Write-O-Rama
What is Write-O-Rama?Write-O-Rama is a full day of more than 40 one-hour workshops offered by our creative writing teachers to anyone who wants to write. To sustain you as you write we supply you with free food and drink, two open mics and a wrap party following the last session. You will come away with new writing, make new friends, sample Hugo House classes and find fresh inspiration.
How does it work?
Write-O-Rama is a benefit for Hugo House. The registration fee is $45, and the more money you raise, the more prizes you win! If 100 people raise $100 each, fireworks will ensue--let's be clear about that. Registration starts at 9:30 a.m., and the first workshops start at 10 a.m. The wrap party begins at 5 p.m., right after the last sessions of the day.
Write-O-Rama is an all day event, but you can come for any part of it. No preregistration required; just drop in. And if you can't make it yourself, you can sponsor a friend!
The next Write-O-Rama will be held December 5, 2009. Download a pledge form and get started!
What's a Write-O-Rama laureate?
Our Write-O-Rama laureates are our super fundraisers, our writing buddies, our special friends of Hugo House. They commit to raising at least $145, and in return for supporting Hugo House they get access to a blog where they can post their writing and read other laureates' work. In the weeks before Write-O-Rama, laureates receive weekly writing prompts from our teachers, invitations to the Write-O-Rama pre-party and special prizes. It's a great way to get connected to our writing community and get inspired--all while raising money for a great cause.
To read profiles of summer 2009 laureates, click here.
Who can be a Write-O-Rama laureate?
YOU can be a Write-O-Rama laureate! To sign up, e-mail Leslie at development@hugohouse.org
Don't forget the fabulous prizes
Last summer, Write-O-Rama raised $10,000 for Hugo House. We'd like to do it again this winter! Everyone will get their share of Hugo love on December 5, but a select few who bring in the most money for Hugo House will win prizes, too:
o The person who raises the most money will win a six-week Hugo Writing Class.
o The people who raise the second and third largest amounts will each win a one-day class.
o Anyone who raises $500 or more will receive two tickets to the final event of the 2009-2010 Hugo Literary Series and will get an exclusive invitation to a special pre-event cocktail party with the featured writers.
Plus this:
o Raise at least $250 and you'll receive a signed book by one of our Literary Series authors. Plus:
o Raise at least $150 and you'll receive a Hugo House membership and a Hugo mug. Plus:
o Raise at least $75 and you'll receive a pack of the finest literary magazines.
What if I can't make it to Write-O-Rama?
You can sponsor a friend instead. It's easy to sponsor participation in Write-O-Rama online with your credit card.
Here's how:
1. Push the "Donate Now through Network for Good" button below;
2. Enter the amount you want to give--it is all tax deductible;
3. Fill out your donation and privacy preferences;
4. Under "Designation" type "Write-O-Rama";
5. Under "Dedication" type the name of the person you want to sponsor (including yourself);
6. Fill out your credit card information as instructed;
7. Make your online contribution by 5 p.m. on Friday, December 5, 2008 for it to count towards your friend's total for Write-O-Rama prizes and glory.
Write-O-Rama Workshops
These are examples of workshops offered in summer 2009. We'll be posting the winter workshops by November 1.Workshops begin at 10 a.m. and continue on the hour throughout the day until 5 p.m. The times listed below are subject to change.
Ryan Boudinot: Dialogue Smack Down; 3 and 4 p.m.
In this workshop, you'll team up with a partner to create back-and-forth dialogue. We'll come up with a pile of characters; you'll randomly select a character description from a hat, team up and then it's you and your partner in a head-to-head battle of wits. We'll briefly talk about what makes dialogue work and what makes it fall flat with examples from a variety of sources.
Wendy Call: Deep Description; 3 and 4 p.m.
Put your reader there, in the place-moment-environment that your essay-story-poem evokes through your powers of description. Examples from literary masters and everyday household objects will hone our powers of description, which we will unleash on the page!
Lyn Coffin: To Write the Impossible Poem; 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Billy Collins invented the paradelle, an "impossible" form, to make fun of formal poetry. We will study a couple of paradelles and then everyone (using "cheat sheets" if they desire) will try their hand at writing the impossible poem.
Waverly Fitzgerald: Write a Novel in an Hour; 12 and 2 p.m.
Take a novel idea for a ride during this roller-coaster hour of interactive writing exercises. You'll leave with a template for a brilliant novel.
Karen Finneyfrock: How to Rock the Mic; 3 and 4 p.m.
