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Athena’s Creative Writing Sequence Information

Athena’s offers a comprehensive creative writing sequence for students of all ages.

Why creative writing? Although parents may be tempted to believe that creative writing is “extracurricular,” creative writing teaches students the skills they need in order to be successful at academic writing, with the added benefit of fun and community support. Many of our creative writers share their nonfiction and academic work in our creative writing classes, recognizing the value of sharing all their work with their writing community.

Find out more about our Creative Writing Sequence below.

 

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Instructor

Suki Wessling, MFA

Description

  • Because of high demand, our Creative Writing courses are arranged in a sequence. However, learning and community do not happen in a straight line! Please be aware that there are writers of all levels in all of our courses. Reluctant and beginner writers will work alongside skilled and avid writers without any judgment of value or comparison of their technical skills. Above all, our focus here is on having an encouraging, open community in which students joke about “writer’s block” because they don’t have to experience it.
  • The only prerequisite to begin the Sequence is that the student should be able to type. WriteNOW Workshop students may have a parent on-hand to type for them during webinar.
  • Click here to read more about Professor Suki’s approach to teaching writing.
  • Find out more about the individual courses on their respective webpages.

“My son has thrived learning at home and his Athena’s courses, especially his workshop courses, have contributed to that success. Though at times I have questioned spending so much of our weekly school time on creative writing, often at the expense of other forms of writing, I am finding that the skills, confidence, and voice that he has honed in the Writer’s Workshop are transferring to other non-fiction tasks that he is now undertaking. I am so thankful to you for the support and encouragement that you have given him.” ~ Parent, Teresa O.

WriteNOW Workshop

  • Half-semester course.
  • May be repeated as many times as desired.
  • Students who have completed at least two sessions are given preference for Writer’s Workshop registration.
  • Brief Description:
    This workshop is for writers of all ages who want to read and write poetry and short prose in an interactive environment. Each week we will read a published work, read each other’s work, and write together. This is a workshop-intensive class, with very few assignments outside of workshop attendance. It suits both avid and reluctant writers with a focus on writing creation and community-building. Young writers from reluctant to avid repeat WriteNOW with success because most of the content is dynamically generated each session.
  • Find out more about WriteNow Workshop by following the links here.

Writer’s Workshop

  • Semester-long course.
  • May be repeated up to four semesters or longer with permission of instructor.
  • Admission preference given to currently enrolled students, students who have completed at least two WriteNOW sessions, and then off the waitlist.
  • Fill out this form to place your registered student on our waitlist.
  • Brief Description:
    Writer’s Workshop is a dynamic, interactive writing environment. Students share their own writing—fiction, nonfiction, poetry, memoir, or anything else they are inspired to write—and support each other in their writing. In Writer’s Workshop we build a writing community: we support each other in creative inspiration, the writing and editing processes, techniques for expanding writing horizons, and analytical reading.
  • Find out more about Writer’s Workshop by following the links here.

Writer’s Seminar

  • Year-long course.
  • Prerequisite of at least one semester of Writer’s Workshop.
  • Admission by permission of the instructor only. Preference is given to currently enrolled students, then students who have completed two semesters of Writer’s Workshop; others by invitation from the instructor.
  • May be repeated up to two years or longer with permission of instructor.
  • Brief Description:
    Writer’s Seminar is a dynamic, interactive writing environment. Students share their own writing—fiction, nonfiction, poetry, memoir, or anything else they are inspired to write—and support each other in their writing. Writer’s Seminar builds on the skills developed in Writer’s Workshop: we support each other in creative inspiration, the writing and editing processes, techniques for expanding writing horizons, and analytical reading.
  • Find out more about Writer’s Seminar by following the links here.

Advanced Writer’s Seminar

  • Year-long course.
  • Prerequisite of at least one year of Writer’s Seminar.
  • By invitation of instructor only.
  • Brief Description:
    In this course, instructor Suki Wessling guides a group of avid, gifted writers of prose and poetry. The students collaboratively create the curriculum through weekly seminars and daily interaction on forums. Students will be encouraged to share resources, create collaborative projects, and share insights into writing and reading. Students will be required to be an Assistant Teacher in one of the other three creative writing courses so they can model appropriate commenting and support to new students.
  • Seminar format:
    • Share and comment on each other’s writing.
    • Required to be enrolled as a Teacher’s Assistant (TA) in one of the other WriteNOW or Writer’s Workshop sections so they can support the other students.
    • Share editorial duties for the literary journal.
  • Find out more about Advanced Writer’s Seminar here.

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