Frank Bures

There are said to be some 42 million freelance workers in the US right now–fully 1/3 of the US workforce.  Many of them, presumably, are winging it. I know this because once I was one of them. But over the last two decades, I’ve learned many useful things and made lots of mistakes from which you can now benefit in a new online class I’ll be teaching through The Loft in February.  Here’s the gist:

“Every writer dreams of quitting his or her day job and living the freelance life. No cubicles. No timecards. No boss. But these days, freelancing may be as much necessity as luxury, and in both cases the learning curve can been steep. Frank Bures has been freelancing full time for almost a decade, and part time for nearly two. He has put together this class based on hard-won wisdom. In it, we will look at everything from how to survive in an ever-shifting media market place, to current market rates, to how to run a business, to the fundamentals of selling and writing stories to a wide variety of publishers.”

Read the rest, or register here. Limited to 16 students.

This weekend, I’ll be teaching a couple classes at the Rochester Writers Festival, in Rochester, Minnesota, home to IBM, lots of geese, and a clinic where famous people go when they’re ill (and, no doubt, where they invented that delicious condiment).  My class is titled “Writing Narrative Nonfiction:  The Power of Stories,” and I’ll talk about why in order to write powerfully in today’s media environment you really need to be able to tell a great story.  It’s not on the program yet, but trust me, I’ll be there.

For anyone who wants to sharpen up their storytelling skills, look into the history of New (and newer) Journalism, examine some of the new science on the role of narrative, you might be interested in a class I’m teaching at The Loft in Minneapolis called, The Search for Story: Writing Narrative Nonfiction. The description: “To be a successful nonfiction writer these days, it’s not enough to know how to type, to have a blog, or to be able to put an article together. To write powerfully in today’s media environment, you need to be able to tell great stories. In this class, we’ll look at the evolution of narrative nonfiction and New Journalism. We’ll review some of the master nonfiction writers and learn how to apply narrative techniques in profiles, travel stories, features, and essays. Advanced or professional writers only. Please submit two writing samples (maximum of 5,000 words per sample) or clips to Loft Education by Friday, June 19 (not postmark deadline). Accepted students notified by July 1.“