You've written a new poem or twelve, now get ready to rock those open mics. Performance poet Karen Finneyfrock will take you from the basics like how to take the stage and adjust the microphone, to the master techniques like finding the poem's home in your body and compelling an audience with your voice.
Adriana Grant: Cut & Paste; 3 and 4 p.m.
This class will focus on cutting and pasting existing works into new compositions. We'll break fixed lines into new ones and craft the unexpected from workaday prose. This is a great way to loosen up a bit of stopped writing or to get back into the practice using someone else's work as a jump-start.
Jon Horn and Cambray Provo: Stab Bound: Self-Publishing with Zines; 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Whether you're a seasoned zinester or a total newbie, we invite you to showcase your writing in an eye-catching, self-made zine that will be printed and distributed by the end of Write-O-Rama. We'll focus on tried and true layout formats, ways to visually entice the reader and a simple binding method.
David Lasky and Greg Stump: Comics for Non-Drawers; 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
Participants will be shown examples of diary comics and will be given a crash course in drawing oneself as a cartoon character. Handouts and a worksheet will be distributed.
Pete MacDonald: What if...? 10 and 11 a.m.
Life's big decisions and seemingly innocuous decisions can have a dramatic impact: What if I'd said "yes" to that idea that scared me? What if I'd turned left instead of right? We'll brainstorm our own What if? questions, then write the alternative narrative, creating compelling new story ideas to take home.
Cienna Madrid: The Art of the Angry Letter; 10 and 11 a.m.
This workshop will focus on how to write angrily, yet effectively, using more imaginative language than run-of-the-mill curse words. Useful for when you're trying to plot out a good fight between characters or when you simply need to write the ultimate scathing Dear John letter.
Mary Anne Moorman: Truth Be Told on Air; 12 and 2 p.m.
How do you squeeze three generations, two wars and 10,000 miles into a three minute radio story? Radio storyteller Mary Anne Moorman teaches the secrets of southern lore where the art of balancing truth and history is legendary. Memoir now faces communications regulation, and writers must understand what it takes to get airtime.
Paul Nelson: Cover Poems, Postcards and Other Methods; 10 and 11 a.m.
It's like translation. Take a Neruda or Darwish poem, add post-modern slant (speech least careless / least logical) and voila--you have a new poem. Or maybe it's a postcard poem which turns into a series. Just a couple of ways to get your hand (or spleen, kidney) back into it.
Dickey Nesenger: I Sing the Body Electric; 3 and 4 p.m.
From poet Walt Whitman to provocateur Karen Finley, sexual exposure is the name of the game. Specializing in self-exploration, these are just two writers who use sexuality as a tool to break both physical and emotional boundaries. In this "quickie" workshop, sex on the page will be looked at, written about and mulled over in all its incantations.
Ed Skoog: Nonsense Poetry; 12 and 2 p.m.
Poetry, even the clearest expression, is often very close to the edge of sense. We'll fall off that edge and write some nonsense poems, and in the process acquire a new perspective on how poems make sense, or fail to and achieve something more interesting.
JT Stewart: Wishes, Lies & Dreams; 10 and 11 a.m.
Do you write poetry, prose or plays? Or do you want to try any of these genres? Join us as we create two or three genre based pieces by using prompts from these three existential states: Wishes, Lies & Dreams.
Anastasia Tolbert: Thumbnail Poetry; 3 and 4 p.m.
In this class we will take a look at the moment. The second. The instance. We will use real life instances and take the savory small chunks of life to create a delicious 13-lined alphabet stew of poetry.
Storme Webber: Using the Writer's Voice as an Instrument; 12 and 2 p.m.
This workshop will explore ways of bringing text to life through the use of the voice and body as an instrument. We will disrupt rote performance/recitation, write in class and then play with those words using suggested exercises. You'll come away with fresh insights and tools to enhance your performances and readings.
Deborah Woodard: The Mystery of Small Houses; 10 and 11 a.m.
We will write about small houses, furnishing them with our own resonant objects as well as with "guest" objects. Prepare to ask a question, large or small, that you will pose on the threshold of each dwelling. An answer is probable. This workshop is suitable for poets and writers of short prose.
Susan Zwinger: Thinking Out of Bounds; 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.
A short lecture on keeping you from falling into the same old ruts and speech patterns: poets and prose writers welcome. Tips from Richard Hugo, Neruda and others will shake you loose and expand your brain dimensions. Unpleat your mind!
