English CFLF. Flash Fiction: Writing and Workshopping the Very Short Story

Instructor: Nick White
Wednesday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: TBD
Enrollment: Limited to 12 students

How can we tell a compelling story in under three pages, or in one page, or perhaps in just a single sentence? In this workshop, we will explore the genre of flash fiction: stories that are small in size, but grand in ambition. This is a fiction workshop for those who are unabashed sentence-lovers. We will look closely at syntax, at word choice, and, yes, even at grammar and punctuation to uncover what pleasures and mysteries the well-crafted sentence can provide to our readers. We will also consider what we don’t include on the page and how we can use this “blank space” to imply larger, more complex narratives.

Students will write and workshop several flash fictions throughout the semester. We will also read and study writers who have excelled at the form, including Grace Paley, Diane Williams, Lydia Davis, Peter Orner and more. This workshop is open to both beginning and advanced writers. 

Supplemental Application Information: Prior experience writing fiction is helpful but not required. Please submit a writing sample of 3-5 pages of fiction, along with an application letter explaining your interest in this course, any writing experience you feel is relevant, and listing examples of work that moves and/or influences you, explaining why it does.

Apply via Submittable (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Sunday, April 6)