Learning Events for 2008
DATE GENRE/TITLE
Sat, April 26 The Pinocchio Effect : Darnell Arnoult
The Heart of Character Development
Sat, Aug 16 Poetry/Prompts and Challenges Bill Brown
April 26 - What does it mean to build a character? It means to take a vague notion of an unreal person,
a mannequin, something unclear, undressed, static, indistinct, fuzzy, wooden, and transform that
unclear thing into something clear, definite, vivid, alert, and aliveinto something with a will and a set
of choices and unlimited accountability. How does one begin with a two dimensional medium (paper),
take a wand (pen) in hand, and “abracadabra,” make a three dimensional person come alive in the
writer’s mind and the mind of an unknown reader across a bridge of time and space, a bridge you
cannot even see (imagination and words)? It is magic. Not smoke and mirrors, but real bona fide
magic that comes down to knowing where to look as a character comes into focus, how to listen
when a character begins to speak, what to pay attention to as the character gives you information
that only the character can know, at a level so specific that there is no margin for vagueness, no
place for fuzzy, no room for anything other than what is real. Join us in this workshop on character
development as we move from fuzzy to finely wrought, because where there’s a finely wrought character
there's a story.
**Darnell Arnoult is a writer and teacher. She leads writing workshops at several venues, including
two current Extended Novel Workshops for Learning Events. Her first novel, Sufficient Grace, was
released in June, 2006, to rave reviews.
August 16 - Bill will fill our day with prompts, challenges and writing opportunities. Participants will receive
positive critiques and comments, peer reaction and enough started, partial, or “nearly finished” poems to
keep us busy for weeks.
**Bill Brown leads workshops for TMW, TWA, Learning Events, and other writing
groups all over the Southeast. He has published six collections of poems: Holding On By Letting Go,
What the Night Told Me, The Art of Dying, The Gods of Little Pleasures,
Yesterday’s Hay and Tatters.
All workshops will be held in the former Orr Mountain Winery building between
Sweetwater and Madisonville, Tennessee, 1.3 miles off Hwy 68.
Coffee, hot tea, soft drinks, water will be available at 9:15 a.m., morning sessions start at 9:30 a.m.,
lunch break from 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., afternoon sessions from 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Registration
fee is $75.00. Lunch is provided. Workshop groups are limited to 15.
These are writing workshops. Come with pens, pencils, lots of paper and eager minds!
** Please e-mail Sue at theorrs@usit.net or call 423-420-1152 if you plan to attend.**
REGISTRATION FORM FORM
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Name__________________________
Address_______________________
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Check to Sue Richardson Orr enclosed for _____________
Mail to: Sue Richardson Orr
359 Pumpkin Hollow Rd
Madisonville, TN 37354