Class Description
In this advanced short fiction class spanning five months, you will come with a concept for a short story collection, and leave with a solid start of a draft and a plan for where to go next. This class is perfect for those with at least five story drafts, who are interested in eventually participating in the Short Story Incubator.
We will study published collections from authors like Giada Scodellaro, Joy Williams, Nana Kwame Adjei Brenya, and Bora Chung, identifying the elements that help the stories cohere within the collection. We'll answer questions like, how does one order the stories in a collection? How different can they be from each other in content, length, and form? What keeps a reader reading from story to story? We'll work on developing your collection's theme, arc, and major goals, and lay the groundwork for workshopping the pieces that will appear in your collection.
We will also work towards advancing your story drafts, polishing some of the pieces that will comprise your collection. You will have several opportunities to workshop your stories and receive in-depth feedback during this portion of class, all with an eye towards enriching the larger project of your story collection. Throughout the course, we will have multiple planning touchpoints for your book, adjusting planning as your stories develop, so that you will leave this course with a clear vision in your next steps towards bringing your short story collection to life.
Important dates: The application deadline for this class is Friday, December 20th, 2024, by 11:59pm (EST). Applications submitted after the deadline will not be reviewed and will not receive a response. The payment deadline for admitted students is Monday, January 6th.
Writing Roadmap: We've created a simple, goal-based writing roadmap to help you find the perfect GrubStreet course for your writing needs.
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.