Featured Online Creative Writing Workshop

Writing Fitness & Sport Stories by Anne Greenawalt

START DATE: May 19, 2024

END DATE: June 15, 2024

DURATION: 4 weeks

LOCATION: Private Interactive Webpage

FEEDBACK: Weekly instructor critique and peer feedback

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Sports and writing are activities many people do for pleasure or self-fulfillment, but these are also rich areas of personal learning and potential social change. This course is designed to give participants space to write and reflect on their fitness and sports careers, lives, and bodies, and then discuss how sharing these personal stories can create social change.

On a private webpage, participants will have access to short lessons, readings, and discussion boards each week, and have the option to submit up to 800 words per week for instructor critique. By the end of the course, participants will create a writing practice designed to improve their sport performance; engage in writing practices about sport and fitness to produce social change; and/or have a short piece of writing to share with a broader audience.

The year 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of Title IX, which has helped to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion of women’s sports. More women than ever are participating in sports at the school, professional, and amateur levels, but, as the Women’s Sports Foundation says, “We’re not done yet.” This is a very relevant time to participate in a writing workshop focused on women’s sports and fitness, and to reflect on and share those personal stories to create social change.

Anne Greenawalt’s creative writing class was delightful! A great platform for starting or restarting to write creatively. The design of the class encouraged creative thinking through the use of cues, making it easier to get started and eliminate barriers. The collaborative nature of the class encouraged sharing of our progress. ~ Brenda Webber

Anne’s instruction in the classes I took with her on Creative Writing opened up creative writing for me. She showed how to give meat—or if you are a vegan, potatoes—to my characters, the setting, and the conflict. I don’t know if I have the wherewithal or ability, but it’s certainly given me “food” for thought. ~ Chris Smith

The creative writing course taught by Anne Greenawalt was very enriching for aspiring writers. Participants learned how to develop characters, describe story setting, and use various types of conflict to steer our writing. I am hopeful that Dr. Greenawalt will return to teach similar coursework soon! ~ Don Dupes

Dr. Greenawalt provided skilled direction in writing. Class is a long-lasting takeaway for my own work. ~ Cheryl Harmon

I was fortunate enough to have a 6-month museum show that featured several of my mechanical kinetic sculptures. The museum curator requested that a storybook be developed to tie together all of the artwork. After several attempts, I realized that I required help with grammar and developing continuity and flow of the story. Anne listened to what the project was trying to do and what challenges I was having. Her grammatical precision and creative suggestions transformed a collection of 18 individual descriptions into a fun and interesting story. I still use the book today as a catalogue to sell my sculptures to clients. ~ Dave Bowman: Kinetic Sculpture Artist of Salvage Dolls

As an independent author, the decision to work with an editor on my novel wasn’t taken lightly, but I’m so happy I did! I had worked with Anne previously through a short story contest, and her feedback on my story was so helpful I knew she would be the one I would contact for editing my first novel. Thanks to her insightful comments, my novel is richer and deeper than before. My characters are more vivid and my story is stronger. Anne’s feedback helped me see parts of my novel in a new way that has enriched my story and has helped to make me a better writer. I would highly recommend working with Anne. ~ Justin Staley: Web & Graphic Designer

In evaluating Anne’s work as WOW! Contest Manager, I quickly noticed that she had a keen eye for dissecting and polishing stories, so I promoted her to Fiction Editor where she copyedits, line edits, and performs substantive editing in a professional critique. Writers have written thank you letters expressing the value of Anne’s instruction: “Extremely helpful and useable advice.” “Another world opened up to me because of this critique. I know on the rewrite my work will be much stronger because of her instruction.” ~ Angela Mackintosh: Editor-in-Chief of WOW! Women on Writing

WEEKS AT A GLANCE:

WEEK 1: YOUR SPORT/FITNESS CAREERS, LIVES, AND BODIES

There’s a rich history of women’s fitness and sports (even if it’s often mis- or underrepresented in the media). So, we’ll start with a short lesson on this history to give you a better grounding of where you and your stories fit into the bigger picture. Next, you’ll read and reflect on a selection of short essays or stories about other sportswomen’s careers, lives, and bodies. You will then have the option to respond to prompts and to write/journal about your own sport and fitness practices and their effects on your career, life, and body.

