Author Belinda Anderson is launching a special writing workshop Thursday, Mar. 9, offered through New River Community and Technical College.
Her newest class is titled “Mega March Madness: Chasing Characters.” The community education course will include a new focus on the technique of developing characters before they are seen and before they speak.
“In this class,” Anderson said, “one of the examples will be Captain Ahab from ‘Moby Dick.’ The book’s title is about the whale being chased, but here the reader is chasing the character of the captain, with the author building anticipation for the captain’s arrival. It is a powerful technique for a writer’s toolbox.”
The class is designed both for experienced and beginning writers and may be applied to nonfiction as well as fiction.
Starting Mar. 9, “Mega March Madness” will meet for three weeks on Thursdays at 10 a.m. This is an audio-only conference call course.
Students can attend the class either by phone or through an internet conference call connection (high-speed internet is not required). Class meetings will include lecture, time for questions and participant sharing, and group e-mail follow-up as needed.
Anderson concentrates on character development in her own writing, including the nonfiction stories she relates in an ongoing history series commissioned by Alderson Main Street.
Anderson is the author of four books of fiction. Her literary work was selected for inclusion on the first official literary map of West Virginia, published by Fairmont State University.
“Her characters aren’t afraid to take up residence in the reader’s mind and stay there,” author Gretchen Moran Laskas wrote about Anderson’s work.
Tuition for the class is $75, and the registration deadline is Feb. 23, 2023. Participants will be emailed the conference call number and access code after registering and paying for the class.
Visit www.newriver.edu/community for information on upcoming community education classes or register for the course or contact Gloria Kincaid (304-793-6101, gkincaid@newriver.edu).
Learn more about Anderson and her work online at www.BelindaAnderson.com
