SEPTEMBER 14 TO OCTOBER 19

Writing With Anne of Green Gables

A Six-Week Writing Course

Join author and teacher Jonathan Rogers as we examine
Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved story with a writer’s eye.

Register for adult cohort (College-age and up)
Register for student cohort (high-school and middle-school)

Starting September 14, my “Writing with…” series of online creative writing courses continues with Writing with Anne of Green Gables. 

Mark Twain, that old curmudgeon, said, “Anne is the dearest and most loveable child in fiction since the immortal Alice.” He went on to say that Anne of Green Gables is “the sweetest creation of childlife yet written.” Yes. Exactly.

How does Lucy Maud Montgomery create such a vivid, alive character as Anne Shirley? How does she make us care so deeply about the goings-on in a little neighborhood outside a tiny village in the smallest province in a remote corner of Canada? Those aren’t rhetorical questions. Those are exactly the kind of questions we’ll be asking—and, hopefully, answering—in Writing with Anne of Green Gables.

In six 90-minute lectures, I will walk you through Anne of Green Gables, looking closely at the principles and techniques by which Lucy Maud Montgomery the characters, places, and stories that we love so much. Then, through weekly writing exercises and mutual feedback and discussion with your colleagues, you will apply Montgomery’s principles and techniques to your own writing.

Writing with Anne of Green Gables includes six 90-minute live lectures* via Zoom, as well as a dedicated online forum for discussion and writing exercises. 

Topics to be covered include (but are not limited to):

  • Characterization
  • Description
  • Dialogue
  • Understatement and Overstatement
  • Inner Life v. Outer Life
  • Setting
  • Engaging the Reader’s Judgment
  • Noticing
  • Moving from “Idea” to “Story”
  • Tone
  • Contrast and Juxtaposition
  • Managing Conflict

*Recordings of the lectures will also be available for learners who can’t attend the live lectures.

Dates: 
Tuesdays, September 14 to October 19, 2021.

Times:
Student Cohort: 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Central
Adult Cohort: 3:00 to 4:30p.m. Central

Cost: $79

Intended Audience:
Adults, High Schoolers and Middle Schoolers

There are two “cohorts” of Writing with Anne of Green Gables–one for adults (college-age and up), and one for high-school and middle-school students.

The course content is the same for either cohort, but the two cohorts will attend separate lecture/discussions and participate in separate forums. Adults will be interacting with adults, and students will be interacting with students.

Please register for the appropriate cohort.

Register for Adult Cohort
Register for student cohort

Weekly Workload

REQUIRED TEXT:
L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

READING:
Six (or so) chapters in Anne of Green Gables (approx. 70 pages)

WRITING:
One 500-word writing exercise

WATCHING:
One live 90-minute lecture/discussion via Zoom

ONLINE DISCUSSION: 
Throughout the week, learners will discuss the reading, the lectures, and their writing exercises in a dedicated online forum.

Register for Adult Cohort
Register for Student Cohort

Reading Plan

 
September 14
AoGG, Chapters 1-6
 
September 21
AoGG, Chapters 7-13
 
September 28
AoGG, Chapters 14-19
 
October 5
AoGG, Chapters 20-25
 
October 12
AoGG, Chapters 26-31
 
October 19
AoGG, Chapters 32-38

About the Instructor

Jonathan Rogers is the author or the Wilderking Trilogy, The Charlatan’s Boy, The Terrible Speed of Mercy, and other books. 

He hosts The Habit Membership, an online library of teaching resources and gathering place for writers. He also hosts The Habit Podcast and teaches and encourages thousands of writers every Tuesday through The Habit Weekly newsletter. 

Get a Quote