Writing for children’s picture books, creating a one-act play and honing the opening chapters of your novel are the subjects tackled in the winter writing classes offered by Field’s End, taught by experts in their fields.

Award-winning children’s author George Shannon leads “Writing the Picture Book Text,” in five Wednesday classes from Jan. 31 to Feb. 21. Class fee is $200.

Adding the story to a picture book is not as easy as it looks. Shannon will discuss topics such as “Writing as a Child’s Equal,” “Sound and Rhythm as Content,” “When Animals Talk” and “Story Not Message.”

Students may bring a work in progress and will begin at least three new picture book texts, with the expectation of completing at least one during the course.

Shannon has published 37 books, including 27 picture books. Popular titles are “White is for Blueberry,” “Busy in the Garden” and “Tippy-Toe Chick, Go!”

Playwright Elizabeth Heffron leads a six-week class for 12 students called “The Play’s the Thing,” weekly from Jan. 27. Class fee is $300.

Students will be encouraged to write a one-act play, which will be eligible for Bainbridge Performing Arts’ “Stage Off” play readings.

Students will also perform theatrical exercises to illustrate the basic principles of dramatic structure.

Heffron’s plays have been produced by the Seattle Repertory Theatre and ACT Theatre in Seattle. She is a Principal Playwright at Seattle Dramatists and won a Playwriting Fellowship from Artist Trust/WSAC.

For those with a book in progress, novelist Carole Glickfeld presents an intensive, hands-on class, “Taking Your Novel to the Next Level: Launching Your Opening Chapters.”

The class is limited to 20 participants and will be held on six Saturdays beginning Jan. 27. Class fee is $360.

Students will work on the first three chapters or first 50 pages of a manuscript. Through class discussions, instructor and peer critiques and in-class exercises, writers will work to create dynamic and compelling opening chapters for their novels. Enrollment is based on instructor evaluation of a writing sample.

Glickfeld’s first book, “Useful Gifts,” won the Flannery O’Connor award for Short Fiction. She has won numerous honors, including a Washington State Governor’s Arts Award and a Literary Fellowship for the National Endowment for the Arts.

She taught adult creative writing classes at the University of Washington for 10 years.

Registration begins Dec. 1, with all classes held at venues on Bainbridge Island. Registration forms are available online at www.fieldsend.org and at the Bainbridge Library. Tuition assistance is available.

Field’s End is a non-profit writers’ resource affiliated with the Bainbridge Library, offering classes, monthly Roundtable discussions, an annual writers’ conference and special events.