Course Description

Instructor: Georgia Lee

Writing, along with public speaking and death, is an intimidating prospect for many people. This course will de-mystify, simplify and enable you to write anything with ease, and have fun doing it! From technical (e-mails, texts, social media and blogs) to personal (keeping a journal, essays, beginning a memoir, short story or novel) we will explore how to make your writing compelling, clear and concise. Forget everything you learned in grade school about perfect, proper grammar and pseudo-impressive big words and begin to develop your personal voice and style. Beyond writing, this course will help you verbally communicate and articulate your ideas with creativity and confidence.

Bio: Georgia Lee is an award-winning journalist, editor, writer and teacher. She was the first Director of Ivy Hall, the SCAD Atlanta Writing Center, from 2009 through April 2014. Prior to that, she was the Southeast Bureau Chief for Women’s Wear Daily and magazine, where she won the Atrium Award for Business Reporting from the Henry Grady School Journalism at UGA and the DIVA Award for journalism from the Atlanta Apparel Mart. She has contributed to numerous national and local publications. She was a finalist in Glimmer 2012 New Author contest. Her short stories have appeared in literary magazines, blogs and e-book anthologies. She writes grant proposals; website copy and media materials. She judges literary competitions and mentors graduate students writing, editing and polishing theses. She is a content and line editor, helping new writers to take a book from conception to publication. In 2009, she launched The Ivy Hall Writers Series, featuring esteemed and beloved authors in personal appearances. Among them were Margaret Atwood, Richard Ford, the late Elmore Leonard, Augusten Burroughs and Bret Easton Ellis. She established the SCAD Writer-in-Residency program, held numerous events for high-profile organizations and presented local authors in lectures and seminars on topics such as social media and how to pitch books to agents and editors. She moderates yearly author panels for the Decatur Book Festival and is an accomplished public speaker to local writers' groups. She is the former V.P., community outreach at the Atlanta Writers Club and teaches Memoir at OLLI, a continuing education division of Emory University. Her blog, www.georgialeesays.com, nominated by Word Press for the most versatile blogger award. Twitter listed her under Great Writers, Must-Read Writers, Writers We Admire and Popular Women.