Author: nicko

  • Fall Seattle Writing Classes

    Seattle Writing Class: Tell Your Story: The Art of Narrative Writing You have a story you’re dying to tell, but how do you tell it? This Seattle writing class will help you get it down on paper, whether it’s a memoir, novel, short story, personal essay, travel story or nonfiction narrative. This eight-session Seattle writing…

  • Winter Seattle Writing Classes: The Arc of the Story

    The Arc of the Story: Winter Seattle Writing Classes Readers crave stories. Structuring a piece of writing in terms of a story is the single most effective way of holding an audience’s attention. It’s the secret behind compelling short story and nonfiction writers as well as popular novelists like Stephen King or John Grisham and…

  • Fall Seattle Writing Classes: Revising Your Life

    Revising Your Life: Turning True Events into Compelling Stories It may happen in the shower. On the way to work. Taking a crowded elevator. Suddenly a story idea seizes you. You must write it down! You find a pen and piece of paper, plunge into the story, and write nonstop until you finish a first…

  • Winter Seattle Writing Class: Follow the Story

    The Seattle Writing Class Follow the Story will explore the genres of fiction and nonfiction. The eight-week course will introduce you to a wonderfully diverse mix of writing–personal essays, memoirs, profiles, travel stories, short light pieces and short stories. What are the “rules” and conventions of each genre? How can you use genre to deepen…

  • Follow the Story: Winter Creative Writing Seminar

    Follow the Story will explore the genres of fiction and nonfiction. The eight-week course will introduce you to a wonderfully diverse mix of writing–personal essays, memoirs, profiles, travel stories, short light pieces and short stories. What are the “rules” and conventions of each genre? How can you use genre to deepen and enrich your own…

  • REVISING YOUR LIFE: FALL WRITING CLASS

    REVISING YOUR LIFE: FALL WRITING CLASS

    There’s still room in my fall writing class, Revising Your Life, which is a great choice for those getting back into writing, working on a memoir, or simply honing your craft. For more: Revising Your Life: Turning True Events into Compelling Stories It may happen in the shower. On the way to work. Taking a…

  • Fall Writing Retreat, Sept. 19 – 21

    At Icicle Creek Center for the Arts, Leavenworth, Washington Taught by Nicholas O’Connell, MFA Ph.D. Journal writing is an integral part of the program. Do you have a story you’re burning to write, but never have time to get it done? If so, this is the course for you. This intensive weekend seminar, taught by…

  • The Storms of Denali Book Tour: The Ethics of Climbing and Parenthood

    The McCall Public Library was a great venue for my first reading in Idaho. The weather was sunny and warm outside, with jet skis zipping over Lake McCall, a sparkling sapphire of a lake in northern Idaho. With all the the sunny weather and recreation opportunities, would anyone show up for the reading? I set…

  • The Book as Physical Object

    The book as physical object. Though the number of electronic books continues to grow, there’s nothing quite like a book with an appealing cover design, elegant type and tempting jacket copy. With the explosion in growth of electronic books, such details are increasingly being lost. That’s why I so enjoyed receiving in the mail a…

  • Hello world!

    Writing for Story: Summer Seattle Creative Writing Class This summer I’ll offer a Seattle Creative Writing Seminar entitled “Writing for Story: How to Recognize, Organize and Write Narratives.” This course will demonstrate how to heighten conflict and resolution in fiction and nonfiction, greatly enhancing the readability and publishability of the finished piece. You’ll receive detailed,…