Instructor: Lee Anna Jackson
Two and a half hour VIRTUAL seminar
Saturday, June 25, 2022
10:00am to 12:30pm EST on Zoom
$99

Course Description

How many ways can you describe pain in your writing without creating a trite description of tears, heartache, and despair? And yet pain is all around us on any given day. Some of it we bear witness to and other pain echoes through soundwaves from behind our closed doors. Let’s face it, you just can’t write a compelling story without introducing some level of pain to your narrative. 

This seminar will examine the way painful emotions have been depicted in literature, be it emotional, physical, and/or mental.  We will study what works, what doesn’t and why. We will examine, as writers and readers, our responses to a character’s pain and discuss literary theories, including the pure pleasure theory.

We will work together to create ways to illuminate the range of this unavoidable emotion, both in fictional and nonfictional stories, in meaningful ways. And we will also discuss how characters react when survival mode kicks in. This is your opportunity to give life to your existing characters or create new ones. You will have time during the seminar to write and receive feedback. 

Who Should Take This Class?

Fiction or nonfiction writers who are looking to give their characters more depth. 


Your Instructor

Lee Anna Jackson is a journalist, research editor and educator who has written for broadcast television and national magazines, including Essence, Inc., Black Enterprise and This Old House.  She recently received her MFA in writing from Sarah Lawrence College and has a Master's in Publishing from New York University. She taught creative writing skills to students enrolled in Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, the Baccalaureate School for Global Education and SUNY Purchase. Lee Anna is currently working on two novels that seek to introduce Caribbean culture to an American audience.


Testimonials

"Writing can be so challenging and nerve-wracking. Lee Anna's calming demeanor allowed me to feel comfortable enough to write authentically about vulnerable ideas/experiences. She had amazing ideas that helped me enhance my work. She has had a lasting impact on me!!" - former student