enjoy gila's online writing courses

gila green

 

WRITING A NOVEL, MEMOIR or AUTOFICTION WITH A WRITING COACH: One-on-One Instruction

START DATE: Ongoing. We choose the same day each month to meet. There are options for weekly or twice-a-month meetings.

DURATION: 4 meetings with the chance to renew for additional meetings.

LOCATION: Email, Google Drive, Zoom

FEEDBACK: Instructor feedback and critique on a shared Google document and via Zoom (optional)

CONTACT: Through this website www.gilagreenwrites.com

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Are you writing a novel? Do you need a writing coach to keep you accountable and provide feedback as you go? Do you have an idea for a novel, memoir or autofiction, but you don't know how to plan or get started? Join me in an online workshop environment, where you can work with me to get a first or second draft of a novel completed. Novelists for almost any genre are welcome. (Please note: I am not an expert in children's writing. If you are writing a children's novel, I recommend you find an editor who has published children's books.) Depending on your needs, I will also help you with writing a synopsis and query letter.

Past participants ask about setting in story: WATCH  

This class has two options:

Option One:
This is for writers who have a fairly complete draft of a novel or at least have done extensive planning and will have pages for me to critique each meeting. We choose a date to meet each month on zoom and the pages have to be in 3 days before our meeting. If you don't want zoom, we choose a date each month to hand in your work on a shared Google document.

You will receive a FULL edit (content and line editing) for up to 4000 words or 15 double-spaced, 12 pt font, pages each meeting. With this track you can get up to 16,000 words critiqued.

Option Two:
This is for writers who are starting out writing a novel and need help with planning, structure, how to begin, writer's block, etc. It is perfect for someone who has an idea for a book or short story or essay collection, but does not know where or how to start. I will guide you by getting you started with the main story elements (what every story must have) and writing exercises as needed. Depending on your comfort level and pace with planning, you may also receive one or two light critiques through this track. This track also has the zoom option. You will also receive four edits on your exercises, outlines and light drafts.

Cost: $400 for both tracks for 4 meetings that includes edit of up to 4,000 words per meeting and 4 zoom meetings of one hour. If you do not want the zoom option (shared Google document only) the price is $280.

This course is open to writers living anywhere and the price excludes any PayPal fees if you choose this payment option. 

WATCH Past participants ask about flash fiction vs short story writing: Should you write flash fiction or a short story?

Bio

Gila Green is a seven times award-nominated, internationally published writer. She has traditionally published four novels in three countries (USA, Canada, Australia). She has published dozens of short stories and short works in literary magazines and anthologies, participated in the 2020 Vancouver Jewish Book Festival as an author, and the New York Jewish Book Council Author Talk. She has edited more than a dozen books to publication.

Gila interviews an author monthly on her site: www.gilagreenwrites. Here is a sample list of published books Gila has edited: https://reedsy.com/gila-green. Gila has experience in both adult and young adult novel publishing and works regularly with magazine writers.

Gila has been teaching creative writing online since 2009. She lives in Israel, but is originally from Canada. She spent one year living in South Africa, has both an Ashkenazi and Yemenite background, and has been teaching English as a Foreign Language since 2013 to students from Israel, Ethiopia, Russia, France and other countries. She is able to relate to authors and content from a wide variety of experiences. 

WATCH: Past participant asks about humorous flash fiction

 

 

 

March 2023: Spring Memoir Workshop at Lounge Writers

COURSE DESCRIPTION: 

Memoir is as popular as ever. An increasing number of people have realized that their oral histories and stories are in danger of disappearing. That’s one of the reasons why memoir's popularity remains steady. We read each other's stories to build empathy, to explore new realities, to escape, and let's not forget: to be entertained. Memoir is ideal for our modern search for hope in what is for many an increasingly lonely world. The 21st century reader has made memoir in-demand reading.

In this two-hour workshop, we will use short readings and instructor critiques to teach participants how to begin a memoir. We will focus on carving beginnings down to their essence, while still conveying meaning through the successful interplay between character, conflict, and theme. There will be a writing exercise and group and instructor feedback. 

Cost: $40

Time: 9:00 am - 11 am PDT

Date: March 28, 2023

REGISTER HERE

Workshop objectives:

  1. To sharpen the difference between memoir, fiction, and autofiction.
  2. To analyze a variety of ways writers can begin their memoir.
  3. To increase your confidence as a memoir writer.
  4. To add depth to your beginning or in other words, to begin with intention.

ABOUT ME: Gila Green's novels feature characters of Sephardi, Yemenite, and mixed Middle Eastern heritage because she couldn't find any Jewish stories that reflected her experience growing up and decided to write them herself. Her novel-in-stories White Zion explores one Yemenite family's journey from Sanaa to Jerusalem to Canada. In Passport Control, heroine Miriam Gil struggles to understand her Yemenite father's past against a trove of family secrets. Gila is an author, a creative writing teacher, an EFL college lecturer, an editor, and a mother of five. When she's not exploring the Middle East in her novels, she migrates to South Africa in her continuing environmental young adult series that takes place in Kruger National Park. Her first novel King of the Class was published in Vancouver, Canada (2013, NON Publishing). In addition to her four published novels, her short works have been featured in dozens of publications including: Sephardic Horizons, Jewish Fiction, Jewish Literary Journal, Fiction Magazine, Akashic Books, The Fiddlehead, and others. 

