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September 2021
6 Weeks, 6 Stories at GrubStreet
Whether you want to expand your knowledge, experiment with new forms, or just produce fresh work, this fun, intensive class will give you the opportunity, over six weeks, to begin six new short stories and/or write new material as a basis for longer work. Each week, through a series of directed, in-class writing exercises, you will explore plot, form, character, theme, setting, and language. Students will share work with one another for in-class workshop sessions. Classes will also include craft…
Find out more »From Sentence to Story at StoryStudio Chicago
Six Thursdays, starting September 16th, from 6:30-9 Central Time. https://www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/creative-writing/from-sentence-to-story-with-tim-horvath/ When we read a great work of fiction, we can get so swept up in story–its swerves of phrase and plot, its dynamic characters and authority of voice–that it feels as though the whole thing emerged fully-formed. But what if we were to take stories apart and peer at their component parts on many scales, from sentences, through paragraphs, into scenes, only then zooming out to reconsider stories as a…
Find out more »October 2021
Now Where Were We? Spotlight on Setting at GrubStreet
In fiction, the most effective settings play a significant role in shaping the characters and story, but don't overwhelm it. How to achieve this striking balance, where readers can feel as though they are transported into the world of the story and don't skim over passages, i.e. the parts that Elmore Leonard called "the parts readers skip"? In this class, we'll examine a wide range of settings and uses of setting, each tailored to the particular work and enhancing the…
Find out more »November 2021
Unruly Fictions: Surreal, Experimental, and Unclassifiable Narratives at GrubStreet
The Irish virtuoso of the short story William Trevor famously said “I think all writing is experimental.... I experiment all the time but the experiments are hidden.” In this class, we’ll look at writing that bends reality–and occasionally breaks it–and plays with language, structure, form, and narrative in a wide variety of ways. But this course isn’t only for writers who think of themselves as “experimental.” Rather, we’ll explore how innovative and subversive strategies can open up writing of all…
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