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  • Workshop
  • Online: Zoom
  • Adult (18+)
  • 5 Weeks

Writing Fiction from Real Life

No Longer Enrolling

  • $355.00 Non-Member
  • $340.00 Member

Class Description

Looking for inspiration? Look around! In this class, we'll practice using the real world as a jumping-off point for our fiction, sharpening our eyes and ears to personal experiences, quotidian details, and current events to inspire and enhance our fiction writing. Rather than for waiting for the muse to strike, students will learn to seize inspiration from every bus ride, lost love, and piece of junk mail. In the process, we'll discuss techniques for using aspects of reality to make even our most far-fetched fictions ring true.

Over the course of six weeks, students will draw on personal experiences and observations to craft compelling scenes, characters, and dialogue. The first two classes will focus on in-class exercises, explorations, and short mini-workshops of student work. During the last four classes, each student will workshop one longer work of up to fifteen pages, with additional in-class exercises and readings as time allows. Readings may include authors such as Elif Bautman, Clare Beams, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Ken Liu, and Curtis Sittenfeld. By the end of the course, students will have built several scenes and story-starters along with one longer draft ready for revision. Most importantly, you'll leave with a toolkit of practical approaches for translating real life into fuel for your fiction.

Did you know that we have scholarships available for all GrubStreet classes? To apply, click the "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button in the top right corner of this page. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your scholarship application and await our Scholarship Committee's decision before registering for the class. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

Scholarships Format/Location

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.