In modern times, we’ve bought into Romantic notions about art.  Fiction writers, we think, are inspired by angst and motivated by the urge to express themselves, which means we must be self-centered drama queens if we ever hope to write well.  Yet novel and short story writing takes tremendous craftsmanship, developed through serious discipline practiced over many decades, an enterprise that demands that we grow and develop spiritually as well as artistically.   

Portland, Oregon-based photographer and artist Fritz Liedtke began photographing as a youth, carrying his Kodak 110 Instamatic on a US tour with his father at age 14. Twenty-five years later, he continues to explore the world, camera in hand. In the intervening years, he has acquired a BFA in photography; won awards, grants, and residencies for his work; shown in galleries and museums across the nation; published articles and bodies of work in magazines; lectured and taught; balanced both commercial and fine art practices; and traveled the world.

Fritz will be presenting his work, which ranges from thematic series on adolescence (Welcome to Wonderland and Quite Normal) and eating disorders (Skeleton in the Closet), to personal observation and exploration (Freckles and Cimetiere), to documentary projects around the world.

Zealous Reformers in 16th century England whitewashed over medieval wall paintings of Christ and His saints in parish churches, writing Bible verses on the walls instead. Now, four centuries later, both whitewash and text are crumbling away, revealing the face of Jesus long obscured but always present behind the words, between the lines. This is what Christian writers are called to do: reveal God-with-us, hidden in plain sight. An essentially contemplative practice, this way of writing invites us into new ways of seeing the “small good things” of ordinary life that speak to us of the holy. There is a high calling at the heart of our craft: let’s claim it.

A professor at George Fox University by trade, Bill’s life-long passion is folk music, and he has performed for decades as a songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. His original songs begin with traditional folk sources and revise themselves to speak to contemporary concerns. In 2005, Bill was lucky enough to have his song “Laughlin Boy” recorded by folk star Tracy Grammer.  Her version received wide airplay on folk stations, becoming the most played song on the most played album that year. 

Do you have a story bursting out of you? Want to learn how to harness that inspiration? Spend a spirited session with award-winning director, screenwriter, TV producer, radio host and author (I'm a multi-threat, sue me) for a discussion on story, writing and filmmaking in the 21st century. Bring your ideas, bring your questions and be prepared to absorb some practical advice that will advance your project.

The wisdom of the desert reminds us to “watch our thoughts as a fisherman watches for fish.” All Christians, but especially perhaps Christian writers, are urged to pay attention to the imagination of our hearts, that we may cultivate what nourishes faith and hope and love, and avoid what does not.  Using a lively mix of scripture, poetry and insights from contemplative prayer, this presentation will explore the riches—and the dangers—of art and imagination in the Christian life, and the importance of choosing carefully  what we allow into our deepest selves.

We’d all like to think if we can just somehow “get inspired” the next great novel will simply flow from our pen. The truth is, though, that will never happen. When we read a story or an essay by a skilled writer it’s tempting to believe that the story simply poured from the mind of the writer onto the page.

It didn’t.

This session will take the young writer into the real world of serious writing, the kind that gets published, the kind that people other than family and closest friends will want to read. We will learn to identify publishable ideas, get those ideas into a first draft, and then work that draft into a finished piece.

There’s no mystery about this process, but it’s just about impossible to interest an editor or publisher in a piece of writing that is not the result of these steps.

So we will do what good writers do: propose ideas, focus these ideas, find the words to present these ideas in powerful ways, shape our early drafts into well-crafted finished pieces and then identify possible markets for these well-crafted pieces.

Welcome to the life of a writer. It’s not for everyone, but it might be for you.

E-reader, schmee-reader. Ink and paper live on when you learn to hand-bind your own hardback books. Design a better home for your manuscripts than your thumbdrive, a  more aesthetic journal than the spiral notebook you bought at the grocery store.

E-reader, schmee-reader. Ink and paper live on when you learn to hand-bind your own hardback books. Design a better home for your manuscripts than your thumbdrive, a  more aesthetic journal than the spiral notebook you bought at the grocery store.

