Events


6-Week Fiction Workshop: The Nature of the Fun
Jul
11
to Aug 15

6-Week Fiction Workshop: The Nature of the Fun

In this six-week workshop, students will share and critique original works of fiction in a constructive environment dedicated to discovering, or rediscovering, the "fun" in our writing process. 

Through conversation and readings emphasizing the role of "work as play" in fiction, you will, as David Foster Wallace wrote in his essay of the same name, "go deep inside yourself and illuminate precisely the stuff you don't want to see or let anyone else see [...] precisely the stuff all writers and readers everywhere share and respond to, feel."

Students will leave the course with feedback on two fiction submissions (two shorter works or two parts of one longer work), and a greater familiarity with contemporary masters of literary fiction. Each student will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with the instructor for individualized feedback and a chance to discuss writing goals. Class is best-suited for students with some previous workshop experience.

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1-Day Fiction Master Class: The Three Layers of Character
Jun
1
1:00 PM13:00

1-Day Fiction Master Class: The Three Layers of Character

In his book How Fiction Works, critic James Wood describes the modern character in fiction as having three layers: conscious motive, unconscious motive, and the deepest, most ephemeral, motive... to be known. This master class will examine this idea and, through a series of collaborative writing exercises, help students develop original, three-layered characters to use in their fiction. We'll look at short texts by Sherwood Anderson, Flannery O'Connor, and Virginia Woolf that will help us get to the bottom of great, complex character development.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

- Develop a more nuanced understanding of the three layers of character

- Create an original, layered character through a series of useful writing exercises that can be easily repeated at home

- Produce several written sketches that can be used in a later story or novel

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