Dear writers: I am excited to announce my June 12-13 online craft seminar with Amy Ettinger: “Structuring Personal Essays & Memoirs.” Both classes take place 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. PST. June 12 is all about the personal essay. June 13 covers memoir. I will talk about pacing, structure, scene, a sense of place, voice and tone. Looking forward to seeing you there! Enrollment will be limited to 20 students per class. Sign up right here –– info below. Craft Seminars: Structuring Personal Essays and Memoirs With Dan White and Amy Ettinger $100 for each session About this Event June 12: Essay 10 am-12 pm PDT There are many ways to tell the same story. The choices can be overwhelming for writers. We’ll discuss how to structure an essay, from anecdotal ledes to circular essays to braided narratives. Writers will learn a variety of ways to turn their experiences into…
Announcing my spring writing class – April 3, 10 & 17, and May 1
Dear writers — there are only two spots left in the brand-new edition of my nonfiction ‘hybrid’ online course called “Upwellings,” a blend of craft talk, small-group workshops, and on-the-spot and take-home prompts and craft exercises that will generate “upwellings” of memory and creative outbursts on the page. This course fuses some of the spontaneous elements of my “Ideas Generator” course with the traditional craft seminar and workshop. Six spots have already been reserved, and I need to limit enrollment to a maximum of 8, so please contact me right away at dwhitescruz@yahoo.com if you are interested. The courses are Zoom-based but they have a strong ‘analog’ component. The sessions take place April 3, 10, and 17 (no class on April 24) and May 1 from 1230 to 230 p.m. PST. Here is how the course will work: Each class includes a craft talk, focusing on potentials and challenges of…
My spring writing class
Dear writers — I’ve had several queries about my memoir and personal essay class. When will I be teaching this again? When is the start date? All I can say is that I’m going to be back in a month or so — at this point I’m aiming for early April. I’m hoping to have another installment of “Upwellings,” my popular course that involves workshopping and generative prompts as well as access to an instant community of writers. Enrollment is strictly limited (and the classes often fill up quickly) so please check this site starting in a couple of weeks from now or feel free to email me directly at dwhitescruz@yahoo.com. If you’re thinking of joining the class, I’m hoping you’ll have essays and chapters that you’ve been working on and are willing to share. (I also ask for students with a strong spirit of open-heartedness and mutual aid. To…
Updated post: Announcing my Upwellings 2021 personal essay/memoir writing class and workshop
Dear writers: update – enrollment for this class is now closed. Thank you very much to everyone who signed up and expressed interest in this class — I really appreciate it. Please check this site in a few weeks because I hope to teach a nonfiction writing class in March or April, and will share details as soon as I have figured out the scheduling. Stay safe, and good camping to all of you — cheers from Dan Dear writers – are you tired of “thru-hiking” this rigorous Writing Life all by yourself? Would you like to join and instant and steadily growing writers’ community, receive detailed feedback on your work, inspiration for new ideas, and start the new year with creative projects? I have only three spots left in my upcoming nonfiction “hybrid” online course, “Upwellings, 2021,” a blend of craft talk, small-group workshops, and on-the-spot and take-home prompts…
Updated post — Announcing “Upwellings” – my new online nonfiction class in November and December
(the class is now filled. Please let me know if you’d like to be added to the waiting list or are interested in future offerings. ) Dear writers – Would you like to join an instant (and steadily growing) community of supportive writers, have your drafts workshopped, and get ideas for new writings? I’m launching a new nonfiction ‘hybrid’ online course called “Upwellings,” a blend of craft talk, small-group workshops, and on-the-spot and take-home prompts and craft exercises that will generate “upwellings” of memory and creative outbursts on the page. This new course fuses some of the spontaneous elements of my “Ideas Generator” course with the traditional craft seminar and workshop. Eight spots have already been reserved, and I need to limit enrollment to a maximum of 12, so please contact me right away at dwhitescruz@yahoo.com if you are interested. The run of four courses will be held on November…
My October memoir/personal essay class
Dear writer friends – I am back for another round of memoir/personal essay teaching, after sold-out runs in July and September. As of this writing, only a couple of spots remain. The classes run on four consecutive Saturdays in October — (October 10, 17, 24 and 31 — yes, there will be a special Halloween edition) from 1230 to 230 p.m. PST. Here is how it works: Each class includes a craft talk, focusing on potentials and challenges of creative nonfiction. Then we break into working groups, with students who will ‘workshop’ each other’s work. I ask that students in this class come to class with one or two chapters of a memoir in progress, or one or two freestanding personal essays that they would like to have workshopped. This class — like all my classes — places a strong emphasis on mutual support and a lively, convivial group dynamic….
Watch my Catamaran Lit conference video. Plus, information on upcoming classes and writings. (My updated update for July 30, 2020)
hi everyone. Thanks for checking in. I’m dealing with a serious email backlog on my dwhitescruz@yahoo.com account so please be patient and bear with me. It could take me a while to respond. (there’s a lot going on an there are lots of messages in the inbox right now) I just wanted to let you know that I’m planning some early fall writing classes in memoir and personal essay (with, perhaps, a return of my Ideas Generator fiction and nonfiction class) so let me know if you’d like me to add you to the mailing list! You can leave a comment here or just reach out to me via emial My classes tend to sell out well in advance of the class dates, so being on this list really helps if you’re interested in getting a spot. Usually, the classes are quite small (for most of them, I cap it…
Classes, readings, online Catamaran Conference and more: your comprehensive summery update
hi everyone, and thanks again for checking in. I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries lately because of a story of mine that ran in the Washington Post recently about applying the lessons of the Pacific Crest Trail to the life indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic. I wanted to let you know that my August writing class — focusing on memoir and personal essays — is very close to sold out so please reach out to me at dwhitescruz@yahoo.com if you’d like me to register (and I’ll send you payment info.) There has been a lot of advance interest in this new class — I have only four spots left at this point – so please let me know right away if you are interested. I’m limiting enrollment to 12 students. This class is a chance for you to revise, flesh out and workshop memoir chapters or personal essays that…
Welcome to my website and thanks very much for checking in. Here are some updates.
Hi everyone. A couple of things. First of all, I wanted to let you know that my writing class is completely sold out at this point. Thank you so much for your advance interest – – hoping to be back with new classes soon!! Also, thank you so much for all your kind messages about my Washington Post Pacific Crest Trail story. Your messages mean so much to me. Even the comments were great. One of you even identified the fuzzy ant-like beings that kept me company along the trail. I didn’t realize that they were actually wasps, so I appreciate your entomological feedback!! If you’re new to my writing, please take a look at the “other writings” page on this website for some stories and essays you can access. I wrote a book called Under The Stars, which is pretty similar in tone and outlook to the piece I…
Announcing my online nonfiction writing class in June, open to beginning and advanced writers
Hello friends on both coasts and all over the Midwest — I wanted to let you all that I’m launching a nonfiction writing class called Story of My Life, open to students at all levels of experience, from published authors to beginning writers. The dates for the class are June 6, 13, 20, and 27 (every Saturday in June) from 1230 to 230 PM Pacific Standard Time. Email me for details at dwhitescruz@yahoo.com and add you to the registration list. (updated: as of today there is only one spot left. Thanks, everyone, for all the advance interest in this class. I really appreciate it!) Flannery O’Connor once said, “The fact is that anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days.” All of us have enough raw material for a fat book of personal essays and at least a couple of…