This class is for those who have some experience making books or have taken the “Simple Bookmaking” class.

A survey (and discussion) of various writing and performance styles in Spoken Word Poetry

This lively workshop will introduce participants to the genre of persona poems. Examples, both well-known and obscure, will demonstrate the principles of persona poems, and then participants will have a chance to begin crafting their own persona poems. That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, / Looking as if she were alive. Upon registration, participants can email questions to the instructor (david@kilnscollege.org) that will help guide the workshop.

Part One

Do you want to generate more poems? Then come to this workshop! We will read poems and use them as thought-starters for our own work. We might commit some poetical shenanigans, “borrowing” one line from someone else’s poem to get us started.

Part Two

We will read others’ poems and use them as a creative source to inspire our poems. We will do a “copy change,” keeping some of their lines and filling in the rest of the poem with our own work. If you are having a hard time getting a poem to sound like a poem, this workshop will help!

When is that poem really finished? Or finished enough to stick in the mail? In the process of publishing hundreds of poems in literary journals, Bill has come up with a monstrous checklist—a final revision filter to shove and poke and process each of his poems through before sending them out to try their luck in the frosty world of editorial discernment. In this workshop, he’ll bring his checklist and walk you through it. To make the time most effective, please bring, along with your writing utensils, a poem or three that you think are almost finished, that may just need “One Last Revision.”

In a way, those old formal poets had it easy: Shakespeare never had to chew the nib of his bardic pen over the kinds of moves a sonnet can make—or even where it should make those moves! He had the form to guide him. But it’s much more challenging to figure out the shapes our own contemporary free verse poems should take. In this workshop, we’ll be using some great contemporary poems as models to gain a greater feel for poetic form. And somehow in that mystery, we’ll also experience how absorbing those forms can help us generate great new poems of our own. Please come ready to write.

Participants in this workshop will discover the importance of making nonfiction scenes believable, since the fact that something really happened to the author is no guarantee the event will be compelling, readable, or believable. This friendly seminar-style workshop will provide participants with practical tips and tricks for both reading and writing. Upon registration, participants can email questions to the instructor (david@kilnscollege.org) that will help guide the workshop.

Participants in this workshop will consider what the three classical virtues of truth, beauty, and goodness have to do with contemporary creative nonfiction. This friendly seminar-style workshop will provide participants with practical tips and tricks for both reading and writing. Upon registration, participants can email questions to the instructor (david@kilnscollege.org) that will help guide the workshop.

There are as many tools and tricks for digital storytelling today as there are stories to be told. Learn about how to match a story with the best possible storytelling methods. Learn about pitching great stories to digital outlets like "This American Life," and other new-media outlets. Refine your writing for different digital display platforms, and learn how to preserve the very best attributes of great storytelling no matter where your story goes.

For thousands of years, our history was told in stories orally. These were passed down from generation to generation, many of which survived to become the literature of today. The art of oral storytelling is alive and well in new media, especially in presentations like "The Moth" and local versions in nearly every city and town. Learn how to develop great oral storytelling techniques and how to write and memorize for oral storytelling. 

Unfortunately, all stories need beginnings, middles, and endings. It’s the readers—they’re pesky that way. Yet, setting up a story effectively, carrying the urgency through the middle of the story, and then giving the reader an emotional payoff at the end, is a skill every writer should hone. In this class, we will learn how to engage the reader in the beginning, continue our character development and plot building through the long middle, and finish with a strong and fulfilling ending.

Writing a novel can be intimidating. Not only do you need an interesting story, there are also characters, setting, pacing, and the small matter of 300 pages that need to be considered. But writing a novel is not impossible. This class will look at different ways of planning for and beginning a novel. Additionally, we will study three-act structure—a helpful planning tool for beginning and seasoned novelists—to see how almost any book (or film) can be boiled down to one piece of paper. Of course, the writing of a novel will always be difficult and challenging. However, participants will not only leave the class with a working idea for a new novel, they’ll also have the confidence and inspiration that are always helpful when beginning a piece of long fiction.

