Writers Conference for her nonfiction and fiction. Her essays have won special mention in Best American Essays and the Pushcart anthologies. In her essay collection, Family Bible (University of Iowa Press, 2008), she explores themes of race, gender, and sexuality as they impacted her life in the 1960s and 1970s.

Workshop in Poetic Techniques.  This workshop will focus on expanding mastery of poetic technique.  Each week the class will delve deeply into a single poem by a master poet and explore the techniques that make it successful.  Poetic exercises and workshop session on students' poetry will be included as part of class work. Wednesdays, July 11 - August 1, 7-9 PM, $65. Ralph Earle is a long-time Chatham County resident whose poems have appeared in Carolina Quarterly, The Sun, and many other publications.  He has taught poetry workshops at UNC-CH, CCCC (both Pittsboro and Sanford campuses) and the Arts Center of Carrboro.

One-Day SATURDAY WORKSHOPS
Poetic Form and Song. In this workshop, poets and songwriters will explore traditional forms used in contemporary music and modern poetry. We'll examine songs with lyrics as well as instrumentals influenced by a variety of poetic structures, rhyme schemes, or traditional forms.  Each student will choose a form to draft a poem or lyrics.  Acoustic string instruments are welcome. Saturday, May 19, 10AM - 2 PM, $45. Chris Bouton is a writer who works in IT to support her poetry and gardening. Her poetry has appeared in Red Clay Review and will be in the 2012 NC Poetry Society Anthology, Pinesong. She also writes about food and culture at her blog, A Dash of Culture.
Self-Publishing:  Getting Your Writing in Print DIY  This class will outline self-publishing basics, including writing, editing, design, printing, sales and marketing.  It's a great workshop for people wanting to publish anything from family memoir to e-books to children's books, fiction and non-fiction. Saturday, June 2, 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM, $55. Adrienne Ehlert Bashista  owns DRT Press, a Pittsboro micro-press that has published several children's books, a guide to the Triangle for children, and most recently a series of essays written by parents of special-needs children, Easy to Love but Hard to Raise: Real Parents, Challenging Kids, True Stories (Feb, 2012).  You can read more about Adrienne at www,adriennebashista.net.
What, Me Blog? A Social Media Workshop for Writers.  Social media is important for writers.  This workshop will provide an overview of its benefits, help you create content, show you how to set up a free blog, review etiquette for interacting in the media world, and help optimize the time you spend there.  Saturday, June 9, 9 AM - 4 PM, $60. Karen Pullen is a fiction writer whose first mystery novel, Cold Feet, will be published by Five Star in January 2013.  Her stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Spintetingler, and Everyday Fiction.  She earned an MFA in popular fiction from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine. She has recently begun to blog at www.karenpullen.com.
Memoir Workshop: Writing the Times of Your Life.  You will put pen to paper and generate pages about pivotal moments in your childhood, coming of age and transitions -- the richest source of material for memoir.  You'll jump over blocks, get useful feedback, and leave class with recommendations for expanding and structuring your material.  Saturday, June 16, 9:30-4:30. $65.

Strategies for the Writing Life: Part I. A new session of this popular workshop that helps new writers get their bearings in the writing world, helps intermediate writers refine and act on goals -- from personal accomplishments to publication -- and helps all participants find communities of support for their work. Saturday, July 14, 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM, $65.

 Marjorie Hudson’s debut story collection, Accidental Birds of the Carolinas, garnered a 2012 Pen/Hemingway Honorable Mention, and her creative nonfiction book,  Searching for Virginia Dare, was a North Carolina Notable Book. She lectures and teaches at universities, libraries, literary festivals, and her own Kitchen Table Workshops. Her MFA is from Warren Wilson College. Stay up-to-date on Marjorie's activities at marjoriehudson.com, and follow her blog at www.kitchentablewriters.wordpress.com.
Sure, it's simple, writing for kids... Just as simple as bringing them up.      Ursula K. LeGuin