Story Writing Workshop for Photographers

With the divorce and moving out on my own [finally!], I’m trying to rebuild my savings and start teaching again. I love teaching, but put it aside during college to pursue English and editing. Now that I’m not constantly trying to fight for mental clarity through family drama or marital tension, I can do things again! So, here’s my first idea: a story writing class for photographers.

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[who]

Professional photographers are artists first, marketers second. Your first priority is to be invisible on the sidelines of an event, documenting light and intimate exchanges, not networking or schmoozing. But with rockstar photographers like Jasmine Star raising the bar for platform quality, online presence, and blogging, every photographer has to be an amateur web designer and dabble in PR to present yourself–not just your work –in a palatable, glossy, online package to entice new customers.

[why]

When writing and blog post presentation are such a small part of what you do, but such a huge part of your online identity, how can you make your words work for you without slaving over every blog post? How much do you need to write? What’s the best way to proofread? What will resonate with your audience best? How can you write the same wedding story over and over and make it fresh and unique every time?

[what]

I will walk you through the basics of story writing, combining techniques from poetry, memoir, and journalism to give you the tools you need to write compelling stories in your own voice without wasting energy or over-writing. Your photos should be your centerpiece. The two-day Story Writing Workshop will equip you to blog with confidence so you can focus on connecting with your audience rather than agonizing over presentation.

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two-day class: August 24 & 25, 9am – 12pm Saturday, 2pm – 4:30pm Sunday
cost: $200/person [referral discount available.]
where: Gaithersburg, MD
contact me: wineandmarble@gmail.com

bonus!

the first two people to register will get free copies of On Writing Well by William Zinsser,
one of my favorite books.

When I haven’t been here…

I’ve been busy elsewhere!

I was really honored to have Rachel Held Evans ask me to guest post for her on SGM a couple months ago, and she was patient with me as I kept pushing it off to recover from crazy life stuff. I finally got her a draft, she pared it down from it’s original [ridiculous] 8 pages of text, and goodness. What a response. Thank you, folks. 

From the post:

If you’ve believed the lie that your worst day is better than you, the sinner, deserve, if you’ve identified yourself with the name of Sinner for so long it’s inseparable from your self-confidence, let me dare you to believe that you are worth more than that. The New Testament overwhelmingly refers to those who love and follow Jesus as “believers” or “brethren” or “saints.” Not sinners. Saints.

If your experience in SGM was negative in similar ways to my story, please hop onto the comments and tell SGM pastor Stephen Altrogge that my story isn’t unique. I’m not surprised at his response — as a man and a pastor in SGM, you are insulated from the insanity and instead become a cog in the system. Help him see his blind spots?

Thank you, Rachel, for hosting this. Your support of survivors of spiritual abuse is heartening.

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Back in April, my friend Kristen posted on Facebook that she wanted some models for her StoryTime workshop students to practice on. I had the day free, so I volunteered. I didn’t expect what happened next — I met the smart, sensitive, and delightful Megan Luckeroth, and we went exploring the Farm Park in Gaithersburg after talking for nearly an hour over coffee. We found flowers, horses, amazing trees, and got rained on. I loved it. She posted the shoot on her blog this week, and WOW. If you need a photographer in the Baltimore/DC area, she’s your gal.

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(c) Megan Luckeroth