Writing
Amy Tranchida celebrates moments of discovery, explores the globe every chance she gets, and writes about what connects us all: LOVE.
Amy holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goddard College, 2009, and a BA in Creative Writing and Literature with a minor in Performing Arts from Prescott College, 1999. She teaches English, Literature, and Argument and Research courses at Macomb Community College.
As a writer and English teacher, she helps students develop their communication skills, engage with their critical thinking skills, expand and express their intellectual voice, and overall, connect the relevance of their learning to their lives beyond the classroom.
She encourages students to draw upon life experiences and personal expertise, urges them to find and write about topics that they are passionate about, and motivates them to dig deeper with their investigations to grapple with their critical thinking, consider their audience, and learn how to effectively support their arguments.
Professional Achievements and Publications:
--2013-Present Adjunct English Professor—Macomb Community College, Center Campus
--2011-2014 English & Writing Tutor—Oakland Community College, Auburn Hills Campus
--“Easter Island—the 15” photo contest winner for Pitkin Review, Fall 2009
--“Chairs” photo contest winner at Bear River Writers’ Retreat brochure 2009
--Scholarship winner for Bear River Writers’ Conference, 2008 and 2009
--"Archaeology", published in Pitkin Review, Fall 2009
--"Gone with the Tide", published in Pitkin Review, Spring 2009
--"When the Pendulum Swings", published in Pitkin Review, Fall 2008
--"Scratching Back", published in Pitkin Review, Fall 2008
--2008 Creative Writing Instructor—AJ’s Music Café, Ferndale, MI
--"The Sound of Summer Green", published in PhenomeNEWS, June 2006
--Wrote, designed, and published, Memories of a Journey, copyright 1999—53 works of creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and one play script
--Selected to be the presenter representing the college and the B.A. Arts and Letters Program at Baccalaureate, 1999
--Semi-finalist, into the top 15% out of 3,000 entries, in The Chesterfield Film Company’s Film Writing Fellowship contest, 1999
--Member of Writer’s Guild of Prescott College, 1996 and 1998
--Fall 1998 Teacher’s Assistant for Introduction to Fiction Writing—Prescott College, AZ
--Contributed 5 fiction stories to and co-published a class anthology, The Book Of Small Revelations, copyright 1996
--Spring 1996 Teacher’s Assistant for African Inspired Dance—Prescott College, AZ
Editing / Revision Help
Do you have new writing to flesh out, or old writing that's been abandoned in a forgotten drawer and is now calling you back? Do you have an upcoming assignment, work presentation, or public speech to give? Would you like professional help? You don't have to sweat the details alone.
If you have a literary work that needs reinvigorating, a paper that needs direction or development, a presentation that needs more pizzazz, a speech that needs more heart, or a communication project that you want input on, I am available for editing help and revision advice.
So many of us have good ideas, great ideas even--often, we just need someone to help us navigate towards the heart of the work.
Perhaps you desire more perspective on what to emphasize within your work, or you want to breathe life into a limping line, or you would like another pair of eyes to help you apply the final polish to a nearly complete work. My role is to help you believe in your voice and writing, in order to touch the soul of your project and the hearts of your readers/audience, and overall, to encourage you and give you the tools to produce the best work that you can.
Editorial rates are based on the page count (industry standard is 250 words per page), the scope of your project goals (how much development, editing, revision notes, or overall writing services you require), and the time constraints involved (how up against a deadline are you).
To discuss your project needs, for a quote on requested services, or more information, please contact me.
Testimonials:
After reviewing editorial feedback on two of this poet's chapbooks, Bruce writes:
"Well it took 30 years of hard work. My writing coach/editor (creative writing consultant/professor) on my latest two poetry books wrote, "Bravo: strong images, flow, rhythm, and mechanics. Overall, great work, and well crafted,"--then she proceeded to kick my ass and mop the floor with all one hundred poems.😀 (That's why I pay her, to make me a better writer)."
Writing Workshops
Do you already have a creative writing background? Have you always wanted to? This workshop is for you! It's fun, it's educational, and it's a great way to kick start or continue your writing practice -- it's the ‘write’ time!
Whether you want to work one-on-one with Amy, or bring your own private group of friends to the workshop, you will come away with fresh work and some news tricks up your sleeve.
Workshop Schedule:
Session 1:
Getting Started—after introductions, we will look at several reading examples, and then work with a variety of exercises and prompts to get us writing.
Session 2:
The Five Senses—we will explore the importance of incorporating the senses within our writing and look at their affect on the reader. We will also discuss revision, and explore some helpful ways to start polishing our writing.
Session 3:
Crafting Self or Other—we will look at how we bring characters, or ourselves, onto the page in an authentic way. We’ll explore how to develop a persona and the ways we can probe the motivations behind our character’s actions, along with the power of incorporating body language, as well as, the setting into our work.
Session 4:
He said, She said—we will spend time looking at and working with dialogue, and how we can make our writing sound believable.
Session 5:
Got Style?—we will take a close look at style, voice, and form, and how they affect our work.
**Time will be set aside in each session for solo and/or group writing exercises.**
This 5 session workshop is generally completed by meeting weekly, at a designated time, and is open to all genres.
The minimum time for each weekly session is 1.5 hrs ($150), and the maximum time for each session is 3 hours ($300).
For solo or private group rates (min. 4 - max. 20 writers), and whether you are interested in booking just one session, the entire 5 session workshop, an accelerated overview of the entire workshop in one longer session, or you would like me to design a custom workshop to suit your specific needs, please contact me here:
Final workshop rates depend on headcount, copying costs, and travel expenses.
Testimonials:
Answering if the material in the workshops was of interest/helpful to his writing practice, Dale wrote:
“I’ve learned more in these 5 weeks than I have in the last 10 years since college for Journalism.”
Answering if the students felt Amy was adequately prepared for each workshop, Tom wrote:
“Very well prepared, more so than writing teachers at [my past experiences at] community college.”
Answering if he benefited from attending the workshops, Roy wrote:
“I really enjoyed the experience of attending the workshops. I hadn’t done so much writing in a long time and I was motivated to do the exercises and found the joy of writing under a deadline benefited the quality of my work.”
Answering if he was satisfied with the balance between discussions, readings, and writing exercises, Andre wrote:
“The flow of the class was well balanced. The 3 hour session went by quickly and the activities were engaging and varied.”
Regarding the overall camaraderie and workshop flow, Pamela, a fellow teaching professional, observing a Dialogue Workshop (Session 4), wrote:
"The class was an intimate group of people who all meaningfully contributed to the experience. The activities were relevant to the topic, varied, and paced briskly and kept the students engaged. The students commented that the time went by very quickly and that they had gotten a lot out of the evening."