Cooper Street Workshop: Finding the Heart of a Scene

Finding the Heart of a Scene is a 3-hour long event on Saturday, May 4, exploring how to write scenes with momentum and drive.

We will begin by comparing a scene that stagnant with one that has movement. We’ll discuss what makes a scene move and what elements should be a part of every scene. We’ll learn how to give the scene a sense of progression and forward-movement that drives plot and pulls in the reader. Then, participants will have an opportunity to revise or write their scenes and share with the class. Participants are invited to bring pieces of writing to the workshop, but will have time to generate material as others revise if they are beginners with little work.

COST: $60 General, $10 Camden residents & Rutgers-Camden students

About the Instructor: 

Jaime Grookett is an American author whose work is featured in literary magazines and anthologies, such as Typehouse Literary Magazine, Flip Sides Anthology, They Call Us Magazine, and Quail Bell Magazine. Her short story “Fine is for Sugar” earned “Best of Fiction, 2020” at Across the Margin. In 2021, she was shortlisted for the Philadelphia Writers Conference Emerging Writer Fellowship. In 2022, she received her MFA from Drexel University. She is guest editor at Valiant Scribe and teaches in the College of Education at Rowan University. Her debut novel, The Invisible Ones, which is inspired by her family history, is forthcoming in 2024.