McLean Community Center Forms Partnership with The Writer’s Center of Bethesda

The McLean Community Center has partnered with The Writer's Center, located in Bethesda, to offer the independent literary organization's writing workshops in McLean. This fall, five classes will be offered: Writing Your Novel or Memoir, Creative Fiction, Writing from Life, The Art and Craft of Screenwriting, Adults Writing for Children and Teens: From Idea to Printed Page. Workshop prices range from $120 to $528, based on the subject matter and number of lessons. McLean tax district residents receive a discount and The Writer's Center membership discount will apply to qualifying members. The Center is located at 1234 Ingleside Avenue.

"The McLean Community Center is looking forward to a successful partnership with The Writer's Center," said MCC Instructional Division Director Margaret Shea. The collaboration came about thanks to the work of former MCC Governing Board member, and mystery writer, Dorothy Hassan. Hassan, who had regularly made the trek from her McLean home to Bethesda to take Writer's Center classes, encouraged Shea to look into a possible collaboration. Shea said MCC's Instructional Division is excited to have the opportunity to offer local residents easier access to the acclaimed writing program.

The Writer's Center cultivates the creation, publication, presentation and dissemination of literary work. One of the premier centers of its kind in the country, it promotes the belief that the craft of writing is open to people of all backgrounds and ages.

Published novelist Barbara Esstman will lead the Writing your Novel or Memoir workshop, which will be held 7-9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, Oct. 6, through Nov. 10. Aspiring writers will discuss character and scene development, tone, language, point of view and plot. Esstman also will cover rewriting, getting an agent and other essential topics. The Creative Fiction workshop is an intensive exploration of the elements of writing fiction, the uses of the imagination and the demands of literary genres, including the short story and the novel. The workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturdays, Oct. 23, through Dec. 18. Workshop leader Robert Bausch is the author of six novels and one collection of short stories, including A Hole in the Earth, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Other Writer's Center fall classes include: Writing from Life, The Art and Craft of Screenwriting and Adults Writing for Children and Teens: From Idea to Printed Page.

For more information on The Writer's Center class offerings at MCC, call 703-790-0123, TTY: 711, or visit: www.mcleancenter.org, and click on "Classes & Trips."

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