Writing Genre Fiction
Sat - 2020
Daniel José Older
10:10am to 11:40am
Presenter: Daniel José Older
How can taking a bird's eye view of the story help us make sense out of the complicated work of structure? In this workshop, we'll engage with turning points and the central heart of what gives a narrative meaning, exploring strategic approaches and discussing our own work and experiences with the process. Students are encouraged to bring a story of their own to diagram out and analyze.
Sat - 2020
April Eberhardt
3:20pm to 4:50pm
Presenter: April Eberhardt
"Nailing the Spike" focuses on the quick and dramatic arc (i.e. the spike) required to make a short story jump out and grab the reader. Having read thousands of short stories as a reader for the Best American Short Stories series, and as former head reader for Zoetrope--All Story, Francis Ford Coppola's literary journal, April Eberhardt has developed a strong sense of the characteristics that distinguish successful short stories. We’ll discuss what a short story must accomplish in a brief form, how short stories differ from novels and novellas, and the ways in which short story trends have changed. We’ll also discuss ways to approach getting your short stories published. This workshop is suitable for aspiring and experienced short story writers.
Sun - 2020
Sarah Weinman
10:10am to 11:40am
Presenter: Sarah Weinman
Sarah Weinman, author of The Real Lolita, previously edited anthologies of crime novels and stories by women published between World War II and the mid-1970s. In this session she'll discuss writers attendees may be familiar with, like Patricia Highsmith, Dorothy B. Hughes, and Margaret Millar, and those they may be less familiar with, including Nedra Tyre, Elisabeth Sanxay Holding, and Dolores Hitchens. What united these women was a relentless quest to chronicle America as it really was, not necessarily the America depicted in classic hardboiled crime fiction by the likes of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and James M. Cain. Their domain was more domestic, but still merciless and acute in depicting society's ills, and the terror that afflicted women and children in particular.
Sun - 2020
Daniel José Older
1:10pm to 2:40pm
Presenter: Daniel José Older
Place matters. How do we create meaningful worlds around the action of our stories? This interactive seminar uses the organizing concept of institutional power mapping to conceptualize nuanced literary landscapes. We will explore different kinds of power and how they can play out in a narrative structure.
Sun - 2020
Aimee Lurye LaBrie
2:50pm to 3:50pm
Presenter: Aimee Lurye LaBrie
You've finished a first draft of your short story or manuscript. Now, the pleasure (and pain?) of revision begins. Learn how to move your story from its creative genesis into a more fully realized form. By exploring the threads of theme and conflict that likely already exist in your draft, you can begin to find the heart of the story. We'll look at examples of early drafts from published authors to discover their strategies for revision. Participants are encouraged to bring a copy of an incomplete draft for in-class exercises focused on taking your work to the next level.