Clevenger Returns for 200 Proof Storytelling!
Introducing The Cult return of Craig Clevenger for an exclusive four-week intensive writing experience:
200 Proof Storytelling!!*
October 7th - November 4th
A Cult Special that combines the vital elements of Craig Clevenger's renowned Hotseat and Shotgun courses into a single, packed, powerful, four-week intensive class - exclusive to ChuckPalahniuk.net
(Seats for this will be limited so...
Keep reading, but make sure to Enroll Today.)
Urgent Update: Sold Out
*Distilled for purity. Bottled on-site.
Within this course you'll get:
- A unique & powerful lecture-assignment combo each week
- Loads of peer critique and interaction
- Direct commentary from Craig on at least two of your submissions
- Ongoing feedback and support
- Straight answers to your most pressing craft questions
- Wicked new insights into a pro writer's trade secrets
Craig's exclusive lectures have been shaped through years of experience and road-tested through previous intensives... these are "road" scholar dissertations that run into the thousands of words but are so engaging and fun to read, you'll be amazed … each lecture charged with wisdom, experience, and insight into the writer’s craft, and carried along by the energy and wit of an author who practices what he preaches.
What’s more… each of Craig’s lectures provides a handful of unique and specific tools that function together as an interlocking set. You'll get a new edge as we put together a genuine toolbox of functional synergistic ideas that work together as a system to strengthen your prose… yet without dictating the subtle nuances of voice or style.
Finally, this is your chance to learn directly from one of our most popular and sought-out authors and master teachers.
200 Proof Storytelling combines the vital elements of Craig Clevenger's renowned Hotseat and Shotgun courses into a single, packed, powerful, four-week intensive class, an exclusive to ChuckPalahniuk.net ... where you'll get the following golden keys:
- Harness the power of Status Play to create Dynamic Scenes
- Transform your dialogue into a microcosm of Dramatic Conflict
- Learn the crucial balance of verbal and non-verbal exchanges
- Explore and create Events - the building blocks of your story
- Overcome the most common problem for all writers: what happens next?
- Master self-editing skills as you examine the weight of each word
What's more, you'll get...
- Loads of interaction and direct feedback on your work
- New understanding of how all the pieces fit together
- Access to the street-level psychology of a riveting Story
- Discover how to tap the driving force between your characters
Craig’s classes tend to fill up within 48 hours from the first announcement--leaving a substantial waiting list behind. Don't miss your chance to join us for...
200 Proof Storytelling!!
A four-week writing intensive with Craig Clevenger from October 7th through November 4th, 2010
Register Today for 200 Proof Storytelling!!
The celebrated author of The Contortionist’s Handbook and Dermaphoria will divide his fall schedule between his upcoming novel and… you. With the emphasis on you.
You’ll get everything that was offered in previous sessions and more…
But first… don’t simply take my word for it…
Read what participants of Craig's previous intensives have to say:
"Craig Clevenger is a stone cold genius. The mental weight lifting, the emotion of his work, and the way he pulls it out of you, with kindness and a strong hand, is truly a gift. With his help I was reborn as a writer: in three years I published 20+ stories, won two contests, and finally got my first novel, Transubstantiate, out into the world. I wrote "Stillness" in one of his intensives, and it's now being published in Shivers VI with Stephen King and Peter Straub. Take his class. I took it twice."
—Richard Thomas, Chicage, USA
"Clevenger's Intensive exceeded my (impossibly high) expectations; I have learned everything I hoped to and much more. I will be poring over written lectures as entertaining and at least as informative as his fiction until every useful morsel is burned into my brain. Extensive (and brutally honest) peer reviewing and critiques from Clevenger himself have really helped me to step up my craft and polish my stories. I've met brilliant writers here who I hope to keep in touch with. You just can't get a learning experience like this anywhere else. For me, it was everything that college was not."
- Casey F., Washburn, WI, USA
"For someone struggling inside his own head to figure out how a story works, the Craig Clevenger intensive delivered on every level. Where else are you going to get unfiltered access to the lessons and personalized critique of not only a published author, but a published author you respect? Who could you learn from best, someone who has a lifetime of theory and no practice; or someone who followed their passion, made it work, and created something new and purely theirs? If you missed the Craig Clevenger intensive, you missed an incredible learning experience. Don't miss the next one!"
- Dave H., Dublin, Ireland
"This intensive has been a turning point for my writing. A price cannot be put on the knowledge and confidence I've come away with."
- Gary L., Middletown, CT
"The Will Christopher Baer and Craig Clevenger Intensives provided me with an array of tools to hone and enhance my writing skills. Each week of both workshops were an inside look at not only the common problem areas of writing, but also the mechanics that make up an effective, solid story."
-Chris D., Boston, USA
Don’t delay... Register Today for 200 Proof Storytelling!!
Comments
Wow, 58 reads and two spots already gone.
