Wed October 7, 2015
Fiction Workshop: Building and Refining Your Storytelling Skills
SEE EVENT DETAILS
When we read good stories they tend to endure in our hearts as touchstones that enrich our understanding of the world. “We’ve all had the experience of reading something we like and wondering how the author developed such a breathtaking idea, with such compelling characters, and brought it to fruition,” says Cary. “Those of us who admire good writing, and want to write ourselves, naturally wish to develop those skills. But without feedback from others it’s hard to escape the echo chamber and get a fresh perspective on our work.”
A fiction workshop is an excellent way to broaden and enrich that perspective. It gives students a chance to focus on their short stories or novels-in-progress while receiving insightful responses from fellow class members and from Cary.
Each student will draft two or three stories (or parts of stories) to be shared and workshopped with an eye toward constructive feedback that will help them begin to see their particular strengths and weaknesses. They will also attempt at least one revision, with the understanding that first drafts are only a starting point. Cary will address aspects of craft as prompted by each week’s submissions, and will also suggest occasional readings of essays or short stories to individual students based on his assessment of their needs.
“Fiction writing engages our hearts, challenges our minds, and helps us connect with our own inner lives and those of our readers,” says Cary. “It’s also an excellent way to have fun. The workshop will create a common ground for everyone to discover more about themselves as writers, to mentor each other, and to improve at this most ineffable of crafts.”
Cary Groner’s debut novel, Exiles (Spiegel & Grau / Random House), was a Chicago Tribune best book of 2011. His short stories have won numerous awards and appeared in venues that include Glimmer Train, American Fiction, Mississippi Review, Southern California Review, Sycamore Review, Tampa Review, and Zymbol. Cary earned his MFA in 2009 from the University of Arizona, where he also taught undergraduate fiction writing.
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A fiction workshop is an excellent way to broaden and enrich that perspective. It gives students a chance to focus on their short stories or novels-in-progress while receiving insightful responses from fellow class members and from Cary.
Each student will draft two or three stories (or parts of stories) to be shared and workshopped with an eye toward constructive feedback that will help them begin to see their particular strengths and weaknesses. They will also attempt at least one revision, with the understanding that first drafts are only a starting point. Cary will address aspects of craft as prompted by each week’s submissions, and will also suggest occasional readings of essays or short stories to individual students based on his assessment of their needs.
“Fiction writing engages our hearts, challenges our minds, and helps us connect with our own inner lives and those of our readers,” says Cary. “It’s also an excellent way to have fun. The workshop will create a common ground for everyone to discover more about themselves as writers, to mentor each other, and to improve at this most ineffable of crafts.”
Cary Groner’s debut novel, Exiles (Spiegel & Grau / Random House), was a Chicago Tribune best book of 2011. His short stories have won numerous awards and appeared in venues that include Glimmer Train, American Fiction, Mississippi Review, Southern California Review, Sycamore Review, Tampa Review, and Zymbol. Cary earned his MFA in 2009 from the University of Arizona, where he also taught undergraduate fiction writing.
When we read good stories they tend to endure in our hearts as touchstones that enrich our understanding of the world. “We’ve all had the experience of reading something we like and wondering how the author developed such a breathtaking idea, with such compelling characters, and brought it to fruition,” says Cary. “Those of us who admire good writing, and want to write ourselves, naturally wish to develop those skills. But without feedback from others it’s hard to escape the echo chamber and get a fresh perspective on our work.”
A fiction workshop is an excellent way to broaden and enrich that perspective. It gives students a chance to focus on their short stories or novels-in-progress while receiving insightful responses from fellow class members and from Cary.
Each student will draft two or three stories (or parts of stories) to be shared and workshopped with an eye toward constructive feedback that will help them begin to see their particular strengths and weaknesses. They will also attempt at least one revision, with the understanding that first drafts are only a starting point. Cary will address aspects of craft as prompted by each week’s submissions, and will also suggest occasional readings of essays or short stories to individual students based on his assessment of their needs.
“Fiction writing engages our hearts, challenges our minds, and helps us connect with our own inner lives and those of our readers,” says Cary. “It’s also an excellent way to have fun. The workshop will create a common ground for everyone to discover more about themselves as writers, to mentor each other, and to improve at this most ineffable of crafts.”
Cary Groner’s debut novel, Exiles (Spiegel & Grau / Random House), was a Chicago Tribune best book of 2011. His short stories have won numerous awards and appeared in venues that include Glimmer Train, American Fiction, Mississippi Review, Southern California Review, Sycamore Review, Tampa Review, and Zymbol. Cary earned his MFA in 2009 from the University of Arizona, where he also taught undergraduate fiction writing.
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A fiction workshop is an excellent way to broaden and enrich that perspective. It gives students a chance to focus on their short stories or novels-in-progress while receiving insightful responses from fellow class members and from Cary.
Each student will draft two or three stories (or parts of stories) to be shared and workshopped with an eye toward constructive feedback that will help them begin to see their particular strengths and weaknesses. They will also attempt at least one revision, with the understanding that first drafts are only a starting point. Cary will address aspects of craft as prompted by each week’s submissions, and will also suggest occasional readings of essays or short stories to individual students based on his assessment of their needs.
“Fiction writing engages our hearts, challenges our minds, and helps us connect with our own inner lives and those of our readers,” says Cary. “It’s also an excellent way to have fun. The workshop will create a common ground for everyone to discover more about themselves as writers, to mentor each other, and to improve at this most ineffable of crafts.”
Cary Groner’s debut novel, Exiles (Spiegel & Grau / Random House), was a Chicago Tribune best book of 2011. His short stories have won numerous awards and appeared in venues that include Glimmer Train, American Fiction, Mississippi Review, Southern California Review, Sycamore Review, Tampa Review, and Zymbol. Cary earned his MFA in 2009 from the University of Arizona, where he also taught undergraduate fiction writing.
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Date/Times:
2121 Bonar Street, Berkeley, CA 94702
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