The best fiction comes alive, as if it were a movie happening inside the reader’s mind. In this class geared toward new writers, we’ll explore scene writing and why it impacts fiction in such a profound way. Learn exactly what a scene is and isn’t, the essential eleven elements of a scene, and how to decide what to dramatize and what to summarize. We’ll also touch on effectively using flashbacks, managing time and using Deep POV. Instructor is an award-winning author and novelist. Skill Level: New writers and first-time novelists.

A fiction writer’s goal is to write scenes which provide a total sensory experience for the reader. Make your fiction pop off the page with this class geared toward intermediate writers*. Just as 3-D movies propel the action off the screen, your fiction can become more than words on the page. Explore techniques such as using “beats” to paint your scenes, scenic reminders v. chunk descriptions, camera angles, Deep POV, time management and more. Instructor is an award-winning author and novelist. Skill Level: *Intermediate writers will have some fiction writing experience, but not necessarily published experience.

Many people long to write powerful short stories, or even tackle the Great American Novel, but feel hampered by their lack of training in basic creative writing skills.  In this workshop, we’ll look at some techniques that can bring your fiction alive, including how to write an action scene, how to write a believable dialogue, how to characterize, and how to create the kind of conflict that keeps your readers in suspense.  We will also talk about pacing, point of view, and time transitions.  Be prepared for in-class exercises and a wide-ranging discussion.

Writing is an act of faith. Writers not only believe, but rely upon words availing themselves when needed. But what can a writer do when the words don’t arrive? This session addresses a phenomenon nearly every writer encounters: the need to write while simultaneously feeling unable to do so.

Would you like to receive expert advice on landing your first (or tenth) book publishing contract? This workshop examines current market realities, reveals the three most important marketability questions (to give you the greatest competitive edge), and shows you today’s best practices for creating new book proposals. Most importantly, you’ll learn “no fear” strategies for pitching your proposals to top prospective publishers (or literary agents) and/or for pitching your book directly to potential buyers/readers who land on the Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, or CreateSpace.com pages for your book. The fact is, Amazon now is by far the largest and most successful book publisher in the world.

What else do you need to know to be successful? Book publishers have to say “yes” to 21 strategic questions before they’ll say “yes!” to signing a book publishing contract with you. Not all questions, however, are equal. Bottom line: The publisher has to decide “yes!” they’ll love working with you. The three doors to landing a book contract can open quickly if you find the right keys. This workshop presents the “golden keys” you need for book publishing success. True, Amazon’s “new, improved” CreateSpace publishing program has changed the rules. But the same strategic questions and answers about your book still apply. Cancel any other plans. Don’t miss this workshop!

Unless you are born rich, every artist has to find a balance between making a living and making art. Many potential artists find this balancing act too difficult, and give up.  In this workshop, Fritz Liedtke will help you think through, in very practical ways, how to make a life that makes time for your artistic passions to flourish. You will leave this inspiring class with practical tools and insights for creating time in your life for creating. Subject matter will include:

• Revising your life in practical ways: working smarter and not harder, earning free time.
• Evaluating how much money you need to live, and how much time you need for art.
• How to win a 13-year artist residency.
• Making the dream of being a successful artist a reality.
• And more!

Great portraiture is about more than having the right lens and the right lighting. It’s about connecting with your subject and making images that transcend the simple headshot. Of course, having the right equipment certainly helps, and in this class you’ll learn to fine-tune your vision and your technique together. Fine-art photographer Fritz Liedtke will also discuss developing rapport with your subjects and overcoming the fear that so often hinders portraiture artists.

You hear a lot of talk about transparency in government, but if you don’t know what is available and where to find it, it might as well be behind six feet of solid steel. Take your writing to the next level by uncovering a treasure trove of public documents that can give you historical context, factual information straight from the source and even to find addresses and telephone numbers for potential interviews.

During the You Found What? Where? workshop, we will talk about your rights under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). I will show you how to request and access public documents at the city, county, state and federal government level. You will learn how to access and use media and law databases for free, how to find nearly anyone you are looking for and much more.