THE MANHATTAN WRITERS' DEN

My name is Mary Carter, and I followed Jerry Cleaver's unique Writers' Loft course when I was writing my first novel. It was published in 2006 and since then I have published 6 more novels and three novellas. My work has been translated into 7 languages, and my anthologized novellas were New York Times Bestsellers for several weeks in a row.

The Writers' Loft has been turning out published authors like me for decades... but you don't have to go to Chicago to learn what I learned, because I'm sharing all of it, here at The Manhattan Writers' Den!

GET SOLUTIONS to these and any other writing problems at The Manhattan Writers' Den. Because the right guidance and coaching is crucial to a writer's success, Mary Carter presents Jerry Cleaver's unique course:

A workshop series designed to give writers of all levels the crucial skills that make every story and every writer a success. Learn everything you need to unlock your imagination and bring your ideas to life on the page, stage, or screen.

MORE THAN A WORKSHOP, The Manhattan Writers' Den is a writer's community. It's a place for you to be with other writers, have your work presented, and get the support, guidance, and coaching you need to write successfully in all genres and all media, including novels, short stories, screenplays, stage plays, biography, memoir, nonfiction. Plus it is a place to get insider help and advice on how to market your work and how to make those all-important connections to agents, editors, and publishers.

The Writers' Den is located in a beautiful brownstone on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. West 78th between Amsterdam and Columbus. Exact location will be given to those who register for the Trial class.

When

Next workshop: ONGOING 6-WEEK PRIVATE AND GROUP SESSIONS. Email for schedule. Visa and MasterCard accepted. Monthly payment plan available.

All workshops are completely guaranteed. That means that if, at any time for any reason, you're not satisfied, you're entitled to a full refund — so you won't be risking your money in any way.

• Author of St. Martin's Press' five-star, best selling book Immediate Fiction.
• Teacher, writing coach, and creator of The Writers' Loft, Chicago's most successful writers' workshop for the last twenty years.
• Creativity specialist. He's spent the last thirty years studying the creative process, writing, and the teaching of writing to uncover the fundamentals that make every writer and every story work.
• Teacher of Professional Fiction at Northwestern University for ten years.
• Teacher of special seminars for Writer's Digest, published articles in the Writer's Digest Magazine, and featured in the Writer's Digest Yearbook.
• Creator of the worldwide "Write Your Novel Now" online course (students in Alaska, New Zealand, Turkey, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Ireland, England, Canada, India),
• Creator and leader of the Fiction Writing for Lawyers seminar series.
• Author — published in various magazines, and ghostwritten for several books.

Fine, but is Jerry's workshop any good and how can you tell?

Read Jerry's recent article in Writer's Digest... (PDF, 318 k)

You may have never had a workshop and may have little or no idea what to look for. Or you may have had a workshop or two or even a bunch and still not be sure what you need and what works. Or you may feel you know what you need, but how can you tell if that's what you'll get from any particular workshop? What is the best way to choose? What's the best measure of a workshop's effectiveness? If your goal is to be a successful writer, then only one thing matters: Results. Learning the right skills to get you there as quickly and as painlessly as possible. And that can only be measured by the accomplishments of the students who have studied at that workshop. What are the accomplishments of those who have worked with Jerry Cleaver and studied at The Writers' Loft? Here are a few:

"I recommend it to everyone who writes."
Linda Lael Miller, author of eight New York Times bestsellers. Over 12 million books in print.

"The best there is."
Michael Harvey, Emmy winner, Academy Award nominee for best screenplay for Eyewitness.

"Without Jerry I never would have published at all."
Josh Landsman, playwright, author of Frank Talk About Matters Big and Small (Organic Theatre, Chicago).

"A powerful motivator."
Laura Caldwell, author of Burning the Map and A Clean Slate (Red Dress Ink), The Year of Living Famously (November, 2004), Look Closely (June, 2005).

"Simply brilliant. Brilliantly simple."
Donal Harding, author of The Leaving Summer (Wm Morrow) and winner of the Paris Afton Bonds Screenplay Award.

"The best storyman ever."
Jane Leder, author of Brothers and Sisters (St. Martins - nonfiction) and Dead Serious (Atheneum - nonfiction - rated one of the top ten books of the year by The National Library Board).

"Demystifies the story process."
Michele Fitzsimmons, winner of $7,000 Illinois Arts Council Award for 21 pages of The Writers' Loft in-class writing.

"Better than all my English and writing classes combined."
Donald Catherall, author of Back from the Brink (Bantam).

"Simply the best workshop ever."
Nicole Hollander, nationally syndicated cartoonist, creator of Sylvia.

