- The first week--Introduction to the class along with an assignment for each student to return to me three short story ideas along a specifically guided worksheet. Together we will determine the best of the ideas for a continuation of the story with an emphasis on the development of the character in the piece.
- The second week-along with a character worksheet and a short lesson on developing a full physical back ground on the main character[s] in the story the student will write for review and critique the setting and an introduction to their character[s] for the beginning of the story.
- The third week - will bring the student into the conflict of the story as he or she learns how to integrate and strengthen the main character through an evolving relationship with the other characters and with the plot of the story. I will review and critique each student individually as their story progresses. The character is fleshed out on the emotional and spiritual levels as he/she begins to come to grips with the problem that exists and the solution he/she must face.
- The fourth week - the student will continue on to the climax and the ending of the story bringing a final and satisfying resolution to the plot as the character[s] uses the intellect along with the reasoning abilities of the characters. The student will see how the utilization of all four of these dimensions makes their character strong, real and universal to the reader.
- The fifth week - the student will present to me a full story with characters that draw in and create an emotional response for the reader. I will do a full critique so that the student has a completed story ready for publication at the end of the class.
The class will be run through emails and utilization of the chat room and student files.
Registration: Starts August 16- September 13; January 10-February 7; April 11-May 9 (If you have another specific time frame required, contact instructor)
Workshop Duration: 5 weeks
Tuition: $49.00
Private Mentoring: $35
Dorry Catherine Pease
Retired Educator/Published Author
Member: WSJC Writing Group
St. Louis Writers Guild
On the Edge Poetry Group
Saturday Writers
Online Workshops, Critiques and Edit Service
Dorry Pease: Dorry Catherine Pease is a native of upstate New York. After graduating from New York State University at Brockport with a degree in Elementary Education and a second in Secondary Education in Social Sciences, she continued her educational ventures with graduate work in Creative Journalistic Writing and Adolescent Psychology with completion courses at St. Louis University in 1989. Via San Diego, CA., she and her husband, Robert, moved to the St. Louis, Missouri area in the spring of 1982 where she now lives on a mini farm complete with dogs, chickens, rabbits, a goose named Lucky and several goslings.
Dorry retired from the Educational field in 2001 after thirty-eight plus years working with young people as a teacher, counselor and administrator. With time to focus on her own goals, Dorry has devoted herself to her love of writing and to the education of others in the writing field and has become a moving force in the writing groups of Jefferson County and Metro St. Louis. Visit my website: www.dcatherinewritersweb.org
Vice President of The Writers' Society of Jefferson County [WSJC], a member of St. Louis Writers Guild and Saturday Writers of St. Peters, Dorry also contributes her time as moderator of the WSJC Third Saturday Writers Network, moderates two online writing groups and operates her own personal online critique and editing service for writers worldwide.
Dorry has taught online writing classes on Marketing and presents writing workshops locally on such topics as: The Five Basic Avenues to Show, Just What IS Creative Nonfiction and Engage Your Audience: Show Don't Tell.
Published in fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction, Dorry also freelances for online writing magazines. Her writings have appeared in such places as The Writer, Visions: A Resource for Writers, Vision: A Professional Magazine for Universities, Country Magazine, Canine Courage and Long Ridge Writing Institute among others.
Dorry's writing credits also include published fictional stories, Along Came Cat, Cemetery Dance, and Marcie's Choice, poetry in the Missouri State Poetry Chapter "On the Edge" Anthology of 2005 and 2006. Creative Nonfiction, one of Dorry's favorite genres, includes, among others, her publications, The Christmas Gift, Poindexter and the Christmas Ornament, and Memories of My Mom.
Recently, Dorry received notification from the family of Senator John Edwards that his book, Home: The Blueprint of Our Lives: HarperCollins Publishing, will carry the personal essay of her family home in Coventry, New York as a part of its impressive and eclectic mix of contributors from across the nation.
Dorry's personal goal, to write the love story of her grandparents as told through two years of letters shared from 1904-1906, started this summer after acceptance to a pilot novel book writing course through Long Ridge Writing Institute in Connecticut. Her research and novel work will take her back to the Adirondack Mountains in New York as she explores the paths her grandparents took to a marriage and a love that lasted for seventy-two years.
Who IS That Person? Developing Four Dimensional Characters.
Instructor: Dorry Pease
