SCHOOL OF WRITING
Scott Lax, Director
for more on Scott Lax www.scottlax.com
To e-mail Scott, click here: info@scottlax.com

"Scott is inviting, articulate, inspirational, and supportive. His class helps you think about specific creative problems. He not only helps you with discovering your own voice, but he helps you experiment with structure and revision. His class stimulates your imagination and increases your technical know how. If you are curious about writing,or intimidated by a blank piece of paper, this class can serve as your scaffold. -- Leslie Wake, writer and musician, author of "The Beat Goes On," an essay in the new book, "Letters to My Mother: Tributes to the Women Who Give Us Life and Love"

Fiction Workshop
Fall 2007
(18 yrs and above) Scott Lax $195
Join Scott Lax for a dynamic fiction workshop. Using proven methods of the best writers’ conferences and workshops, Scott will conduct an intensive, 6-week fiction workshop that is designed to inspire you and improve your writing. Scott will give brief talks in the basics of good fiction, such as plot, character, setting, beginnings and endings.

Students will be required to submit works-in-progress in advance of the class, either a section of a novel or a short story. (No nonfiction essays, please.) Your work will be discussed in positive and constructive ways, and handled with the same seriousness and respect with which you wrote it. You should come away from this workshop encourage and refreshed about your writing, and perhaps with new ideas and inspirations.


Literary Nonfiction: The Art of the Essay
(18 yrs and above) 7:00-9:00 pm Scott Lax $195
Join Northern Ohio Live Senior Writer and monthly columnist Scott Lax for a unique course of the art of the publishable essay. Scott will teach some of the tricks of the trade that have enabled him to have more than a 95% publication rate for essays and columns he has written during his fifteen years as a professional writer.

What do editors look for from essayists and columnists? What kinds of topics interest readers? How do you combine your interests with good writing? How do you get published? By the end of this class, you should come away with a column or essay you’re proud of, and which you feel may be submitted to editors. Guest speaker, Sarah Sphar, editor of Northern Ohio Live, will spend one session with the class, answering your questions and giving insights and advice.

The best essay from this class will be eligible for publication in Northern Ohio Live magazine.

Testimonials for Scott Lax and his workshops

"Scott is inviting,articulate,inspirational, and supportive. His class helps you think about specific creative problems. He not only helps you with discovering your own voice, but he helps you experiment with structure and revision. His class stimulates your imagination and increases your technical know how. If you are curious about writing,or intimidated by a blank piece of paper, this class can serve as your scaffold." -- Leslie Wake

"I’ve taken four of Scott’s classes in fiction and nonfiction, and he’s given me a lot of help, motivation, encouragement and direction. He has a gift – he knows writing, but more importantly, he knows people: that's the gift. He made each of us feel special and unique, as well as making writing magical and real at the same time. He allowed me to be myself, whoever that is, but now I am writing!”  Bill Buckholtz, founder of Wild Horses, a rock band; president of Mayfield Village Council; IT Director

"Scott's class is the perfect format for people like myself, who have always wanted to write but haven't had the confidence.  The classroom setting is casual with open discussion about the impact of each individuals work with emphasis on personal revelation. Scott's encouraging feedback spotlights your hidden strengths and nurtures your personal style so with each class your creative output is heightened. He makes it his goal to help you find your own voice. Scott's accomplishments as an author and playwright make him a rare treat to have within our reach as an instructor."
 - Charlotte Harris, 51, Newbury, OH

I didn’t know if I would benefit from Scott Lax’  “World of the Novel” or not, having never taken a fiction-writing class before. To my surprise and delight, I found myself looking forward to each class and eager to tackle the assignments.

Scott quickly established a rapport with the class, creating a supportive, collegial environment conducive to creative wing-walking.  He offered encouragement, practical tips, and a simple but vital foundation in the essentials of quality fiction writing.  I now approach my writing with a deeper insight into how to shape my own amorphous notions into resonant fiction.

Scott’s conviction that words matter is both infectious and inspiring. I took something valuable from each class and each assignment.  And it has definitely improved my fiction writing.
- Kim Wood, 42, Chagrin Falls, OH

As a newcomer to the area, I was interested in trying something new and meeting people. Originally I was unsure of myself and my writing abilities but was quickly put at ease by Scott's very supportive and encouraging approach. Scott is the antithesis of the lofty snobbish writer. His innate creative talents are readily apparent, and he shares them willingly, yet he is very approachable.