WEEK 1 ASSIGNMENTS:

Complete the readings and post your reflections on the webpage. Bonus: provide comments on the reflections of other participants’ posts.
Using the prompts, create a draft of up to 800 words for instructor feedback and critique. Bonus: provide positive feedback/comments and ask questions about other participants’ drafts.
Optional: Draft a sport/fitness goal for the year

WEEK 2: REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN SPORT MEDIA

Traditional media represent sportswomen in myriad ways, often misrepresenting them through inequitable language and images, or not representing them at all. Sportswomen, are however, able to represent themselves by sharing their stories and images in the way they want to be represented through social media or other non-traditional media outlets. So, this week’s short lesson is on the current representation of women in sport and fitness media to, again, get a better understanding of how your story fits into the larger picture of fitness and sport stories. You can then read and reflect on a selection of short essays or stories about other sportswomen’s careers, lives, and bodies. Additionally, I encourage you to respond to prompts and to write/journal about your own sport and fitness practices and their effects on your career, life, and body.

WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENTS:

Complete the readings and post your reflections on the webpage. Bonus: provide comments on the reflections of other participants’ posts.
Using the prompts, create a draft of up to 800 words for instructor feedback and critique. Bonus: provide positive feedback/comments and ask questions about other participants’ drafts.

WEEK 3: SPORT & FITNESS LITERARY MARKET

Literature is just one form of media, but it, too, has a history of mis- or underrepresenting sportswomen. There is, however, a growing trend of memoirs of professional athletes and of YA literature about sportswomen. I’d love to see professional and amateur sportswomen better represented in other genres, too! This week, we’ll look at the literary market to help you see where your stories would be a best fit. I’ll encourage you to read and reflect on a selection of short essays or stories about other sportswomen’s careers, lives, and bodies, and to respond to prompts to write/journal about your own sport/fitness practices and their effects on your sport career, life, and body.

WEEK 3 ASSIGNMENTS:

Complete the readings and post your reflections on the webpage. Bonus: provide comments on the reflections of other participants posts.
Using the prompts, create a draft of up to 800 words for instructor feedback and critique. Bonus: provide positive feedback/comments and ask questions about other participants’ drafts.

WEEK 4: CRAFTING YOUR SPORT/FITNESS STORY FOR A BROADER AUDIENCE

At this point in the workshop, you might have up to 2,400 words written about your fitness or sports career, life, and body. Now it’s time to consider what you’d like to do with your stories. Have they helped you to focus your sport and fitness goals? Could they inspire other athletes to start, continue, or enhance their sport and fitness participation? Would you do this on social media? On your blog? Or maybe even in a literary journal or press? Let’s discuss! In addition to reading and reflecting on a selection of short essays or stories about sportswomen and responding to prompts to write/journal about your sport/fitness practices, I’ll also encourage you to discuss ways you can share your fitness and sport stories with others.

WEEK 3 ASSIGNMENTS:

Complete the readings and post your reflections on the webpage. Bonus: provide comments on the reflections of other participants’ posts.
Using the prompts, create a draft of up to 800 words for instructor feedback and critique. Bonus: provide positive feedback/comments and ask questions about other participants’ drafts.
Optional: Share ideas for how you plan to share your sport/fitness story with others

Materials needed: None needed. The instructor will provide readings and other materials throughout the course.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Anne Greenawalt is the founder and editor-in-chief of Sport Stories Press, dedicated to creating and sharing stories by, for, and about sportswomen and amateur athletes. She earned a doctorate in Adult Education from Penn State University where she researched and wrote about the learning and identity development that takes place when sportswomen tell and reflect on their sports narratives. While earning her master's degree in Creative Writing: Prose from the University of East Anglia, she wrote stories about ancient Spartan sportswomen. She also has a master’s degree in Communication Studies and a BA in Creative Writing and Women’s Studies. As an educator, she has 12+ years of experience working with student writers in all genres. She’s a reviews editor at Literary Mama, and her work has been published with Aethlon: Journal of Sports Literature, WOW! Women on Writing, Chicago Review of Books, Independent Book Review, and more. Engage with her on Twitter at @greenmachine459 and visit Sport Stories Press at www.sportstoriespress.com.

COST: $125, which includes includes weekly critique and private discussion group for participants.

BUY NOW: Writing Sports & Fitness Stories with Dr. Anne Greenawalt (4 weeks, starting 5/19/2024) Limit: 10 students. Early registration is recommended.

For Class Session Starting 5/19/2024

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Notes: Upon successful completion of payment, your name, email address, and contact info will be submitted to your instructor. Just before class begins, she will e-mail you with instructions on how to get started.

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Questions? Email Marcia & Angela at:
classroom[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com

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