Writing for Pleasure:
playing with form & language

This course is about revision and editing through experimentation and improvisation. You will be guided in re/viewing and re/presenting a piece of your own writing to infuse it with new energy and depth, and you will gain confidence exercising your fluency and flexibility as a writer. By reworking an existing piece of your writing in a variety of new forms, you will explore how one story (in any genre) can change when presented in a new shape or structure. We will also play with the piece at the language level—word choice, phrasing, sentence structure, voice, tone, style, etc. as a way of investigating precision, nuance, and specificity in your writing. This is a hands-on class comprised of formal teaching paired with learning by doing during class time and through homework. Conversation will be encouraged.

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We will explore and play with forms such as flash (short/under 1,000 words); autofiction (combining autobiography with fictional elements); hermit crab (form reflects story content); triptych (three takes on one story); graphic memoir (pictures are paramount); lyric (it’s all about word choice); palimpsest (layers that reveal); epistolary (in letter form); prose poem (poetic writing without line breaks); braid (two or more story strands braided together as one). We won’t have time for all of these, but you can see the range that exists for us to explore and have fun with!

 

MATERIALS:

• For week one, please bring a thesaurus to use in class—either in book form or as an app on your phone.

• For week two, please bring a piece of your own writing (any genre or length) or bring the piece of writing you prepare in response to the prompts provided in our week one class.

 

Site: McNally community classroom.

Days: Friday mornings / February 7, 14, 21 & 28

Register with McNally here