The Craft of Writing Series is a three-week program that takes place virtually the first through third Thursdays of each month. Each month focuses on a different genre or form of writing.

Thursday, August 6: Author Conversation

Join acclaimed novelists Peter Geye and Rebecca Makkai for a conversation on the craft of writing the novel.

Thursday, August 13: Interiority Complex with Rebecca Makkai

The great advantage of prose (over theater, film, and life) is that we’re privy to characters’ interior states. But how can a writer get thoughts and emotions across, other than by stating them flat-out or by updating us constantly on breathing and heart rate? We’ll explore ways to use tangent, gesture, backstory, action, association, and more to give characters a rich internal life without resorting to the old cardiopulmonary check-in.

Thursday, August 20: The Quintessential Scene in Fiction with Peter Geye

In most novels, stories are comprised of one scene built atop the next. A child witnesses their father commit a crime; a dinner party goes off the rails; a woman prays in a church; a storm rolls in across the range; a limousine driver kidnaps a wealthy business man; the scenes might be anything, and they might be two paragraphs long or twenty pages, but they all require attention to certain details. In this workshop, we’ll look at a selection of scenes from contemporary fiction and discuss the ways in which they function and succeed. We’ll also talk about strategies for how the writer—whether beginner, intermediate, or advanced—might make better use of their time by strategizing and planning and, mostly, imagining their next scene.

The cost for this three-week program is $150.00. Write On members receive a 10% discount. To become a member, please click here. To register online for this program, please click here. For other registration options, please call 920.868.1457.