Courses

Fiction and creative nonfiction writers can learn important storytelling skills from each other. Some of those skills include developing memorable characters, incorporating effective dialogue, creating evocative imagery, observing the world for just the right facts and details, and bringing all this together in a vividly irresistible prose style. In this course, we will study a variety of tools in the toolboxes of successful fiction and nonfiction writers. In addition, we will talk about strategies for finding the truth in your own writing and the ethics of blurring the boundary between genres. We will read a wide variety of work by such writers as James Baldwin, Laleh Khadivi, Annie Proulx, and Mohsin Hamid. Weekly writing exercises will expand your craft, voice, and style. By the end of the course, you will have a revised draft of fiction, nonfiction, or something in between, as well as a new understanding of the storytelling strategies available when you tackle any future writing project.