Note: while participants may not get their first choices for workshops, we will take into account their preferences as much as possible. Please see the registration form for details.

About the Workshops:

Scripting the Medium: Building Comic Book Narratives Workshop (Atkins/Beck): A no-artistic-talent-necessary crash course in the world of creating comics, Scripting the Medium will introduce participants to the narrative form and style required for writing in the comic book/web comic industry. The session will begin with a brief introduction to the form, complete with sample script excerpts and panels. Participants will then either create the script for three to four page comic from scratch, or convert a story—or piece of a story—into the format. Areas of focus will include dialogue, panel layout, and notes for the future artist of the project. No experience is necessary for this course, as all information required will be provided in the session.

Memoir Writing: Memory, Identity, and Experience (Obach): William Zinsser says, "Writers are the custodians of memory, and that’s what you must become if you want to leave some kind of record of your life and of the family you were born into."  In this workshop, we will sift through that which makes us who we are, find the significant and necessary, and preserve it.

POV Laboratory Workshop (Scholten): POV (point of view) is one of the most significant choices a writer can make when working out a story. In this workshop, we will improve our understanding of point of view by creating a simple scene and then transforming it by shifting the POV lens. By viewing our scene through the understanding of the different characters caught within it, writers in this workshop will develop a working understanding of the advantages and dangers of different points of view.

Screenwriting Workshop (Steele): Student screenwriters immerse themselves in the special world of myth at the movies. All stories share elements of mythology--archetypal characters and plots. By understanding the Hero’s Journey, based on the work of comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell, students learn a set of design principles for storytelling. Breaking down the traditional three-act screenplay into 12 mythic stages, studying those stages, and learning how to use them to the greatest storytelling advantage, students will take Mythic Structure and begin to outline their own story for a feature film screenplay and write one scene from that outline.

"In the Beginning, there was . . . " Poetry Workshop (Kessler): Every culture has creation myths, ways of explaining the origin of all things, from dogs to diseases, from the weather to the entire world around us! Today, even though science takes the magic out of myth, the power of mythology has never diminished: Ancient Greek classics like Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey spark as much interest today as they did millennia ago, inspiring relevant modern-day retellings such as the comedy film O Brother, Where Art Thou? Come rewrite or even create myths of your own in free verse form, incorporating a variety of modern techniques to bring something new to traditions as old as mankind itself.

Revision workshops (Davison/Cropp): We will learn techniques for revising, editing, and proofreading. We'll give each other feedback in small groups. Then, we'll apply those techniques to the work we created earlier in the day (writers are also welcome to bring up to ten, double-spaced pages of fiction or poetry they composed before the camp, if they wish to revise earlier work). Special attention will be given to the importance of revision in the writing process.

Performance workshop (Bruggeman): We will work on performing your pieces for the afternoon reading, with a focus on stage presence, voice quality, and other spoken-word elements.

Poetry Slam(!) workshop (VLP): Learn how to perform your poetry with confidence--and a little attitude. Experienced poetry slammers from the Vermillion Literary Project (Megan Sinner and Janelle Thornton) will help you prepare to participate in a poetry slam, a competition for poets. (The slam will be part of the 4 p.m. reading.) The fun begins here! For more about poetry slams, see http://orgs.usd.edu/projlit/poetryslams.html