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Raise your hand if you’ve considered writing a memoir about your courageous, hard-working ancestors and how they came to settle in Arkansas? Or maybe last week you read a short story in your favorite magazine and thought, I could do that! Guess what? The Village Writing School, Arkansas’ only independent, non-profit, writing school, can help you achieve those dreams.
Headquartered in Eureka Springs with locations in Rogers and Maumelle, the Village Writing School is dedicated to helping writers improve. And just to be clear, when I say writers, I mean all writers at every skill level—poets, screenplay writers, bloggers, memoirists, family historians, proposal writers, songwriters, and YOU. Of course, the most difficult part is often getting started. Taking the first step. Ignoring that irritating, discouraging voice in your head.
Question…when did you last brush up on sentence structure, metaphors and alliteration? Ninth grade English class? Why not add a writing class to your bucket list of interesting things to do this fall?
Now, just for a moment, think back to those plucky ancestors of yours…. You know I’m right when I say they would have jumped at the opportunity to do something new.
Director Alison Taylor-Brown, a published author with a MFA from the University of Arkansas, founded Village Writing School to not only support beginning and established writers, but also to help build a lively literary community in Northwest Arkansas and beyond. The school especially welcomes and supports its “silver writers” who are writing for the first time. High school students are invited to attend regular Eureka Springs classes free of charge.
Take it from someone who has attended various writing seminars and classes around the state, those offered by the Village Writing School are unique because of a fundamental reason—the program is comprehensive in nature.
The school offers workshops on all elements of creative writing. There’s a series on developing your writer “brand” and “platform” through blogging and social media. If fellowship is your thing, a regular Thursday Writers’ Night Out includes a meal and program of interest to writers. The school offers Poetry Roundelay and Writers’ Circles for critique, and special interest programs, such as writing for children. Does your writing practice lack accountability and follow-up? Ask for mentoring and coaching.
You’ve heard the saying it takes a village. That expression rings true for the writing process, a solitary endeavor indeed. Whether you live near Eureka Springs, Rogers, or Maumelle, the Village Writing School is that village—a safe, comfortable environment, and the place to help you lure your story onto paper.
For those of you who don’t live near one of the Village Writing School locations, why not attend a class in conjunction with another area event? I don’t have to tell you that Northwest Arkansas is brimming with reasons to visit. Contact director Alison Taylor-Brown today at (479) 292-3665 for additional information about the school.
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