Writing: Fiction Writing for People Who (Think They) Aren't Fiction Writers

Master Class - When I was a graduate student, I would have given anything to take a poetry workshop to learn more about that way of thinking and exploring language/meaning, but enrollment in workshops across genres was strictly forbidden. Fiction Writing for People Who (Think They) Aren’t Fiction Writers will, instead of perpetuating such divisions, foster communication between the genres; it will also offer an opportunity to rethink one’s own genre through the lens of a related one. My hope is that participation in this workshop, in addition to being enjoyable and thought-provoking, will help students to overcome obstacles in their primary fields of interest by releasing them from the pressure to be “advanced students” or even “experts” in the general field of writing.In this master class, poetry and non-fiction students will explore some of the fundamentals of fiction writing in an open-ended, discussion-based environment. Each week, we will consider an element of craft (such as dialogue, plot, or point of view) by reading and discussing a short story that addresses that topic interestingly. We will also work on an exercise related to that element of craft; students will share these exercises by reading them aloud as well as turning them in to me for brief commentary. In the final weeks of this course, each student will write a short-short story (500 words or less), and on the last day we will workshop all of them. For this reason, this course is limited to fifteen students. Please note that students should expect to complete one reading and exercise before the class begins so that we can start in with substantive work on the first day.