On Saturday, Feb. 1, Belinda will be teaching a one-day audio workshop focusing on approaches and techniques for researching real stories. This workshop is aimed at helping writers develop their own research project – memoir, biography, historical fiction and more. It is designed both for those just embarking upon a project and those more experienced. With a background that includes several years of journalism and historical research, Belinda will be sharing advice and tips that have served her well in writing both nonfiction and fiction.  It truly is thrilling to discover information that is not generally known, and it is so rewarding to offer those nuggets to your readers.  Some of the topics that will be addressed include:
  --When do you need to research?
  --Where do you find resources?
  --How do you evaluate sources?
  --When is it time to stop researching and start writing?

This audio-only workshop, which includes time for questions and discussion, can be accessed by telephone, including landlines, or via Zoom. It runs from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1. The registration deadline is Jan. 23. Tuition for the class is $45. The registration deadline is Jan. 23. Participants will be emailed the conference call number and access codes after registering for the class.
 
Visit www.newriver.edu/community for information on upcoming classes or to register for the course or contact Gloria Kincaid (304-793-6101, gkincaid@newriver.edu).

Wuthering Heights, Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, New York City—setting can take on a life of its own in both fiction and nonfiction. Join Belinda Anderson for her new writing workshop, “Setting as Character,” offered through New River Community and Technical College starting Thursday, Feb. 21, 2025.

This three-week workshop, presented via a convenient conference call format, focuses on crafting and describing settings that act as dynamic characters, influencing the actions and emotions of the people within the story. The workshop is tailored for both new writers and those already engaged in writing projects, offering practical tools and techniques to develop atmospheric, influential settings across genres.

“A fully-developed setting can really draw in readers,” Anderson said. “Wuthering Heights is an enduring classic because it delivers more than a well-described setting. The manor house and the harsh moors impose isolation on the human characters. That’s the power of setting as character.” Anderson noted that locales can be significant characters, too, giving as an example Homer H. Hickam Jr.’s hometown in his best-selling memoir Rocket Boys.

This audio-only workshop, which includes time for questions and discussion, can be accessed by telephone, including landlines, or via Zoom. Participants can join via an audio-only conference call using either an internet connection or a landline telephone — no high-speed internet is required. Participants will be emailed the conference call number and access codes after registering for the class. Classes will meet at 10 a.m. on Thursdays over a three-week period. Each hour-long session includes a lecture, time for participant questions and sharing, and follow-up group emails.

Setting is an important element in Anderson’s own writing, including a department store that is not exactly what it seems in her middle-grade novel, Jackson Vs. Witchy Wanda. The State Fair of West Virginia appears frequently in her short-story collections, influencing the human characters and the plots. “With warmth and charm, Belinda Anderson creates a world that lingers long after the last page,” author Gretchen Moran Laskas wrote in a review.

Tuition for Setting as Character Workshop is $95, and the registration deadline is Feb. 7. Participants will receive the conference call number and access codes upon registration.

Aspiring and practicing writers of children’s fiction are invited to participate in a fun and informative three-week class beginning March 27, via an audio conference call through New River Community and Technical College.

“Some of the best and most entertaining reading material today is children’s fiction,” Anderson said. “It’s a joy to write and your audience is enthusiastically responsive. I’ve never had an adult stand up after a presentation I made and yell, ‘Group hug!’ But that happened to me with a child who did just that in an elementary classroom.”

The class will be conducted through one-hour conference calls that include lecture, with time for questions and participant sharing, and group e-mail follow-up as needed. Students can attend the class with an internet conference call connection or by phone. No high-speed internet is required.

Anderson’s workshop will include traits and interests of the children’s novel  reader and entertaining snippets from some of the best books in the genre, as well as tips and tools on writing for children and opportunities to write. The workshop is designed both for writers who would like to develop new ideas or hone their skills for current projects.

Anderson’s books include a fantasy novel for children, Jackson vs. Witchy Wanda. Read Aloud West Virginia chose to include her book for its recently published Read around West Virginia map, which features such authors as Pearl S. Buck and Booker T. Washington. “This is the kind of story young readers will devour in one swift gulp … Its characters are unusual and well developed,” wrote reviewer Phyllis Wilson Moore.

Anderson has served as a judge of writing by children for both West Virginia Writers, Inc., and the West Virginia Library Commission. Learn more about Belinda and her work at www.BelindaAnderson.com.

The cost for the class is $95. The registration deadline is March 19. Participants will be emailed the conference call number and access codes after registering for the class.

Visit www.newriver.edu/community for information on upcoming classes or register for the course or contact Gloria Kincaid (304-793-6101, gkincaid@newriver.edu).