SHORT FICTION WORKSHOP

BRINGING YOUR STORY TO LIFE

Kate Folk

What makes a story “work”? How do we write stories that feel alive on the page? How can workshop further enliven a piece of writing, rather than sapping it of that first-draft magic? In this workshop, we’ll celebrate what’s already working well in each submission, and ask questions to discover how the story can more fully embody its ideal form. The class will encourage you to consider the craft choices you’re making, and how these choices contribute to the story’s overall effect. We’ll look at short, published works, with an eye toward what techniques we might borrow. We’ll discuss the conventions and expectations of literary fiction, learning the “rules” so that we can break them more artfully. We’ll also discuss revision techniques, and ponder that tricky question—how do we know when a story is done?