PHILOSOPHY

The teaching and coaching work that I've been doing with writers stems from my belief that writing and publishing is a whole lot easier than it appears. When you haven't had much success with publishing the whole industry can feel like impenetrable oak doors and impossible to open. But once inside, navigating yourself around the rooms of publishing becomes much easier.

I've had some good luck in these endeavors and my aim is to help writers move their material toward publishability, whether that be with books, essays or book proposals. I don't focus on grammar, and I'm not into formula writing, but if you're looking for someone to help you say what you mean to say in a direct and powerful way, I'm the gal for you.

WILD WRITING

I teach two types of classes. One is a weekly writing group in Alameda for women. The class uses wild writing as a technique toward telling our stories and uncovering the themes we want to write about. The hour begins with a poem or a theme that I suggest and then we write as a group for 15 minutes without letting our pens leave the page. It’s not about good writing or coming away with finished pieces. It’s about pushing ourselves past the clever stuff and past the making pretty stories stuff. Instead we hope that by writing so quickly we have a chance to move into a less conscious, loose groove where, if we’re lucky we might stumble into the fertile material that lingers within us, conjuring up stories and memories that are waiting to be written.

After we write we read our work aloud. We don’t critique, but instead feed back to the writer some of the words or phrases we heard that resonated with us. We do this three times within the session. This technique, while very therapeutic, is also a wonderful way to jumpstart any good writing project. I start all my writing with wild writing because it helps me get to the chewy nougat of what I want to say. You don’t have to be a writer to take the class, but merely someone who wants to let loose, take risks, push past well worn territory and move into something new. I like to think of wild writing as the stretch before the run - - an opportunity to grease the wheels for all good writing.

Classes are 8-weeks long and meet once a week for two hours at my house and studio. I welcome non-writers, poets, fiction writers and non-fiction folks. Writers of all levels are encouraged to join.

Three groups will be offered, one on Wednesday mornings from 9-11:15 a.m., and the others on Thursday mornings from 9-11:15 and Thursday nights from 7-9:15 p.m. Classes cost $160 for 8 weeks. The next classes will start respectfully on Wednesday September 10, and Thursday September 11th. If you're interested in this class get in touch with me through email.

PERSONAL ESSAY ONLINE

I also teach personal essay writing on-line through Writers.com a wonderful on-line resource for writers who don't have time or an opportunity to be in a traditional school setting. The list of classes available through the site is amazing, everything from screen writing to poetry, to travel writing, memoir and fiction. The next 10-week personal essay-writing class that I'll be teaching begins in mid October. In it I introduce students to the volcanic marriage of real life and fiction, and encourage them to take risks with their writing by telling the truth. Using a variety of techniques such as dialogue, melody and narrative, personal essay breathes new life into the ordinary telling of our tales and students have a chance to deliver their stories with sass, color and voice. I send lectures out once a week and an assignment as well.

If you're interested in this class, log on to the site.

COACHING

I am available for one on one coaching and will read manuscripts, book proposals or essays. I can work with you through email and or we can work live and in person if you live in or near the Bay Area.

TESTIMONIES

"When I work with Laurie she doesn't teach me how to put words together in a cohesive, coherent sentence. And she doesn't teach me how to punctuate. She could, of course do either of these things and more. But when I work with Laurie she teaches me to have the courage to say what I must say. To me that is the greatest gift anyone can give a writer."

Margo Hackett

"I've been writing under the guidance of Laurie Wagner for about six months through her Creative Writing and Personal Essay Class at Writers.com. My first 10 week session I completed 4 personal essays and am now in the process of trying to market them, with Laurie's guidance. In addition, she is working with me on an autobiographical memoir book project. Laurie has taught me the importance of remaining true to my own voice, while choosing topics that challenge me. I've learned that I only really write well when I'm passionate about something, and Laurie has given me the forum to write with spark. Her lessons on telling the truth, using dialogue, writing from the edge and drawing on memories has proven invaluable. Through my experience, I've come to consider Laurie a mentor and a dear friend."

Deborah Bruening

Word-wrangling is not only a fantastic writing class, but a digging, an excavating... it is best kind of therapy because it is self-therapy.The writing exercises are designed in such a way that whatever we happen to be writing about is merely the entry point. Your story, the story you were meant to tell, will always find its way to the surface. That is the magic of Laurie's class. She creates a space that is so big, so wide, so SAFE that anything, literally anything can find its way into the space. It is the moment in my week when I am able to check in with myself in a way
that I have never experienced. You don't even know what's there for you, and then like dreaming, these words and images pour out and show your interior landscape. What a gift. I used to  be nervous about what would come out... if what I said would be too personal, or scary to others, or just banal and poorly written. What I'm learning is that ALL of our stories are valuable and interesting, and through Laurie's guidance, we are getting more skillful at writing them.

Andrea Scher

Laurie is simply the best. No one is a better nurturer of writers than she. At the same time she gets right down towhat's extraneous or needs improvement. LOVE HER!

Nan Becklean

Laurie Wagner is an extremely gifted teacher. Obviously, she's a fantastic human being too, with impressive interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate so clearly that it's almost unnerving. She's a sharp editor who delivers her critiques in a respectful, yet direct manner. I love her honesty and ability to cut through to the heart of my writing. She asks good questions too.... I'm pleased to once again be in a class lead by Laurie. I have no doubt that it was due to my participation in her class, her support and her direction, that resulted in three of my essays being published over the past year.

Jacqueline M. Massey

I thought the class was awesome. The lessons were relevent and assignments flexible. You could write whatever came to mind or stick to the itinerary and Laurie went with the flow of it to maximize learning. Laurie was great! She was able to delve into what you wanted to say but couldn't get your arms around. She made you think, organize, say it succinctly, clearly and get to the point. I also liked that she tailored her critiques to the personality of the student. I wanted blunt, tell me like it is feedback and she provided just that. She gave me what I needed to maximize my learning and growth and gave this same personalized attention to every student according to their needs.

Cheri King

So many classes have teachers that dwell on the negative of writing - it's hard, even harder to publish, blah, blah. Laurie was the exact opposite. From the first session she set a wonderful, open, risk-taking tone that offered much more opportunity to explored uncharted territory and most of all - to have fun doing it. Why take this work on if it's not going to be fun? Her feedback on pieces, mine and others in the group, was encouraging, supportive and helpful. She has a masterful blend of insight and compassion, asking the right questions so that the writer can see where their pieces need clarity. All with sensitivity that understands it's hard to hear something needs to change with our little darlings. Just great. A really unique talent.

Kathy McDonald

This was my first writing class. Laurie's lessons were timely and appropriate, the assignments pertinent to the lessons. I can't say enough about her as a teacher. Her flexible approach allowed me to be the writer I really am, instead of fitting into someone's notion of who I should be -- that someone being me. Her love and encouragement match her sharp editing skills. She taught the rest of us not only about writing, but about offering helpful criticism and editing with clarity. I would recommend anything Laurie teaches.

Jana Allday