Sometimes, by just entering a story from a different angle we’re able to finally get at the core of an idea that’s been itching, but has also been elusive in terms of allowing us to pin it down. In this generative Variations in Prose workshop, we will closely read outside works of memoir, essay, and fiction with an eye for what elements a writer uses to enter and shape the narrative; we’ll also read a few essays on writing and entering stories. We’ll write a lot — new work or re tellings of stories we haven’t been able to make work. We’ll work on invention and revision, and this workshop will generate a lot of new work.
As always, this energetic, engaging prose writing class will name and examine the unique strengths of fictional or fact-based prose. It will offer guidance to further texture your work into full, developed stories by exploring the murky and extensive waters of prose – of fiction and non-fiction, and all the places in-between. This class boasts a small core of talented regulars. Thus, you receive not only expert instruction from the instructor, but from exceedingly engaged and thoughtful fellow writers. It’s a wonderful class for people looking to create a strong writing community.
Miah Arnold, PhD, is the director of Grackle and Grackle. She has taught creative writing for the past twenty years through Houston non-profits including Inprint, Writers in the Schools, and Aurora Picture Show as well as University of Houston, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston Community College, and Georgia College. Her essay “You Owe Me” about working for M.D. Anderson via Writers in the Schools was selected by Best American Essays in 2012. Her first novel, Sweet Land of Bigamy, was published in 2012.