Venise Berry

Venise Berry is the author of three national bestselling novels: So Good, An African American Love Story (1996); All of Me, A Voluptuous Tale (2000); and Colored Sugar Water (2002). Her memoir Driven: love, career and the pursuit of happiness recently released in 2018. She is currently finishing her fourth novel, Pockets of Sanity. Berry has co-edited two anthologies, Black Culture & Experience: Contemporary Issues (2015) and Mediated Messages and African American Culture: Contemporary Issues (1996). She is also the co-author of two nonfiction film books, The Historical Dictionary of African American Cinema (Scarecrow Press, 2015 & 2007) and The 50 Most Influential Black Films (Citadel 2001). Her numerous short stories, journal articles, and book chapters appear widely in creative and academic circles. Berry is an associate professor of Journalism and African American Studies at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. She is also a fiction faculty member in the Solstice Low-Residency Creative Writing Program at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, MA. Visit Venise online at www.veniseberry.com.

Events

Venise Berry photo

Twelve Strategies to Enrich Your Scenes

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Scheduled
Venise Berry
This workshop offers writers of fiction and nonfiction an opportunity to develop their scene-writing skills and, ultimately, their ability to craft more compelling stories. In our weekend, we will complete up to twelve exercises, as time allows. We'll experiment with specific elements like color, tradition, food, music, seasons, environment, fruits of the spirit, change, and more to write powerful and memorable scenes. Participants will complete a number of exercises outside of class, then share their writing in workshop.

This workshop can help if you are just beginning a project or if you have work underway and need a better understanding of how to enhance your scenes.

In this workshop, we will generate new writing through exercises and assignments; provide feedback on writing you produce in our weekend. 
Venise Berry photo

Muddy Water: Controlling Plot, Subplots, and Plot Points in Your Novel

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Scheduled
Venise Berry
How do you create a strong and exciting plot in your novel? How do you connect the plot with various subplots? How do you set up plot points effectively throughout your story?

This class will help you develop or strengthen your novel’s main plot. It will also help you better appreciate the use of subplots and the purpose of plot points. Plot, subplots and plot points create the main sequence of events and move your story from beginning to end. New and revised writing will be the focus in workshops.

You will complete the week with your plot outline in place, including two primary subplots, and a good sense of where plot points should be inserted.

This workshop is designed for new writers who are starting with a simple story idea, or those who have lost control of their story and need to figure out how to restructure it for the greatest impact.

In this workshop, we will generate new writing through exercises and assignments; provide feedback on writing you produce in our week; critique writing you bring from home. 
Venise Berry photo