Fiction Workshop: Short-Story Mechanics

Catalog description

Many authors will say that the best way to embark on the apprenticeship of fiction writing is to write relentlessly and read extensively. This, especially the latter, is as close to self-evident truth as there is in this business. Even when a story seems magically virtuosic, its inner cranks can be taken apart and analyzed. In this practice, we will discover what is working and replicate those techniques uniquely in our own work. In this course, we will take an in- depth look at our own writing and the work of the “greats." When we do look at pieces by Jhumpa Lahiri, Tobias Wolff, Lorrie Moore, Edward P. Jones, and others, we will not be worshippers but, rather, critical agnostics who need to thoroughly break down their craft in order to believe. As for the writing, in addition to weekly prompts, students will be counted on to produce one full-length short story to be revisited throughout the course. This is meant to introduce students to the painstaking literary art of revision. During workshop and individual conferences, students will receive advice on how to improve their piece, which will guide them in producing a final, more realized version at the end of the semester. Ultimately, this course will be about what we write and what inspires us to write, what coaxes the words onto paper. So, get ready for breakthroughs and agony but, hopefully, more of the former. Words and Pictures