The Fairy Tale Factory - September '09 Workshop

Amy Morgan's Fairy Tale Factory in Seattle, WA, has a workshop coming up in September for writers.

But it's not just about writing new fairy tales, although there's quite a bit of skill involved in that. Writers of all kinds should benefit from learning the principles of distilling a story down to a very tight plot then fleshing it out with the right motifs and brief descriptions to feel not only timeless, but relevant across cultures too.

Here's the blurb from the website:

Spend six weeks in the land of Fairy. Learn the basic rules of the genre, plus a variety of approaches to fairy tales as readers and as writers. Study western European tales from the late middle ages to modern times. Write a lot! Writing exercises assigned after each class. By the end of the course you will have written at least one original fairy tale of your own. All experience levels welcome.

Interested? Here are the details:

Intro to Writing Fairy Tales
September 16 - October 21
Wednesday nights (6 classes)

How can you not want to spend weeks absorbed in fairy tales from around the world?

If you're already an avid fairy tale reader (and possibly writer) there's also a "Fairy Tale Factory Writing Intensive" workshop following that (date to be announced). I really like the sound of this too!

Here's the blurb from FTF:

Use fairy tales to sharpen your skills as a writer. This six-week workshop focuses on plot and language. We’ll do writing exercises in class and for homework, each one designed to push your edge in the areas of creativity, language, and story. By the end of the course you will be getting a bigger bang for your buck out of your stories. You will also (hopefully) develop a deeper relationship with language and inspiration. You will write at least one original fairy tale. Intro to Writing Fairy Tales recommended as a prerequisite.

You can find out more about Ms. Morgan HERE and there's a brief, but fun, interview with "Reading Local Seattle" HERE. You can also (and I highly recommend this) read three of her *new* fairy tales. I say *new*, because these tales really do read like something out of a world wide fairy tale collection though they're completely new.

To whet your appetite a little, the titles are:

The Wood Wife
The Owl and the Maiden
The Yellow Bird

And for those of us unable to travel, maybe one day we can talk her into doing an online version of these courses! (hint, hint Amy!)