 

 

Student Testimonials

  • Very Valuable Feedback

    Thank you for this class and for your very valuable feedback on the two drafts I sent you. Your class rekindled the fire that I felt was beginning to fizzle out in my writing.

    Clare Hart

  • Re-registering

    I have taken many courses in writers’ centers before and never got ANYTHING out of them. The main thing I got was formulaic responses that hindered my writing rather than deepening my approach. I loved Gila’s course so much I am re-registering.

    Janet Lowenbach

  • Gila is great!

    "I gave her my first draft of the first fiction book I ever attempted, for copy editing.She was quick, thorough, flexible, and very generous with her time.And very sensitive to a first-time writer's feelings. Gila went well beyond the mandate, providing me with valuable and thoughtful insights on my manuscript's story and structure.I highly recommend her."

    Jeremy Esekow, Raanana, Israel

  • Excellent Guidance

    I advocate writing mentors; how else can a writer grow? When I was looking for excellent guidance on a new genre, I turned to Gila Green; it was a good decision, one that I recommend to a writer who is serious about her craft.

    Leah Kotkes

  • Learned More Than Ever Before

    I’ve learned more in your writing class than I have with any other instructor, and I’ve taken quite a few.

    Kathryn Beer

  • Path to Creative Exploration

    In Gila's workshops you learn three important things about writing:
    - how to look deeply into your heart
    - how to read many other works critically
    - how to apply newfound skills to your own work
    For all those reasons, Gila's writing workshops are a writer's path to creative exploration that you shouldn't miss.

    Ilene Bloch-Levy

  • Rare Creative Mentor

    "Gila is a rare creative mentor who focuses on the craft and intention of the work. She encourages her students to push their creative boundaries. I had the pleasure of working with her individually on some of my own creative work, and I felt empowered by her clear guidance and encouragement to focus on the work. It helped me grow as a writer."
    Anastasia Wasko


    Writer, Editor, & Transpersonal Guide, 
    New Orleans, USA

  • Constructive Critiques

    Gila had a very straightforward way of explaining by giving examples in our own work, and pinpointing a subject for clarity. She was very encouraging and her critiques were always thoughtful and constructive. She pushed me to dig deeper and work harder and I believe it shows in my writing. If I am ever fortunate enough to make it in this business, I will definitely name Gila as one of the reasons for my success.

    Barbara Florenza

  • Tailored to Individual Needs

    Gila Green’s class was my first online writing class. I was impressed with the quality of the material Gila provided and her weekly lessons were clear and easy to understand. She also provided enough flexibility in her lessons to tailor the class to the individual needs of her students. I always felt open to ask questions or linger over lessons and critiques that I felt I needed more time to comprehend and work through. I look forward to learning from her again.

    Donna Kortes

  • Thought-Provoking Lessons

    Thanks for a great class! I’m so glad I signed up—turns out that I still have a brain and you made me use it. :) I appreciate your advice as well as the thought-provoking lessons you provided . . . In that short amount of time I feel more confident going forward with my writing . . . I wish you the very best, and thank you again for sharing your knowledge!

    Andrea H.

  • Took Me To The Next Level

    Gila’s fiction writing class gave me more confidence as a writer. I’ve taken several online fiction classes with well-known online entities and with those that are lesser known. Compared to more well-known or expensive online writing classes that require you to use more non-user friendly sites to post your work this is the one with which I was and still am most impressed. Gila’s teaching method is very concise and could only derive from years of experience. Her lectures and the accompanying exercises challenged me to write my story and the characters in a way that helped to add more layers and to make them more believable. Gila’s feedback was very in-depth. She was always available for questions and comments. She strongly encouraged that we take advantage of peer critiques. I’d done peer critiques in other classes, but I felt that with Gila I was given more tools to workshop others’ writings. I learned how to look for strategies that work better than others. To me, Gila’s fiction writing class was more multifaceted than others and was more like a brick and mortar university course. With the tools that I learned from Gila I felt that I had better direction and I learned how to look at my writing more critically. In Gila’s class I was able to take my short story to the next level.

    Conswalia Marie Green

Forthcoming Books

With a Good Eye <br>Release Date: Aug. 18, 2024

With a Good Eye
Release Date: Aug. 18, 2024

This family drama is part crime fiction and part domestic noir. With A Good Eye will make you question: can you ever save anyone but yourself and do any of us ever really leave home?

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The Inheritance  <br>Release Date: 2025

The Inheritance
Release Date: 2025

This suspense/thriller asks, if you were to walk away from your family, would you ever go back, even if you received a desperate text message?

Read More