This intense, generative course is a workshop in the classical sense of woodworking or cobblery; our focus will be on craft, not critique.

Every workshop member will turn in one-to-three-page story “chunks” which will ultimately be assembled into a 10-to-20-page short story. These chunks (typically scenes, but not always) may be linear or not; they may closely model the structure or techniques of one of our readings—or not.

Depending on class size, we will have micro-discussions of each person’s chunk, or at times we may do other types of creative response, during which the writer is not silenced and is free to ask for specific types of feedback. Each week, we'll “apprentice” with established ink-slingers by closely reading short stories that use different tools, styles, and building strategies, such as the list, reverse chronology, epistolary, comes to realize/fails to realize, second person, unreliable narrator, and others. We will also do some craft-based, in-class exercises. The instructor will have a private conference with each writer about their finished draft.

Trigger warning: Some readings may be visceral, disturbing, or violate the social contract.cription goes here

THURSDAYS, 8 WEEKS

APR 4-MAY 23

6:00 - 8:00PM

LOCATION:

THE PORCH HOUSE AT 2811 DOGWOOD PL., NASHVILLE, TN 37204

The ticking clock, the switchback, the speeding bullet… Writers are peddlers of fake time. In this fun, exercise-based seminar, we’ll go over the fundamentals of scene (showing) and summary (telling). We’ll explore what Madison Smartt Bell calls the “scenelett” and Jane Allison calls “splicing sensory glimmers” in order to enliven summary. We’ll practice triggering flashbacks and returning readers safely to the present and we’ll try an Alice Munro style flashforward.

JUNE 11th

5-7PM Central

LOCATION: Virtual at Lighthouse Writer’s Summer Litfest

Time Machine II & III follow on June 12 & 13

The ticking clock, slo-mo, the speeding bullet—readers don’t get invested unless they believe the clock is ticking—whether a bomb is under the table or a character simply wants to graduate from Clown College. In this fun, exercise-based seminar, we’ll cover the full craft menu of narrative hydraulics as described by Jane Alison: gap, summary, scene, dilation, and pause. Then, we’ll attempt each of these using Tobias Wolff’s famous “Bullet in the Brain” as a model. We’ll also explore the concept of “two boats,” as illustrated in the pulp novel “Dead Calm.”

JUNE 12th

5-7PM Central

LOCATION: Virtual at Lighthouse Writer’s Summer Litfest

Time Machine III to follow on June 13

Time Machine III: Modeling Time-Craft with Mary Gaitskill

In this fun, exercise-based seminar, we'll model Mary Gaitskill's impressive timecraft. We'll look at her use of scenic summary or the "scenelette" and how she expertly weaves direct dialogue, summarized dialogue, scene, and flashback. Then, we’ll emulate her techniques.

JUNE 13th

5-7PM Central

LOCATION: Virtual at Lighthouse Writer’s Summer Litfest