Here are some endorsements from those who have the expertise to know:

"Plainly gifted."
C. Michael Curtis, senior editor of
The Atlantic Monthly.

"A true story master."
Bernard Sabath, Broadway playwright, author of The Boys in Autumn, starring George C. Scott and
John Cullum.

"Jerry proves there is method to this madness."
Tim Kazurinsky, Saturday Night Live writer and performer, screenwriter for About Last Night (Tri Star), For Keeps (Tri Star), and The Cherokee Kid, HBO special.

"Stretches your limits."
Bob Condor, Columnist, Chicago Tribune.

• SIX WORKSHOP SESSIONS. Each session meets from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM. Each class consists of three things:
  
  
  1. Specific story techniques presented and explored through examples and discussion.
  2. Presentation of in-class writing with feedback and coaching using innovative feedback techniques. Mary reads your writing to the class, anonymously, so no one is put on the spot or forced to present their own writing.
  3. In-class writing. The last half hour is committed to writing, using your own idea or one of the dramatic setups provided.
  Each class ends with this half hour of writing to put you into the process of writing, get you loosened up, and create some momentum that will carry over to the outside. One Writers' Loft student took a class exercise and expanded it into a novel (The Leaving Summer by Donal Harding) that was published by William Morrow. Another student entered 21 pages of her in-class writing in the Illinois Arts Council Awards and won $7,000.
• IMMEDIATE FICTION, St. Martin's Press. One of the nation's major writing books. This is no self-published book to try to gain credibility but a five star, best selling book published by St. Martin's Press — one of the world's leading publishers.
• CDs. A set of CDs that cover the critical elements of storytelling. Play them as you ride in your car, or load them on your iPod. The more you listen the more you learn. A great way to perfect your skills and technique while you're doing other things.
• STORY HELP LINE. Call any time for help with any writing problem. Get the help you need when you need it. No need to wait until the next class. Call any time for personal help with any and every writing problem whether it's trouble with your story or yourself. Don't sit there and suffer. Remember no writing problem is too big to conquer and no problem is too small to disable you. Call any time and let Mary get you back on the track.
• PERSONAL CONFERENCES. Unlimited personal conferences. Personalized help tailored to your needs of the moment and the future. Help finding your subject, setting your goals, and dealing with any other writing problems.
• OUTSIDE WRITING HELP. Get feedback and coaching with outside writing. If you already have a story, you will get the coaching and guidance you need to get it into shape and off to market.
• GUARANTEE. Unconditional guarantee. That means that if at any time, for any reason, you're unsatisfied, you're entitled to a full refund - no questions asked.
• FULL MARKETING STRATEGY. Taking one Writers' Den workshop entitles you to full marketing help and guidance - even if you're no longer in the workshop. Whenever you have a novel, short story, screenplay, or stage play ready, Mary will give you everything you need to market your work and help you short cut the submission process and get your story a serious read by agents, editors, and publishers.

Check out:

  WHAT YOU LEARN

  HOW YOU LEARN

  WHAT IT TAKES

  PHILOSOPHY

~ OR ~

  TRY IT NOW — Experience the style and substance of The Manhattan Writers' Den approach without committing yourself to anything.

~ OR ~

  CHECK OUT IMMEDIATE FICTION at Amazon.com, where you can read the first chapter of Jerry's book.

FINAL WORDS: The most important thing to keep in mind is: You can do this. Storytelling is an acquired skill and not an inborn talent. You don't have to be brilliant or write a brilliant story. You just have to master enough craft to tell a good enough story. Plenty of writers of average intelligence are making lots of money writing mediocre stories. Look around. They're not hard to find. Unlike the other arts (music, painting, dance, etc.) where you must have an inborn ability, to be a successful storyteller, you have what you need already. You don't have to know how to play the piano or paint a portrait to get along in the world, but you'd better understand yourself, how people work, how the world works if you're going to make it in this life. In fact, if you've survived this long, you have at least 10 novels in you. You have a full set of emotions and plenty of dramatic, painful, and exciting experience to draw on. That doesn't mean you have to write about yourself. Even if you're creating Martians, it all comes from your imagination. They're your Martians and your Martians are unlike all others.

You have what you need already, but you must learn how to use it. That means developing the skills to get in touch with your imagination and to bring it to life on the page. So, it's not what you have, but learning how to use it. All you need is the desire. The Writers' Den gives you everything else.

Next workshop: ONGOING 6-WEEK PRIVATE AND GROUP SESSIONS. Email for schedule.

To register or for more information please email me at nycwritersden@gmail.com or call 206.618.3747.