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NYC LEVEL II
This level is for students who have completed 2 terms of NYC Level I and are eager to learn the elements of craft. A short reading is assigned each week and the teacher identifies the techniques used to make the work engaging and effective. Analyzing the technical aspects of the work leads to the assignment of an exercise. Techniques studied include first person persona, third person persona, tone and mood. Through exercises, students experiment with narrative and poetic techniques. Some of the ten weeks are spent revising and deepening exercises from earlier in the term. The students' work is read out loud in class each week, and others comment on it. The teacher, who has been trained in The Writers Studio method, gives the final critique. While Level II teachers may be fiction writers or poets, all have experience writing and teaching both genres. Techniques relevant to both fiction and poetry are taught in Level II, and students may expect to be assigned exercises stemming from works of fiction as well as poems. Students are required to remain silent during the comments in order to better absorb what is being said, and to eliminate the need to defend the work. Students are encouraged to recognize effective writing in other people's work so that they can read their own work critically and improve their technique when working on their own. Another important goal of this level is to help writers understand the difference between a narrator and his or her own self. Students are encouraged to turn autobiographical fragments into publishable work by using different personas to tell 'their story' in fiction and poetry. Open to students who have taken Level I.
“The teacher's comments on the first exercise helped me tremendously with rewrites. They alone were worth the cost of the class!”
—LIBBY JACOBS, former online student and author of Wolf Note (Rager Media 2005)
Where to start at The Writers Studio?
New York City: Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | Level V | Advanced Poetry | Tutorial Online: Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | Online Intermediate Poetry | Online Advanced Poetry
Tucson: Workshop | Intermediate | Advanced San Francisco: Workshop Financial District | Workshop Rockridge | Intermediate | Advanced Amsterdam: Workshop | Intermediate Workshop | Advanced Online | Online
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