How do we tell the story of a traumatic event or its aftermath? What if, after the event, we were silenced by others or just by our own inability to put the experience into words? In this generative course, we will experiment with different approaches to narrating real or fictional trauma while keeping in mind that each traumatic experience suggests a variety of different stories and may be narrated in a variety of different ways.
What separates memorable characters from forgettable ones? What about a character that will make you invest in their journey or root for their downfall?
In this workshop, we will discuss what grabs a reader’s attention and draws them to a character. Writers will develop authentic fictional characters with the building blocks of character development: physical description, dialogue, and action. But we won’t stop there! We will explore the history, psychology, weaknesses, and motives that keep the reader hooked.
In this month-long workshop, we’ll study the masters of short-form writing, as well as prose poems and narrative poets, who bring us to the action quickly and hold us there with carefully honed, emotive language and images that resonate. Students will leave with four drafts of stories and plenty of ideas for generating new pieces.
Want to demystify the path to traditional publishing but don’t have the time and money to attend a full-scale writing conference? Learn about traditional publishing through sequential steps beginning with vetting a literary agent and a publisher, writing the query letter, mastering the synopsis, and formatting a manuscript to industry standards. This hands-on approach to traditional publishing, including the university press system, will guide you through industry standards, ensuring better opportunities for your manuscript or future writing projects. Bring your questions and projects to class and take that next step in your writing journey!
