Professional Writing Workshops
Lucy and award-winning author C. Colston Burrell partner in teaching professional development writing workshops for gardeners, horticulturalists and nature lovers. For the past six years, Lucy and Cole have helped over 150 students in 10 cities practice their craft and build both their skills and reputations as writers. Our audiences include both accomplished and budding writers from across the country. Many of our students have blossomed into published authors, and several have books to their credit.
We are launching a new writing workshop entitled Sustaining the Written Word: Creative Garden Writing in the Information Age in Portland, OR, July 13-16, 2010. If, like us, you are concerned about the quality of writing in this frenetic age of social media and sound bites, this is the workshop for you. Join us as we work on finding and developing voice, writing with authority and humility, targeting an audience in the information age and editing your work.
We also offer Cultivating the Written Word: Creative Garden Writing from Production to Publication and Nurturing the Written Word: Further Adventures in Garden Writing. Each workshop is four days in length and designed to assist writers in building and honing their skills.
Students enrolled in Cultivating the Written Word explore fundamental topics such as channeling your inner voice, building your reputation, finding inspiration, choosing a subject, self-discipline, targeting an audience, getting published and self-critiquing and editing. We focus on building proficiency in communicating information and emotion.
Nurturing the Written Word is an outgrowth of input and information shared by students who completed the first class. This program focuses on further honing writing and editing through amplifying voice, exploring avenues of expression, research techniques, fact-finding and checking to support your writing, the art of interviewing, writing from interviews, improving language and self-editing.
Lucy and Cole welcome the opportunity to create workshops tailored to the needs of your institution or group. Please contact Lucy or Cole to discuss offering one of our existing programs or formatting a workshop in both topic and duration for your audience.
C. Colston Burrell
C. Colston Burrell is a garden designer, photographer, naturalist and award-winning writer. Cole, an avid and lifelong plantsman, is author of several books, including Intimate Gardens with Lucy Hardiman (2005), the award-winning Hellebores: A Comprehensive Guide with Judith Knott Tyler (2006), Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants (2006) and the best-selling Perennial Combinations (1999). Cole serves as contributing editor to Horticulture magazine and writes regularly for Landscape Architecture, American Gardener, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Participant Testimonials
"I thoroughly enjoyed you two and your sincerity in helping each attendee. You work well together and it is obvious that you put a lot of thought and effort into making these workshops meaningful, helpful and enjoyable for all those who attend." — Jane, Ohio
"You make a perfect teaching team. Lucy is nurturing by [being] honest, slightly courageous and always right on in her comments. Cole is the perceptive and opinionated friend who won't let you off the hook. I learned that I enjoy writing. There is a distinct pleasure in finding just the right work and in telling a story. Most importantly, I learned from you and my comrades that a writing voice is real!" — Priscilla, Vermont
"Thank you for taking the time to assess each student. For me, your words provided much needed direction and encouragement for my future writing endeavors. It was such a meaningful way to end the class by affirming each of us as individuals — listing our strengths and gently suggesting improvements. Please continue teaching this course: it has changed my life! I hope we can all meet again for an 'advanced' session." — Elizabeth, Oregon