Class Description
Course Description:
Is it possible to arrive at the emotional truth of an experience by writing down the story of what can’t happen? This class will help unlock the part of your imagination where the uncanny dwells and then equip you to find, and refine, the story that results. Slipstream, magic realism, fantasy—these are a few of the many names given to literary fiction that leaves realism in the dust and takes the first highway out of town. Whatever you call it, this kind of haunting story is especially effective in the very short format of flash fiction, and we will work on how best to achieve this striking combination of content and form by reading masterful examples, doing group exercises to limber up our imaginations, using prompts to start our own stories, and then incorporating peers’ suggestions to create the best possible piece—all in an afternoon.
Takeaways:
By the end of the class, writers will have one full draft and outlines or plotting for two more stories.
Who Should Register?
For high school writers age 13 - 18 ONLY. Writing notebooks will be available, but feel free to bring your own.
*If you are registering on behalf of your teen, add their email information in the “For a Friend or Child?” field on the right-hand side of the screen before you check out. This will send them a direct link and reminder to create their own profile with GrubStreet.
(After adding the class to your cart, click "Checkout" and click “Add” next to “For a Friend or Child?” on the right-hand side to fill in their email. This is an easy way of linking the class to your child and encourages them to create their own account.)
Parents/guardians must also complete this permission form online before the start of the class.
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. Please visit the Resources tab to access the video-conference link.
Zoom Participation:
Students are not required to turn their camera on, but are encouraged to participate any way they feel comfortable through functions such as the live chat, emoji reactions, and unmuting the microphone. Learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
We ask that instructors enable closed captioning and send a transcript of the session after class. You can also enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting. If your instructor forgets to send the transcript, just send ’em an email!