WORKSHOPS

About Your Instructor

Minoti Vaishnav is a writer of film, television, podcasts, short fiction, and poetry. Her television credits include True Lies (Disney/CBS), The Equalizer (Universal/CBS), Contact (Discovery Channel), Rise of Empires (Netflix), Legends of the Lost with Megan Fox (Travel Channel) and many more. She recently wrote 8 episodes of The Mind Doctor, a scripted medical audio series (House or ER, but for audio), which went to #2 on the Apple Drama Podcast Charts. Her previous podcast, Someone is Killing the Wolfhounds, went to #1.

As a short fiction author, Minoti's work has been published in Tales from Alternate Earths III (Inklings Press), Tales of Mystery: Dead for a Spell (Inklings Press), Earnest Lived and other Historical Short Fiction Stories (Red Penguin Books), An Anthology of Children's Stories (Red Penguin Books), Once Upon A Time... An Anthology of Fairytale Stories (Red Penguin Books), An Anthology of Detective Fiction (Culture Cult Press), and A Stitch in Space Time (Culture Cult Press). As a poet, Minoti has been published in Nombono: An Anthology of Speculative Poetry, Brickplight Magazine, Kitchen Sink Magazine, The Claredon Collective, The Windward Review, Paris: Love, Loss and Longing in the City of Lights Anthology, Projected Letters and more.

Minoti holds a Masters degree in Creative Writing from Oxford University and is an alumna of four prestigious writing fellowships -- the CBS/Paramount Writers Mentoring Program, CAPE's New Writers Fellowship, Rideback Rise's Circle Fellowship, and The Orchard Project Episodic Lab. In addition to the above, Minoti's work as a screenwriter has also placed in the Almanack Episodic Lab, Sundance Screenwriters Lab, WB Writers Workshop, Antigravity Academy's Feature Lab, NBC Launch's TV Writers Lab (formerly Writers on the Verge), Moonshot Initiative's Feature Lab, Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles's Launchpad Pitch Competition, The OWL Screenwriting Workshop, The 1497 Feature Lab, Austin Film Festival's Screenwriting Competition, Final Draft's Big Break Competition and many more.

Minoti also has 15 years of private teaching experience... and now she's bringing her classes to you!

Testimonials

"Minoti teaches Creative Writing to my 14-year-old daughter and she is by far my daughter's favorite teacher. I have seen so much growth in my daughter's writing, and this has helped her grades too. My daughter used to struggle with writing essays and fiction. Now she thrives in these types of writing! Minoti's classes are both educational and enjoyable. I highly recommend her." -- Rachel Z (Los Angeles, CA)

"I just finished a class with Minoti Vaishnav. English is my second language, but she inspired me to write so much, I now feel like I can create stories in English as well as I can create them in Mandarin. Thank you, Minoti for your patience, guidance and help. - Hannah O. (Singapore)

"I am a full-time screenwriter with an interest in switching to short fiction and novel writing. I didn't know where to start so I hired Minoti for a consultation. Everything she taught me changed the game for me! I have finally completed my first short fiction compilation and am getting it ready to send to publishers this fall. I would never have had the courage to start, nor would I have known how to structure prose without Minoti's help. - Gia S (Malibu, CA)

CREATIVE WRITING FOR KIDS & TEENS

When: Saturday mornings, Online via Zoom, 9:30am to 11:00am IST: Oct 4, Oct 11, (Oct 18 off) Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 8, Nov 15, Nov 22, Nov 29

Cost: $25 per session. 7 sessions. The 8th session is optional/free. $175 total (approximately Rs. 15,500 at current rate)

This course is for 11-16 year olds.

Week 1: Storytelling in a Nutshell: In this session, you will learn the basics of storytelling, including Characters, Motifs, Symbolism, Tropes, Plot Structure, Themes and more. These basics can be applied to any storytelling medium.

Week 2: Fiction: In this session, you will learn about different types of fiction writing (short stories, flash fiction, novels and more) and will write your very own flash fiction piece.

Week 3: Poetry: In this session, you will learn about different types of poetry (haiku, free verse, column poetry and more) and will write your very own poem.

Week 4: Film & Television Writing: In this session you will learn the basics of screenwriting. We will read excerpts from movie and television scripts, and you will write your very own short scene.

Week 5: Creative Non-Fiction: In this session you will learn about different types of creative non-fiction work (essays, memoirs and more) and will write your own short creative non-fiction essay.

Week 6: Playwriting: In this session you will learn the basics of playwriting and dialogue. We will read excerpts from plays, and you will write your very own one scene play.

Week 7: Songwriting: In this session you will learn the basics of writing lyrics to music. We will listen to some successful song lyrics, and you will write your very own song.

Week 8: Office Hours/Open Q&A (Optional): Use this session to ask me anything about creative writing, the course, your portfolio of work, how to get published and more.

SHORT FICTION

When: Mon and Wed evenings, Online via Zoom, 6:00pm to 7:30pm Indian Standard Time (8:30am to 10:00am US Eastern Time): Oct 1, Oct 6, Oct 8, Oct 13, Oct 15, (Oct 20-22 off), Oct 27, Oct 30

Cost: $25 per session. The 7th session is optional/free. $175 total (approximately Rs. 15,500 at current rate).

Session 1: The Idea: Brainstorming Premises and Loglines: In this session you'll learn how to come up with story ideas and hone your premise and logline before you start writing. We will look at different ways to strengthen your idea and premise during this planning stage.
Session 2: Characters: Characters drive your story. In this session we'll learn about character motivations, drive, and intent. We'll also take a look at how to make the character relationships in your story stand out, and how to make your characters jump off the page.
Session 3: Genre and Theme: In this session, we'll explore different themes and genres of short fiction pieces and how your genre ties into the theme and intention of your plot and characters. Understanding your theme is crucial to a successful short story.
Session 4: The Importance of Outlining: In this session, we'll talk about outlining. The session will guide you through a rough outline of your short fiction piece, which will prepare you for the first draft.
Session 5: The First Draft: In this session, we'll talk about the mechanics of laying down your draft on the page from the outline. We'll look at some famous first drafts, and you will start to lay out your own story on the page.
Session 6: The Importance of Editing: Now that you have a first draft of your piece, we'll talk about editing. No one's first draft is ready to the published -- it takes time and practice to get it right.
Session 7: How to Get Published: Submissions and Resources + Office Hours/Q&A: Use this session to ask me anything about creative writing, the course, your portfolio of work and more. I will also provide PDF resources on how to get published in this session (if you cannot attend the optional session, don't worry -- these resources will be emailed to everyone in the course).