2014_writing

Rocky Mountain Field Seminars

Paint Your Prose: Creating a Sense of Place

Using Nature-Writing Techniques

July 14, 2013

Course Level: II Course #: S2014

Fee: $70

Instructor: Mary Taylor Young

Location: Rocky Mountain Nature Association Field Seminar & Conference Center

1895 Fall River Road, Estes Park, Colorado

Time: 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Course Description:

Vividly creating a “sense of place” draws readers into a story and engages them powerfully. The techniques used in nature writing to capture "place" can be used in creative writing of all sorts—to create setting and place for fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir, essay and even expository articles. Learn how to look closely at the world around you, use all your senses, find universal themes in what you see, use metaphor and other techniques. Class will include exercises and writing practice in the field.

Course Level: II

Short-distance walks through the day on primarily level terrain

Brief Instructor Biography (additional information available at www.rmna.org):

Award-winning and best-selling nature writer Mary Taylor Young has been writing about the wildlife, cultures and landscape of the West for nearly 30 years. She is author of 14 books, including Land of Grass and Sky: A Naturalist’s Prairie Journey and last year’s The Guide to Colorado Mammals. Her upcoming book, Rocky Mountain National Park: The First 100 Years, is due out in 2014 for Rocky’s centennial. She has published hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles, and many readers know her “Words on Birds” column, published in the Rocky Mountain News for many years. This is Mary’s twenty-sixth year teaching for the Rocky Mountain Nature Association. Mary’s love of nature began with childhood summers spent exploring the Rocky Mountains from her grandparents’ cabin in Estes Park, where elk peered in the windows and hummingbirds buzzed around the feeders. Her attachment to the natural world led to a degree in zoology from Colorado State University and a life devoted to nature, wildlife and the environment. Mary lives in Castle Rock, Colorado, with her husband, daughter and many feathered and four-legged neighbors.

Expectations: Professional conduct will be expected from participants at all times. Individual ideas will be respected. Except during course breaks, cellular phones, pagers, and personal entertainment devices are strictly prohibited in the classroom and during field sessions.

Car-pooling: Rocky Mountain Field Seminars courses utilize car-pooling to limit vehicles traveling into the Park. Car-pooling makes it easier to keep the group together, reduces transit time, and allows courses greater access because fewer parking spaces are required at destinations. In addition, it provides an opportunity for participants to discuss course material in small groups during transit. Typically, a few participants from each course volunteer the use of their vehicles for car-pooling to course locations.

Tentative Course Schedule:

9:00 AM- Meet at Field Seminar Center for introductions

9:30 AM- Travel to field site (Upper Beaver Meadows)

10:00 AM- Exploration of "place," writing and skills exercises, writing practice

Noon-Lunch break

1:00 PM Continue writing instruction.

3:30 PM-Travel back to Field Seminar Center, share, wrap-up.

4:30 PM-Depart.

What to Bring:

Rocky Mountain National Park recommends that hikers always carry the 10 essentials in their daypacks.

Note: Rocky Mountain Field Seminars recommends that participants for all courses dress in layers and wear comfortable, sturdy hiking boots/shoes. Participants should be prepared for sudden changes in temperature and weather conditions.

Most seminars are eligible for teacher recertification credit through the Centennial Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES). The fee is $25.00 per seminar (.5 unit) or $25.00 per series of threaded seminars (1.0 - 3.0 units). A list of threaded seminars can be found online at www.rmna.org. Participants must enroll in all seminars of a threaded series in order to qualify for the $25.00 multi-unit fee. Please be prepared to pay for this credit with a check, made payable to BOCES, on the first day of a seminar or on the final day of a threaded series of seminars.