UPDATE: Class has been postpone by two weeks. Sales will continue for another two weeks.

PRS SPECIAL INTEREST 362:

INTRO TO CREATIVE PARANORMAL WRITING

The following is the syllabus for the June/July/August 2012 course

Instructors: Ryan D Buell (instructor@paranormal-university.org)

Location/Time:https://paranormalresearchsociety.basecamphq.com/ (Basecamp)

TBA(Webinar Channel)

Dates of Lectures:All classes will be offered at 9pm EST via Webinar Channel.

Lecture #1 - Monday, June 25^th, 2012

Lecture #2 - Monday, July 2nd, 2012

Lecture #3 - Monday, July 23th, 2012

Lecture #4 - Monday, August 6th, 2012

Dates for Group Sessions:

There will be three groups for this course, with no more than 25 people per group.

                                GROUP A                      GROUP B                           GROUP C

Date & Time:     Tuesday @ 8pm     Wednesday @ 7:30pm     Wednesday @ 9pm

Meeting #1:             June 26^th                        June 27^th                        June 27^th  

Meeting #2:             July 10^th                          July 11^th                          July 11^th  

Meeting #3:             July 17^th                          July 18^th                          July 18^th  

Meeting #4:             July 24th                          July 25th                          July 25th

Meeting #5:             Aug 7th                            Aug 9th (THU)                Aug 9th (THU)

Meeting #6              Aug 14th                         Aug 15th                          Aug 15th

Due dates for stories

Story #1 - July 8th

Story #2 - July 29th

Story #3 - Aug 17th

Course description:  PRS Director and author Ryan Buell will take students on a journey of self-discovery through the art of writing.  This special-interest workshop is for the aspiring writer or someone who has a love for stories.  This course will place an emphasis on paranormal themes.  Students will learn about the creative writing process as well as obtain hands-on experience through group workshops, where students will write three short stories for peer review.  Students will also read, “The Exorcist” throughout the course with Buell, as well as short stories including select works from Edgar Allan Poe.   From a literary standpoint, students will understand how the paranormal, based on both real and fictitious events, influence our state of mind.  Students will observe how author William Peter Blatty took a real-life case about possession and sculpted it into “The Exorcist,” which, even 40 years later, is still widely celebrated as one of the defining “horror” stories of the 20^th century.  

Students will write three stories: a) a short story about a paranormal event personally experienced or based on an event by someone you know b) create a story based on a famous paranormal event or figure c) original paranormal-themed story.  

Additionally, the class will help decide which two original stories Buell will write for the class.

At the end of the course, a select story from each individual will be put in to a self-published book to commemorate the class.  The presenter will select the best story from every individual and place it in one of the three categories.  (Book will be sold separately.  Price for book will determined based on cost; book will not be sold for profit to class nor offered to anyone outside the class.  Publication in to the course book is strictly optional.  Students must sign participation waiver in order to grant permission to print story for the course book).  

Communicating with the Instructor: An e-mail has been set up for me (instructor@paranormal-university.org) in order to communicate with students for the course.  Please understand that this e-mail is mind only until mid-June, and then the new instructor will take it over.  Please only use this e-mail for questions/discussion of course-related topics.  Also, I will be available during set “office hours” to chat online.

Virtual Office Hours: I will be online on Basecamp the day of the classes.  So, whenever there is a live webinar class, I will be on Basecamp throughout the day.  I will still visit the site every day, but off-and-on.  I will set up designated office hours, however:  

Tuesday: 6:00pm – 7:00pm (EST)

Wednesday: 7:00pm – 8:00pm (EST)

During these times, I’ll be on the boards at Basecamp, or we can correspond via e-mail.  We are looking for a private, designated chat service, and if we pick one, then we may set that up in order to make things more convenient

Let’s go into the grey area and explore it together

GROUP PARTICIPATION

This is not a class where people can passably sit back and not participate.  This is a hands-on class where attendees are encouraged to spend time writing these short stories so that we may better understand ourselves and how the paranormal of the mind affects the world within and without.

BOOK & CLASS DISCUSSION

THE EXORCIST : Most bookstores carry “The Exorcist,” as it is a classic. http://www.amazon.com/The-Exorcist-40th-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0062094351/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1336748152&sr=8-5

EDGAR ALLEN POE: Here is the recommended book to use for Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories.  Keep in mind that we will only be reading a handful of his stories: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Stories-Poems-Edgar-Allan/dp/0385074077/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336748766&sr=1-2

BIRD BY BIRD: This book primarily focuses (in a humorous way, I might ad), the frustrations of writing and getting through your own worst enemy. http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Some-Instructions-Writing-Life/dp/0385480016/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336749092&sr=1-1

GROUP BREAKOUT SESSIONS

There will be three group sessions.  People will be able to sign up for the allotted time slots on a first-come, first-serve basis.  

Each group will have no more than 25 people in the class.  The goal will be to take what we’ve learned and apply them to writing three unique stories that are no shorter than five pages, double spaced.  

There will be three stories that each individual must accomplish:

1. a non-fiction story about a haunting either they, their immediate family or friend experienced.  This may require some interviewing skills to go in hand.  Ultimately, it’s about telling the truth, it’s about doing what is right.  It allows us to take a critical look at ourselves and ask how this story affected us so.  
2. A fictional story, no less than five pages double spaced, about a paranormal event, whether fictional or based on a real story.
3. Anything-goes paranormal story.  Fiction, non-fiction, philosophy, this will help define your growth after getting feedback from your group.