Los Angeles Area Writing Classes

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“You may think you want someone with lots of published books under her belt, but actually it’s more important that the instructor can effectively teach and communicate with students.”  Jane Friedman, acquisitions editor, Writer’s Digest Books

What Students are Saying:

“Pamela Lane is amazing.  She doesn’t just teach writing; as both a teacher and an editor, she combines enthusiastic encouragement with gentle criticism, plus edits and suggestions that improve everything and allow me to grow and write without fear.  I came to her with an idea for a book, but I was an unpublished writer and my idea was not very original.  Even with a lot of improvement, the chances of selling my humorous personal essays as a book were slim.  Pamela helped me create a plan to become published in magazines to promote the eventual sales of a book.  She helped me with my writing, making it more focused, less “jokey” and truer so the reader could relate, and yet it was still funny.  She helped me with my queries so they would get noticed.  And now it has paid off.  I sold my first essay to a major national magazine for a big paycheck and was notified that I’d won a writing contest with another essay (another strategy of Pamela’s) all in the last two weeks!  Thank you, Pamela.  I’m very grateful to you for your help.  You’re terrific.  And I plan to continue learning from you.”

Judy Ross, whose first essay appeared in Playgirl, May 2007 and now has several published works

“The day I made a declaration to the Universe that I was going
to become a published author was the day that I found Pamela’s
writing class. Thanks to Pamela I am closer to this goal then
ever before. As a result of Pamela’s teaching, critiques,
inspiration and support, I have two children’s picture books
ready to be submitted to publishers. My confidence, courage,
and writing skills have improved 110 percent and I have only
been working with her for two months! She is my writing angel.” Meghan Mulqueen, nanny and aspiring children’s book author

“I was fortunate enough to stumble onto a writer’s group led by Pamela Lane. I was so impressed with her professionalism, her organization, the way she kept us on business rather than gossip, and the direct, kind way she managed personality difficulties among group members when they (inevitably) arrived. Her insightful comments were the ones I waited for and listened to the most. Pamela provided invaluable guidance and feedback to me and the rest of the group.  I regret that we have moved away and I can no longer be in a group run by Pamela.”  Sally Klein, The One and Holy Skillet

“Writing tends to be a very solitary effort, though through Pamela’s classes, I am relieved to say I’m not alone. If not for her, I believe I’d still be stuck on page 7. Instead, I am making real progress. She is a gifted instructor and motivator and always available for consultation and guidance. I feel very lucky to be a part of her workshop and look forward to working with her on the editing process and beyond.”  Jenifer Catalano, author

Our Los Angeles Area (Santa Monica) Classes:

If you are lucky enough to live in the Los Angeles area, consider becoming involved in one of our classes as an economical way to drive your work forward with deadlines while getting valuable ongoing feedback.

Our writing classes are a cross between a class and a critique group.  They are an opportunity to set goals, learn technique and have your work critiqued by your peers and by me, a professional writer, editor and teacher.  The goal is two-fold, to make you a better, more marketable, writer and to take your works-in-progress to the next level. Most people work better with deadlines and these groups provide those deadlines, pushing you to produce work consistently.

We keep the groups small, so you get personal attention.  We also work on all narrative and non-narrative forms: from novel and memoir, to personal essay, and short story in the Narrative Group to personal development, how-to, business, health, and self help in the Become an Author Expert class.

The Narrative Group works like this:  Every member of the group brings pages of their works-in-progress, with copies for each member, to be read and discussed.  After each work is read, group members  offer their feedback.  Finally, as the facilitator, I give critique and specific suggestions.  In the narrative class we cover everything from form and structure to character, story, dialogue, writing a great scene, character development, poetics and turning points.  Where do you go next?  What’s working and what is not?  How could you make it funnier, more engaging, or more suspenseful?  Could another word enhance the meaning?  Are you making your point?

Become an Author Expert includes marketing and unique and creative ways to communicate your message in a crowded marketplace.  How do you make your ideas fill a book?  How do you make it visual, instructive and specific?  Your ideas are honed and the manuscript molded to best support your career goals.

This is an open and supportive environment to improve skills, rev-up the creative process, focus the work and begin, complete or perfect your work-in-progress.  Since I facilitate the group, it does not devolve into negativity—our purpose is to encourage and improve, not discourage.

Each member sets deadlines and goals for themselves, motivating you to advance your work.  This is also the ideal place to work on areas you may be having difficulty with:  organization, story arcs, character development, dialogue, satisfying endings, preparation for submission, or to overcome writer’s block.

Writing is a solitary obsession and having a supportive group of fellow writers is an important resource for creating successful work and building careers.

The groups meet twice per month for 3 hours each meeting and the cost is $100.00 per month.  We set the dates based on the availability of the most members.

Saturday Narrative Master’s Class, Ongoing

Saturdays from 10:00AM to 1:00PM – Meets every other Saturday.  This class has 3 openings

Novel (all genres), Memoir, Narrative Nonfiction (biography, history, etc), short story, essay, and will consider screenwriters, however the emphasis is not on teaching the craft of screenwriting to beginners, so we only take experienced screenwriters.  Our emphasis is on story–telling a great, marketable, story, which includes:  structure, character, voice, POV, dialogue, action, humor, drama, plot, scenes, and poetics.  Everyone brings their work-in-progress, as this is a working group and not a lecture class.  Make progress on your goals with the feedback and support or other talented writers and a professional editor. Class size limited to ten.

There are currently three openings in this group

Monday Become an Author Expert, 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM

How-To, Personal Development, Lifestyle, Business, Inspiration, Humor, Science, Health and Medicine.  This type of manuscript is designed to support your business and career goals and can be sent out using traditional methods (agent, publishers, long time to printing) or produced using POD (Print On Demand) and be ready for distribution on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, and even brick and mortar book stores in just a few months. You can update and amend POD books as often as you need, and use them to support seminars, workshops, personal appearances and press kits.  We will develop your ideas, focus your work, get the book written and continue with publishing, publicity and marketing tips.

Saturday Become an Author Expert, 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM

I am open to holding a class during this time slot if there is enough interest or preference for this time.

In my experience, writers who find a good group tend to stay in that group for years, however I only ask that you commit one month at a time.

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