Overview

“This summer I want to do a lot of work because I really haven’t done anything for ages and there are a couple of things I’d like to finish before I die” — Elizabeth Bishop

Taking inspiration from Bishop, this six-week summer course is dedicated to finishing works-in-progress. Participants are invited to bring in short stories and personal essays that they've been writing or considering for some time.

Together, we will analyze your writing and determine what has kept the piece from being completed, whether it is an issue with voice, structure, arrangement, selection of details, or pacing.

We will read a variety of model texts, including works by Joy Williams, Sam Lipsyte, Ling Ma, George Saunders, Emmanuel Carrère, Annie Proulx, Jamaica Kincaid, Raymond Carver, Amy Hempel, and Clarice Lispector, among others. We will deconstruct these authors’ use of storytelling elements to sharpen and expand our own techniques.

You will leave this course with a deep understanding of how the short story and personal essay works. You will know how to take your writing across the finish line.

Each class, we will:

(10 mins) Review key concepts from the previous class.

(30 mins) Discuss craft elements of our assigned model text.

(20 mins) Write to a generative prompt inspired by craft elements in our model text.

(90 mins) Workshop up to three participants. (Participants will have multiple opportunities to receive detailed feedback on their writing from the group and the instructor.)