In this four-week course, we’ll demystify the personal narrative process by figuring out the difference between a snapshot and a story. First-time writers may assume they have to include their entire lives in one piece, which can make getting started on a personal essay confusing and overwhelming. This workshop will help you pinpoint storylines within yourself by leaning into your unique style and tone.

This four-session workshop will introduce you to a range of flash fiction forms–from the shortest pieces, such as 50-word dribbles and 100-word drabbles, to microfiction (400 words or fewer), flash fiction (1,000 words or fewer), and short-short stories (under 2,000 words). We'll learn how to apply poetic techniques like anaphora, metaphor, lists, and short sections to create vivid, memorable stories that prove less is more. 

Over five-weeks, we will explore the intersections between cinema and poetry, and imagine the poet as director, cinematographer, actor, screenwriter, stage designer, documentarian, and editor–all at once. Through an eclectic mix of poems, essays, and screenplay excerpts, we’ll uncover how poetry and film share the key elements of discovery, the transformative tools of language and image, and the uniting of the speaker’s inner and outer worlds.

If you are looking to develop a marketing strategy for your long-term writing goals, this class is for you. Participants will reflect on where they are as writers, where they want to go, and how they want to use a Substack to get there.