We read fiction, paradoxically, for the moments that feel true. We want to see the mess of life, the revealing slip-ups, and the words that should not have been spoken. The clearest character arc can’t compete with the moment when the protagonist unconsciously sabotages his best-laid plans. These are the bits of light that get in and make the reader nod at the page and say, ‘Yes, that. Exactly.’ How can they be created? Where can these germs of reality be found? And how can we slip them into our tightly-wound stories?

This short story-writing workshop will be a search party for just such sparks. We will use exercises to free up our narrators, characters, and their worlds. Through brave workshopping and discussion, we will make your stories come alive. What more could you ask for?

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Expected Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will learn to choose the right details and dialogue to make a character breathe.
2. Participants will focus on the role of the unconscious throughout the story.
3. Participants will gain an appreciation of how revision can be used to pare back all but what is real.

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Participant Requirements

Pen and paper. Participants with a work in progress may bring a one paragraph summary.