Writing for the Young Adult Audience
| What
distinguishes adult fiction with adolescent characters from fiction
written for adolescents? In this workshop on writing for the young
adult audience, we’ll explore the YA category of literature in terms of
subject matter and style. Through in-class writing exercises and
workshop discussion, we’ll practice making technical choices that
contribute to an adolescent sensibility. Please submit a 3,500-word
sample of your writing (a story or an excerpt from your
novel-in-progress).
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Our Lives in Stories
| This
workshop will examine the challenge of taking real-life experiences and
translating them into the written word. All realms of creative
nonfiction will be addressed: personal and lyric essay, memoir, travel
writing, and others. We will examine shape and structure, the use of
traditionally fictive devises in creative nonfiction, and the burgeoning
nonfiction market. Personal and detailed feedback will be provided
through a supportive workshop that will meet daily to discuss students’
work.
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Novel Fundamentals
| You
have the story in your head—but why isn’t it working on the page? Why
do those chapters continue to languish in a drawer? What’s missing? This
workshop, for novelists of all levels, operates from the premise that
the spark of inspiration is all very fine but doesn’t take us far
without a firm grasp of fundamentals. In class we’ll pay considerable
attention to language (I’ll give your sample pages a very vigorous close
reading). We’ll also discuss common pitfalls that occur when writing
about familiar subjects, e.g., family, mortality, faith or sex. Ideally,
you will go home with practical revisions, new material, and a firmer
understanding of your options for your novel.
*Submission word count limit: 5,000
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The Whole Story: Exploring the Possibilities of Voice in Short Fiction
| "The
voice of the story is the whole story," said the venerable short story
writer Grace Paley. This workshop will delve into the quality and
importance of voice in fiction through a series of diverse readings,
daily writing exercises, and generous amounts of peer feedback. The crux
of our workshop will be thoughtful, detailed discussion of
participants' work. Instructor will provide written critique.
*Submission word count limit: 7,000
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Ordinary Genius: Engaging Your Muse and Writing Across Genres
| Writers
of all genres who feel stuck or stale, are looking for a jump-start to a
project, or who simply want to invite their muses in to play: this
workshop is for you. We will generate and workshop new work based on
prompts provided by the professor. We will also examine the
increasingly murky boundaries between genres, finding opportunities to
borrow techniques used by practitioners of one genre in the creation of
work in another. There are no advanced submissions for this workshop.
*Recommended text for students: Addonizio, Kim, Ordinary Genius, WW Norton, 2009; ISBN 978-0-393-33416-6
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