Order was confirmed, hope I'm in. Been waiting for this ever since the Anthology Project closed up.
Want.
Can't.
Good luck & congratulations to everyone who takes part!
Glad I logged in before work. I actually have a window of time here!
Just signed up. I'm in!
Yeah, you're confirmed Peter. Tony and Greg, too. No worries. When you complete the order steps, you're registered and good to go. Orientation info will come around by e-mail just before we start.
I'm in.
Dammit, always the same story. I either have the money but no time, or the time but no money.
I will, instead, drink 200 proof something or other. Congrats to you lucky bastiges who get in!
I... cannot recommend that.
man, if i had the money... sometimes i fucking hate living on so little money.
With no offense to any other moderated writing intensive ever offered here - CC is the best. I've taken this class TWICE. I am a better man for it.
I'm in. CC is the guy I've been waiting to take a class from. Glad I finally have my stuff together and cash lined up for this.
Done and done. I don't particularly have all the time in the world for this right now but I'm going to make the time because I've been kicking myself for not doing the last one. Can't wait to get drunk on some 200 proof writing.
Also doing this, did the shortened version last year. Excited for the full treatment.
I was lucky to find out about this, ironically, as I'm working on a novel. I have a lot of questions, so if anyone could help, that would be very kind! I'm new to this site (and momentarily don't have the internet to avoid distractions), but I will join discussions soon.
Could anyone tell me a little bit more about what a "Writing Intensive" is? How many people will be in this intensive? What word length of submissions could CC read, and could they be random sections for a novel someone may be working on? Are those in the intensive supposed to log on at certain times for a certain period of time? Would there be any computer software I would have to get aside from the essentials?
"Intensive" is the word from the folks here at the Cult, simply meaning that the study will be intense. Rather than a semester-long course or a weekend workshop, the intensives have ranged from two to six weeks, with writing assignments each week and participation in feedback with your fellow students.
My assignments are usually in the 1,200 word to 2,000 word range; some are exercises based on lectures, others complete pieces.
Since the original week one lecture from the Hotseat was made public over the summer ("The Devil in the Details"), I won't be doing a unit on the economy of descriptions. That's the bad news. The good news is that means students of the 200-Proof workshop get a reprieve from the infamous homework Hell otherwise known as "The Russian Ark." Ask a graduate of the Hotseat workshop for details. Just give them a minute to compose themselves.
But the good/bad news is that Mark and I were trying to work out a "best of" between the Hotseat and Shotgun intensives, but bring them together in four weeks. As a result, we're going to jump headlong into the heavy stuff with the Status Play lectures... the meaty stuff from the Hotseat that has yet to be made public.
The course works as follows:
Students are given access to a private forum within the workshop forums. After the intros, I post a "lecture" covering that week's topic. There's a short period following (usually about 36 hours) where students can post questions in the forum (otherwise, the boards for the intensive are open 24/7, just like the public forum... a lot of good stuff happens in there between lectures). After I've addressed all the questions, I assign an exercise which students have a certain amount of time, usually a few days (I'll defer to Mark for this), to post their assignment.
Students are assigned peer-review groups within the class to critique each others' work; Mark draws lots to see whose work I look at to dissect for the benefit of the rest of the class. Rest assured, I try to be thorough, but it's not a public flogging. I'm not here to critique; I don't edit, I teach. In all, every student gets my red pen twice during the course of the class.
Lastly, there are two group phone conferences during the course of the month, so as to bring some realtime-osity to the experience. In my case, there are usually some very vocal animals in the background.
Word.
I hope this isn't filled up by Friday! I'm new to a lot of this but this would be an awesome way to kick it off! I wanted to join an intensive a while back and have said that I will join the next one. Since I've joined the Writing Workshop portion of the site, this is the next one.
Damnit! I've got to make it happen!
Congrats to all who make the cut, you've got my jealousy!
Join quick Sephco! This guy's classes fill up fast, and if you've read him or his essays on craft, you'll see the reasons behind that. (I missed the other ones b/c of not buying fast enough.)
Borrow cash from someone til Friday.
i'm in damn it. have no idea how i'll make my next few college loan payments, but ... don't even live in the states now anyway.
Could anyone tell me a little bit more about what a "Writing Intensive" is? How many people will be in this intensive? What word length of submissions could CC read, and could they be random sections for a novel someone may be working on? Are those in the intensive supposed to log on at certain times for a certain period of time? Would there be any computer software I would have to get aside from the essentials?
A writing intensive is a multi-week online class with no limits and no definite meeting times. In a sense, during the time our class is active, it never ends. We roll 24/7, even weekends. Whenever you're awake, log-in.
Here's the thing: we cater to adult students with jobs and lives and responsibilities. And we get students from England, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere, along with every zone of the Continental U.S. So it doesn't make sense to hang up on little chat sessions or other lame attempts to imitate the traditional classroom.
