Point of View Intensive: Online

Class Description

Alexander Chee says in his book of essays How to Write an Autobiographical Novel, "problems with plot are almost always problems that begin in the choice of point of view."

If you've ever been told, "I wish I could get closer to this character," or "something about this story just isn't working for me, and I'm not sure what it is" –– or, if you simply just want to dig into perspective and learn more about how it affects your stories, as well as experiment with new modes of perspective –– this workshop is for you. The choice of point of view affects nearly every aspect of your story or novel. So how do we know when we're choosing the right one? Often point of view is discussed in black and white terms: the difference between first and third person, or past and present tense. But in this class, we will approach point of view and perspective with a 360 degree view: not only what the different options of POVs are, but why writers choose to use one over another, how these choices affect not only the final product but your writing process, and how to go about choosing the right perspective for your project.

Each week, we will discuss a new aspect of perspective –– point of view, narrative distance, and tense, etc –– look at published examples of each, and experiment with them through weekly exercises. In addition to the weekly writing exercises, students will also bring one scene or story that they have struggled with, and we will offer feedback and discuss how the principles we've learned thus far might be used to improve the scene or story in question.

You'll come away from this class with a clearer understanding of point of view, and a roadmap for how to make decisions on point of view and perspective in your own work.

*Please note that while our handy dandy "Schedule" tab states a 6-7pm class time, there are actually no live meetings for this class! Assignments and deadlines will be given by your instructor. Students will have access to the online class portal starting at 5pm on the first day of class. Instructions for logging onto the online portal will be emailed to registered students before 5pm the first day of class.

Scholarship Information

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 more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.