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One-On-One Consultation / Writing Coaching Laura provides one-on-one services to writers who want to work closely with a coach on any phase of their project, whether it's in the idea, middle draft, or the editing phase. She specializes in fiction, creative nonfiction, and environmental writing. Click here to find out more. Testimonial:
After publishing five nonfiction books, I decided to write my very first novel. One hundred thousand words later, I knew I needed help. I asked friends if they knew of someone who could critique and edit my manuscript. One person recommended Laura Pritchett, and I contacted her immediately. I knew within minutes she was the right person for me and I sent her a hard copy of my manuscript Forbidden. Within weeks, Laura had read the whole book, made notations in the margins (good and bad) that needed to be changed, improved upon or simply cut from the story altogether. She was professional, kind and thorough during the whole process. I literally did everything she told me to do...and it has resulted in a contract! I highly recommend Laura Pritchett as a writing coach and editor and will certainly seek her help with my next novel. -- Liz Wallace I love Laura Prichett. Laura read my work with the thorough, discerning eye of a scholar with a doctorate in contemporary American Literature. But her comments were practical, not at all academic, aimed entirely at helping me improve the effectiveness of my work. She offered lavish encouragement that left me with a new image of myself as a legitimate writer capable of producing work deserving of publication (though she pointed out how tough it can be to actually get published——a compassionate effort to avoid setting me up for a fall). I’m a little embarrassed to admit I didn’t get around to reading her work until after her critique. When I finished Hell’s Bottom, Colorado, I could only stare at the wall and marvel at my good fortune. Her writing speaks for itself. Do yourself a favor and check it out. A voice inside is telling me to shut up about this. If too many people approach Laura for coaching, she might be too busy for me the next time I need her. If you’re a serious writer looking for a coach, be grateful my better angels have prevailed. -- Billy Jones It is a pleasure to work with Laura. Her critiques of my short stories are comprehensive and she is generous with encouragement. After I implement her suggestions my stories always improve. During the time that she has coached me, I have published three stories in national and international journals. I wouldn't have succeeded without her generous tutelage. Laura is also a wonderful mentor when it comes to the business side of publishing. She suggests where and how to market my stories and gives advice regarding when they are ready for submission. I can't recommend Laura highly enough for anyone wishing to improve their writing, whether they are a beginning or an advanced writer. -- Rachel Maizes
The exterior landscape can influence and illuminate the internal landscape of characters. This class will explore the relationship between the two: How can the natural world illustrate our characters? How can our characters help us experience nature in new ways? The play between the internal and external can be a powerful tool in creating characters and rendering their experience, as well as incorporating the natural world into our work. Using examples and ideas set forth by writers such as Barry Lopez, Eudora Welty, and Rick Bass, this class will explore how (and to what effect) the internal and external landscapes unite. Through a series of creative and generative class activities, participants will explore how to bring the internal and external together in stories/essays. Discussions are pertinent to both creative nonfiction and fiction. Writing Sex Well Sex is not always good, but it's always revealing! Whether it's fantastic, boring, strange, or predictable, sex is one of the most powerful unions and sensations we experience, and it shouldn't be skipped or avoided in writing. On the other hand, a sex scene shouldn't be included unless it serves a purpose, which is to illustrate the characters and the larger themes of the work. This workshop will introduce and explore some ideas about writing sex well how to direct an honest gaze at this most fascinating activity. With a Nod to the Greats In a discussion focused on practical advice for writers, this class will focus on one well-known poem, one story, and one essay; and each example of "great writing" will include a corresponding craft-focused writing activity. Students will leave with a collection of writing activities designed to assist their own creative explorations of form and technique, and will gain practical tips for stealing (well, borrowing) ideas and inspiration from great works in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Environmental Writing: Changing the World Nature/environmental writing is a growing trend in publishing today . . . . and no wonder. We are at the cusp of great changes in America as we work towards sustainable living and honoring our natural resources. Feeling deeply connected to issues/places demands expression; many nature-lovers seek a way to communicate their ideas/bonds/hopes to a larger audience. This class will look at what contemporary nature writers are doing, how they're doing it, and to what effect. It will be an intense, in-depth look at successful writing (the best way to learn). It will also focus on the application of two of the most important features of nature writing: 1) understanding how to communicate with "universality" --- as in, how to make others care about what you care about; and 2) to relay information in an engaging manner, specifically through the use of story. Using Place for Character Development "Our place is part of what we are, writes Gary Snyder. "Yet even a place' has a kind of fluidity: it passes through space and time. A place will have been grasslands, then conifers, then beech and elm." This course will explore what place is, the basic elements of setting and how they are effectively achieved, and how various authors have used place and to what effect. It will then explore how to use place as a way of illustrating your character's needs/wants/desires. Other
Workshops: Introduction to Writing and Publishing, How a Book Becomes
a Book, Journey of a Writer, Voice and Characterization, Writing the
Short Story, etc. Available for schools and groups. Presentations Fees
Book
groups I love visiting book groups and meeting readers out there. Due to the volume of requests, I find that I'm unable to visit them all, but I do as many as I can (and sometimes it's helpful if you pair up with another group). Please feel free to email me at l_pritchett@msn.com to check for availability. In exchange for my time, I do ask that the group donate $35 (or more) to one of two great nonprofits that I sit on the Board of: The
Rocky Mountain Land Library (www.landlibrary.org)
Teacher/Presenter
bio for Laura Pritchett: Laura Pritchett is an award-winning author of two books of fiction and the editor of three books of nonfiction. Her novel, Sky Bridge (2005), won the WILLA Literary Award and was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award and the Dublin International Award. Her collection of short stories, Hell's Bottom, Colorado (2001), won the PEN USA award and the Milkweed National Fiction Prize. Pritchett is editor/co-editor and contributor to three books: Home Land: Ranching and a West that Works (2007), The Pulse of the River: Colorado Writers Speak for the Endangered Cache la Poudre (2006), and Going Green: True Tales from Dumpster Divers, Scavengers, and Gleaners (2009). Pritchett has published over fifty essays/short stories in in numerous magazines, including The Sun, Orion, High Country News, Elle, 5280 (Denver's Magazine), Matter Journal, U.S. Catholic, Natural Resources Journal, High Desert Journal, The Colorado Review, and others; and her essays have appeared in the books Comeback Wolves: Western Writers Welcome the Wolf Home and Social Issues Firsthand: The Environment. Pritchett
holds a Ph.D. in Literature from Purdue University. She teaches at both
universities and writing workshops around the country, including Denver,
Boulder, New Hampshire, Oregon, Wyoming, and others. Please see her
vita for more details. |