Advanced Fiction: Writing the Short Story

This is an intensive workshop in the craft of writing short fiction. It is for writers who love to read short stories and want to make their own short stories come alive on the page. Students should arrive having read widely among past and contemporary practitioners of the short story form. We build on that foundation through close reading and discussion of exceptional short stories. We also consider practicalities, such as how to organize a collection in progress, how to submit stories to literary journals, and how to stay connected to your vision. Much of our time together is spent in workshop. Students carefully read and thoughtfully respond to one another's writing and we work together to determine how best to filter and synthesize the feedback offered in a workshop setting. The skills honed via peer feedback are crucial in editing one's own work, and students conclude the term having written and revised two new short stories (10 to 20 pages each).