Class Description
Part of the fun of writing a novel is creating a whole world -- elaborate characters studies, histories and geographies. But once we’ve done all that work, where does the real story begin? How can we immerse a reader in the world we’ve envisioned without alienating? This class is for writers who have completed a draft of a novel, but who are unsure of their opening chapters. Through a series of summary, structure and revision exercises, this class will help you reshuffle to locate the right point of entry for your novel -- one that grabs the reader’s interest and leaves them wanting more. We’ll read the masterful beginnings of several different recent novels for inspiration. Here’s to new beginnings!
Possible readings:
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
Pretend I’m Dead by Jennifer Beagin
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.