Workshop (4 Sessions): Fireflies at Night Flash Fiction with Amber Wheeler Bacon
2023-10-11 18:00 - 20:00, 2023-10-18 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online – ZOOM
Register: patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
A series of 4 sessions: Wednesdays, October 11 & 18 and November 1 & 8, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Cost: $45 per session or $150 for the series
Limited to 15 participants (A minimum of five participants is needed for this workshop.)
Online: Zoom
Writers from Grant Faulkner to Molly Giles have described flash fiction with metaphors ranging from a coyote appearing in your yard at night, making the world a little more feral, more dangerous, to a firefly flickering on a summer’s night, captivating and fleeting. They’re called flash, microfiction, short shorts. They’re the love child between a short story and a poem. Etgar Keret says they’re like Kool-Aid, a partial story that only becomes real once it mixes with a reader. You get the point: flash fictions are things of beauty—short, maybe, but powerful, otherworldly even.
In this class, we’ll study some of the best flash fictions around, from Amy Hempel to Venita Blackburn. We’ll write one to two flash fiction pieces each week and share our work for feedback in small groups. There will be optional homework and extra prompts for each week. The point of this class is to GENERATE, to have fun, to learn something new about stories and ourselves, but mostly to create new work. Small flash prompts, both fiction and nonfiction, can be rejuvenating, reminding me of the joys in small work, the pleasures in a good line, or even one word that can turn a whole story on its head.
It’s a busy time. While these classes do build on one another, it’s also possible to attend only one, two, or three, skipping those that fall on inconvenient nights. Those who sign up for all 4 classes will also have access to video recordings of the sessions. Whether you’re stuck in the middle of a big project or just want to practice writing in this form, come join in and let’s write some fireflies.
This interactive writers workshop will be held as an online video conference call through Zoom. Details for joining the video call will be provided to all participating writers after registering.
A series of 4 sessions: Wednesdays, October 11 & 18 and November 1 & 8, 6:00-8:00 p.m. on Zoom. Limited to 15 participants. (A minimum of five participants is needed for this workshop.) $150 for all 4 sessions + access to video recordings, or $45/session
Student Testimonials
“Wonderful teacher, fabulous course. I learned so much.”
“Amber Wheeler Bacon is a generous, talented, personable, inspiring teacher.”
“I found the prompts incredibly helpful. It helped me see the potential in stories that I would not have otherwise thought of.”
“I really enjoyed all the different prompts, especially because they each challenged me to think in a new way and seek out further creativity in my writing.”
Learn more and register at https://patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Website: Facebook Event Page
About our instructor:
Amber Wheeler Bacon is a writer, editor, and teacher whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in Crazyhorse, Ecotone, Epiphany, Five Points, New Ohio Review, Post Road, Prairie Schooner and Witness. You can find her writing online at Ploughshares and CRAFT. She is the recipient of the 2018 Breakout Writers Prize sponsored by The Author’s Guild and a 2021 scholarship from Bread Loaf Environmental.
In 2020, her story collection was a finalist for Hub City Press’s C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Prize and Moon City Press’s Short Fiction Award. She received the 2022 Lit/South Award for flash fiction. She was a finalist for the 2023 Chautauqua Janus Prize, nominated by Ecotone. Amber has an MFA from Bennington College, teaches at Coastal Carolina University and lives by the beach in South Carolina.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

Workshop: Writing for Your Readers: A Four-Day Editing Workshop Led by Leslie Rindoks
2023-10-14 09:30 - 16:00, 2023-10-15 09:30 - 16:00, 2023-10-21 09:30 - 16:00, 2023-10-22 09:30 - 16:00 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Register: patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
October 14 and 15, and October 21 and 22 9:30-4:00 p.m. EDT
Cost: $2225 for all 4 days
Limited to 10 participants
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St Beaufort, SC 29902
Maybe you were coached to turn off your “inner editor” and this advice made it easier to complete your manuscript. Congratulations! It’s time to celebrate!
“A book is a party the writer throws for the reader.” Wait a minute. Look who’s on the guest list: readers. And hold the confetti! That nifty little quote implies that the writer is the host. Whoa, you’re thinking, throwing a party is something someone else should do. It sounds like a lot of work.
Don’t despair. Dorothy Parker once said, “I hate writing, but I love having written.” It’s true, the fun begins after we’ve written. Then we have something to play with, something to revise. Revision is what grants readers access to the festivities. Editing ensures that guests don’t get lost on their way to the party and provides proper introductions once they arrive. Good editing makes them want to stay.
In this four-day workshop, we’ll reactivate (and even befriend) our inner editors. We’ll examine other writers’ early drafts, try our hand at editing those, and compare our efforts to final, published versions. Instead of worrying where to put commas, we’ll explore where our characters are, what they’re saying and doing, and why. We’ll explore how to leverage key story elements to their best advantage, making the work tighter and stronger. Working in pairs, we’ll analyze and revise our work and share our breakthroughs. By the end of the workshop, we’ll have a clear plan for our “party” and the confidence to execute it.
William Zinsser said that rewriting is where the game is won or lost. Whether you’ve just completed your first draft, or your twenty-first, this workshop is where you learn to win.
FORMAT and COST:
This highly interactive in-person workshop will be held at the Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort) from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on two consecutive weekends, October 14 and 15, and October 21 and 22. Snacks and drinks provided; lunch on your own. Limited to 10 participants; $2,225 per person. Registration includes all 4 days.
Participants are asked to bring a completed draft of their manuscripts. While the techniques discussed in the workshop are applicable to fiction and nonfiction, the session will focus on the editing of nonfiction work for publication.
A detailed day-by-day outline of the workshop will be provided in advance to all registered participants.
TESTIMONIALS:
“Because of Leslie, I am a much better writer. Her guidance and tutelage were invaluable.” —Dan Pliszka, author of Life is Great! (Even if Your Boat Flips Over)
“For my novel, and its iterations over time, I am thankful for Leslie’s sharp eyes and clear-headed comments.” —Karen Salyer McElmurray, author of Wanting Radiance
“Leslie Rindoks is the best in the business. She’s timely, quick-witted, steadfast, and kind. Her mentorship took me from a timid wannabe writer to an author writer with a distinct style.” —Amelia Wyatt, author of Ozzy and the Island and Mind the Gap
“I owe Leslie so much for her knowledge and her intuition as to what makes a good story. She certainly knows her business. In my mind, she is quite brilliant.” —Michael Ambrose, author of the forthcoming Learning to Land
Learn more and register at https://patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Website: Facebook Event Page
About our instructor:
Originally from Chicago, Leslie Rindoks studied writing at Iowa Writers’ Workshop and illustration at Maryland Institute College of Art. She holds a BFA and MFA in design, and an MFA in creative writing and publication arts.
The founder of Lorimer Press and WayWord Books (waywordbooks.com), she has edited more than 70 books. Passionate about combining words and images, she was the lead writer and book designer for LUCK, A Collection of Facts, Fiction, Incantations & Verse and her work was featured in Far From the Centers of Ambition and 100 Love Notes. Writing as Avery Caswell, she is the author of the story collection MotherLoad and the novels Salvation and Dry Spell. (averycaswell.com)

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.