Well over 90 percent of your course takes the form of asynchronous posting in a dedicated private forum. Go away for half a day and come back and there's new stuff to read. You can work with other people, including swapping direct critiques, regardless of how radically different your life and work schedules. That's the way we roll.
As Craig mentioned, we do offer some phone contact to increase the human dimension, but we also make an effort to record those calls and/or transcribe, recap, and continue to discuss significant developments within the forum - so again, you don't miss anything vital over normal scheduling conflicts. It will be important in this class to meet deadlines, but not to conform your life to someone else's schedule.
Craig covered the typical length of his assignments. Let me just add that his ass-kicking lectures and assignments will transform your understanding of craft and are well worth responding to in the moment; i.e., you should come in prepared to generate fresh material. After the class is over and you catch your breath, then you can take the lessons you've learned and revise and self-edit your novel manuscript. That's a much better approach than trying to pass in front of us the fragments of your work-in-progress. This class isn't designed as book doctor clinic, and you'll get much more out of it if it isn't your main objective to get readers to something you've already produced.
Our cap is 24 students, and we're already halfway there in a single day.
Thanks for your questions, and I hope we'll see you within.
VP
P.S. No special software required. Good if you have access to Microsoft Word or the (free) Open Office shareware clone. I regard that like owning a pen.
I'm in.
I need a kick in the ass to improve my craft and produce some words.
Game on.
I'm back, and I'm in.
Sheesh, I've been out of the game for far too long. Can't wait to work with everyone involved!
I really liked The Russian Ark assignment...
Was it just me then?
Wish I could afford to do it again... but then again new people need to get on these classes too.
I signed up... since I have the momentum from being in Vig's class right now.
Is "street-level psychology" anything like "street smarts?"
OH GOD NOOOOO
seats are filling up?
I'm getting my next paycheck next wednesday, so I'll have the money by then. Do you think all the seats will be filled up by then? I really don't want to miss this....
Yeah, man. It'll be filled to the brim by then. Half the seats were already gone yesterday. For those that can't get the cash NOW, I suggest asking someone close for a short loan because I'd be suprised if there's any seats left by the end of today. Like Mark said, Craig's classes generally sell-out within 48 hours.
See you there!
Just to let you know, we've got 6 seats left, according to my calculations... Err, ability to count.
there's so many people doing what your avatar is doing right now kirk. i'm assuming your avatar is freaking out because it's trying to gather money to study under Clevenger.
aww, kirk, i miss the bjork/diddy convo...
[ /threadjack]
Craig has a freakout kitty, too. She lives in his hair, I believe.
Only four spots remain.
I oughtta buy the last slots and auction them to the highest bidder. Would that be too cruel?
I'll be traveling in Europe for the duration of this class, or else I would be on this like the GOP on an inflammatory talking point. Craig's classes are fantastic, so anyone who is on the fence should buy the ticket and take the ride. My writing toolbox is better for them. More than worth it.
Have fun, guys.
oh, man, that would be so cruel. like those ebay hounds that buy up two dozen front row seats for sell-out shows and then sell them for 4 times the price. bastards!
can we have an update of seat numbers, Mark or Kirk?
i'm trying to coerce Berto into doing it. i don't know why i have to coerce, it seems like a no-brainer to me, but yeah--update?
Four spots left. And no, we wouldn't allow someone to grab them up to auction them off.
oh, sorry, Mirka, i left you out of the question. completely unintentional, i assure you.
Oh, I thought you summoned Kirka. My mistake!
i did whisper "Kirka-Kirka-Kirka" to myself as i was typing. maybe that was it?
I'm sorry I missed out on this. The last time I went through Craig's course it was a great time. And I learned a ton and got some good stories out of it. Good luck to everyone who is in. And work hard to really push yourself to get the most out of it!
Three seats left. The first Big Wave came and went without filling us up, so that's good news for three more people late to the announcement or out knocking over liquor stores and so forth.
I believe that we didn't even do a FB/Twitter push yet did we?
Hurry up before we do, kids.
That's true. No big push just yet. So far, this has been more like a whisper to the insider crowd.
see, kids, there's a lesson in this; it pays to be in the with the cool crowd.
I'm excited as a a mited.
One of these days I'm going to go back to living like a monk so that I have Time To Write, I swear.
Stupid responsibilities!
Tuffy, as a full-time writer (unpaid), I don't understand why you can't MAKE time. An hour per day? May get up an hour earlier?
I'm averaging 4 hours sleep a night now!
Incidentally, just announced on Facebook. Byebye open slots! Have fun, all.
Only one spot left
Who will it be?
Kirk, that cat in your avatar is using The Force to put fluctuation in your punctuation. It's giving me the willies. But I also can't stop looking at it.
Damn it, Tuffy! Have mercy. Who said you could put a toggle switch on my Reticular Activating System?