Group Classes

Group classes are held during autumn/winter. Specific information for 2018/2019 courses will be posted during August 2018. Stay tuned.

Basic Elements of Fiction Writing + Workshop

Have you always wanted to write a story but don’t know where to begin? Would you like to learn the basic elements of fiction, including point of view, scene versus summary, characterization, and apply them to your own writing? Would you like to submit your story for peer review in a workshop setting? If so, this course is for you. Beyond the exploration of narrative elements and the workshop element, students will also be given published short stories to analyze and writing exercises to help hone their skills.

The course is comprised of 6, 3-hour classes that meet once per month. Material covered includes: story/plot, characterization, scene versus summary, point of view, and theme. The course also includes time spent addressing sentence-level issues that sometimes arise for narrative writers, such as active/passive voice trouble, over-used adverbs, “wordiness,” etc.

Course Duration: 6 months

Class Dates: TBD

Course Cost: TBD

Class Size Limit: 8 students

Course Location: TBD

Experience

Jasmine’s fiction has appeared in Underground Voices, and The Helena Vigilante. Her non-fiction has also appeared in The Helena Vigilante as well as Montana Mountain Mamas. Jasmine has taught fiction writing for Helena College’s Continuing Education program, and she is a co-founder and co-editor of Montana Mouthful literary magazine. Jasmine currently writes, teaches, and edits through The Lamb Group, Inc., a company that she and her husband started in 2012.

Jasmine did a thoughtful, thorough job editing my book chapter-by-chapter. I had paid top dollar to an editor from the East Coast who promised she would edit my book and provide a blueprint with very specific details as to how to structure my book. All I received back was a paragraph of suggestions which was not at all worth the money. With Jasmine, you know your money will be well spent. Jasmine provided a comprehensive review of my book’s structure and content at one third of the cost. She provided both positive feedback and constructive criticism in a way that was easy to digest. If you want to take your story to the next level, I would highly recommend her for your project.

Holly Alastra