Fiction with Sara Zarr
Fiction: The Human Point of View
This is an all-levels workshop combining manuscript critique, craft conversations, and generative work. Those with pages will have an opportunity to have them workshopped in a way that serves as a springboard for discussion about all matters of writing craft and technique. Those just getting started will have a chance to talk through ideas, share early material, and take home some tools for forging ahead. Throughout the week together, we'll explore practical and philosophical questions about writing fiction, and engage in exercises designed to deepen voice, attention, and narrative thinking. We’ll also dive into our weird obsessions, esoteric knowledge, private questions, and unique experiences—the human sources from which fiction grows and that AI can never replicate.
Each Day
- Opening discussion with chance to comment on any of the larger Glen sessions and make connections.
- A mix of manuscript critique, exercises, reading, and discussion depending on the makeup of the class.
Preparation
Participants who would like their pages workshopped by the group should submit 12-18 pages of double-spaced prose by June 26. Further instructions will be sent to the class as the deadline approaches.
Supplies
Something to write with and something to write on.
Who is best suited for this class?
Writers with pages of a novel or short story draft to discuss, and new writers who have thought through story ideas but haven't gotten far into the process or aren't sure how to start.
About the Instructor
Sara Zarr is the acclaimed author of ten novels and two works of nonfiction. She’s a National Book Award finalist and two-time Utah Book Award winner. Her books have been variously named to annual best books lists of the American Library Association, Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, the Guardian, the International Reading Association, the New York Public Library, and Los Angeles Public Library, and have been translated into many languages. She has served as a judge for the National Book Award.
Sara has written essays, creative nonfiction, and short fiction for Image, Hunger Mountain online, Response, Gather, and Relief Journal as well as for several anthologies, and is a MacDowell Fellow (2014). Her first book, Story of a Girl, was made into a 2017 television movie directed by Kyra Sedgwick. Story of a Girl was recently named one of the Best Books of the 21st Century by Kirkus.