His constructive criticism is offered non judgmentally and he is able to push his students to dig a little deeper creatively. He deftly brought us together as a group. Our last class was an incredible culmination of the six week course. As we all read our final pieces, we were amazed and impressed with how far we had come in a very short time. Scott's gentle leadership facilitated that growth. It was a terrific opportunity for self expression and self discovery.  - Polly Handy, 43, Cleveland Hts., OH

" Scott Lax's Creative Writing Workshop was inspiring and thought provoking. Not only did it encourage me to start writing regularly for the first time in years, but it also motivated me to start working towards my M.A. in Creative Writing." – Heather Hall, 38, Chagrin Falls , OH

"Scott Lax shares his experiences and skills in a Creative Writing workshop that inspires original thinking and self-expression. He knows that creative writing is less a skill that is taught, but rather, it's a vision that is shaped, crafted, and honed. With his natural conversational style, he creates a comfortable environment in which imagination flows. He shares tips, tools, and references that enlighten writers of every level and genre – from novices, such as myself—to previously published writers of all ages. He encourages dialogue that produces an imaginative environment in which ideas are exchanged freely. After attending his class, I gained the confidence that led to writing my first published feature story in Cleveland Magazine and subsequent freelance assignments. If you aspire to write professionally, or you simply want to tap into your creativity with the written word, Mr. Lax will help map your course as you navigate the world of story-telling."
—Irene J. Dooley, age 43, Cleveland , Ohio

"Finding this workshop will ignite your writing life. Put yourself in my shoes: After learning the rules of fiction and brilliance of expressing what's in my heart, I am ready to take writing to another level. I look at where I was before entering Scott's workshop and where I landed. It's definitely more than worth it, no question. "
–Bill Nardi, age 24, Westlake , Ohio

"Scott Lax is clearly devoted to the craft of writing, and this devotion shines in the classroom. Each student, regardless of previous writing experience, is treated with the utmost seriousness and respect, which is most likely the reason every member of the class can and does learn from one another. During workshop sessions, Scott use's his own experience and examples from the multitude of literary sources he brings to each class to make teaching points apropos to each and every one of his students, no matter whose piece is being showcased. I took a course with Scott just as I was beginning to contemplate taking my writing more seriously. His confidence in me, his confidence in everyone in that class, was contagious. It was his confidence in me that first gave me confidence in myself."
– Hallie Beth Durchslag, Willoughby Hills , Ohio

Scott Lax taught us to "write for smart people.” What great advice--save words, paper and ink, cut to the bone, and make your writing even better. It's no coincidence that, in a parallel life, Scott is a drummer. Drummers hear the rhythm, create the beat and lead the music. Scott's writing, and the writing he teaches, creates a natural rhythm, a voice reflecting the music of life, of reality. Whatever your experience, you'll come out of Scott's course a better writer. —Bruce Corson, age 51, Chagrin Falls , Ohio

I am so pleased I decided to participate in the Scott Lax Writing Workshop. Writing is truly an emotional and personal experience, and Scott did a remarkable job of teaching and guiding each of us as we strived to discover our unique writing voice. Whether you are a published writer or a curious novice, I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is serious about exploring the world of creative writing and editing. —Mark Doerr, Novelty, age 35, Novelty, Ohio

There wasn't a moment when I didn't want to pay attention in Scott's workshop. It was fun, and it was a class I really understood. It gave me a chance to express my creativity (I've done creative writing all my life), and I was able to hear what others thought of my writing. The class was also nice and laid back, but I also learned a lot. I'd like to take more classes like it, or even take this one again. —Shel Marie Smith, age 23, South Russell , Ohio

WRITING FACULTY

Scott Lax
Scott Lax’s first novel, The Year That Trembled, was called “powerful” and one of “1998’s Milestones in Fiction” by The Denver Post, and “articulate with passion, humor and heartbreak” by The Midwest Book Review. The winner of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference Walter E. Dakin Fellowship in Fiction for that book, Lax is currently senior writer for Northern Ohio Live Magazine. The Year That Trembled, a feature film produced by Lax and Tyler Davidson and written and directed by Jay Craven, was in theatrical release in 2002 and has been in DVD release world-wide since 2003. Lax also adapted his novel for the stage. The first production of it, at University School in 2003, was called “a classic coming-of-age story” by Currents, and is scheduled for professional production by The Fairmount Center for the Creative and Performing Arts in 2007. Lax is also currently writing his second novel, which is set in Europe and the U.S., as well writing a new play that is scheduled for production in 2008.

JENNY CLARK - - CREATIVE WRITING – Jenny Clark received her B.A. in English from Denison University and her M. A. in Literature from Case Western Reserve University. She taught 8th and 9th grade English for five years, and has been teaching journal writing for the past twenty years.

Mrs. Clark’s journal writing classes are now offered at The Fairmount Center for the Creative and Performing Arts and through Case’s Adult Continuing Education Program.   Her nature writing classes are held once each season at the Cleveland Metroparks’ Look About Lodge. 

Jenny's poems have appeared in the Carroll Quarterly, The Hiram Poetry Review, and The Listening Eye. 

“The primary goal of my writing classes is to help my students establish a daily writing practice.  The best way to learn how to write is to write.  In my first years of teaching, my Junior High English students nicknamed me “The Answer Grape.”  I had a favorite purple dress, and I did try hard to have the answers.  But in the nearly twenty years that I’ve taught journal writing, I have learned to present questions that lead my students to write toward their own answers.  Writing practice helps each of us to find our own voice, hone our skills, and become more fully ourselves.

Jenny teaches Creative Writing at the Fairmount Center Main Campus in Novelty, Ohio and at Fairmount's Mayfield Village Performing Arts Annex.