Off the Page: Writing Workshop Kickoff with Glenn Schudel

Whether you're a writing workshop veteran or this is your first time giving it a shot, this lively and interactive workshop will set you up for success. Hands-on activities and story-generating exercises will guide you in crafting compelling characters and an engaging plot. We'll also discuss common novel-writing pitfalls, explore the "secrets" to great novels.

Glenn Schudel is a writer, educator, theatre practitioner, and Florida native. He became obsessed with rhetoric while earning his MFA in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University. This fascination led to a career in dramaturgy and text coaching, and later to playwriting. He also spent several years working with the American Shakespeare Center, including three years serving as the manager and education director of their touring troupe. His time on the road inspired him to write his one-man show Asides; or, My life with Will, which earned Outstanding Premiere at the 2019 Sarasolo Festival. More recently, he worked as a ghostwriter for Special Fiction Books, turning 2000-word outlines into romance novels. This taught him he could actually finish something if he had an outline, correcting his lifelong belief that he was a pantser rather than a plotter. In 2022, he began writing under his own pen name, and has since published two novels, a novella, and several short stories. His true passion, however, is education. He has taught at Randolph College in Lynchburg, VA, and both South Florida State College and New College of Florida. In 2018, he began teaching in the Creative Writing program at Ringling College, becoming a full-time faculty member in 2023. He still does private text coaching and script coaching, and usually spends his summers teaching theatre or creative writing at camp. He's thrilled to be presenting at Off the Page for the second time.

All levels of writers are welcome; bring your passion for storytelling and get ready to write. Please bring a laptop or pen and paper!

The Off the Page Literary Celebration, hosted by Sarasota County Libraries and Historical Resources, features bestselling authors, writing workshops, book signings, and more during the month of November. All Sarasota County Libraries and Historical Resources locations participate. Events are also held at partner locations like Ringling College of Art and Design, The Hermitage Artist Retreat and Venice Performing Arts Center.