Fiction Workshop: Subject Matter, Voice, Form, and Purpose

Catalog description

What does it mean to be a writer today? How do we find our subject matter, our voices, our forms? The writer Paula Whyman observed, “Art in its many forms can give voice to our concerns, hopes, fears, anxieties—and joys. Art can provide solace. It can spur engagement. It can increase understanding. It can help us feel less alone.” Through reading and writing assignments, we will begin the journey toward understanding who we can be as fiction writers. We will explore technical questions such as: What is craft? What makes a story a story? How does one go from word to sentence to paragraph to scene? Does a transformation always need to take place within a story? Can structure shape content? The workshop will be divided between generative sessions, workshopping student stories, and discussing published literature, which will include work from authors such as George Saunders, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Jennifer Egan, and Amina Gautier. We will also read essays by a range of authors who combine questions of craft with larger cultural issues. From the start, we will work on developing constructive criticism. When developed in a supportive atmosphere, critiques should help better grasp the workings of our stories and reveal what they can be in the world. Children’s Literature: A Writing Workshop