The Magic of Flash Nonfiction

Sean Glatch — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 19:53:50 +0000

True, beautiful, quick.

The best flash pieces transport readers immediately and reveal dazzling truths with singular style, form, language, or slant. Essays of fewer than 1,000 words are fun to write and often easier to publish than longer pieces.

In this workshop, we’ll study and practice the magic of flash nonfiction. We’ll examine how a handful of exemplary brief essays and micro memoirs achieve their impact. We’ll identify the elements essential to flash nonfiction. We’ll discuss what such short pieces borrow from other forms and how they differ from prose poems or memoir excerpts, for example.

You’ll be prompted and guided to craft and refine your own flash nonfiction pieces. You’ll begin composing brief essays in class, based on a variety of prompts that are sure to spark new ideas and lead your creativity in unexpected directions. Then you’ll choose one of those beginnings to develop into a draft that you’ll receive light feedback on. We’ll discuss revision techniques, pinpointing strategies especially useful for this form. Finally, you’ll be invited to share your revised draft and solicit additional comments to help you develop your work further. (Sharing your work is entirely optional. Writers who choose not to share their work will still benefit from writing exercises and discussions related to form and craft.)

This workshop is designed to help writers at any level advance their understanding and practice of flash nonfiction. You’ll leave this workshop with at least one completed flash nonfiction piece, plus at least three new pieces in progress.

Learning and Writing Goals

Learning Goals:

By the end of this workshop, you will have:

Recognized the unique qualities of flash nonfiction, including how it grabs and keeps a reader’s attention
Explored the differences between flash nonfiction and similar genres
Experimented with a variety of flash nonfiction forms
Identified the potential in your flash nonfiction drafts
Learned several techniques for revising and polishing your drafts
Determined which generative and revision techniques suit your flash nonfiction writing style and preferences

Writing Goals:

Draft least four new creative nonfiction pieces of fewer than 1,500 words in response to unique prompts using multiple generative techniques
Revise at least one flash nonfiction piece
Refine at least one flash nonfiction piece with an eye toward publication
Target appropriate publications and prepare to submit your piece(s)

Workshop Schedule:

Live meetings via Zoom, Wednesdays, 6 – 8 p.m. Central Time. Weekly lectures and submissions will be via email.

Week One: Find the Magic in Flash

Writing with Consistency and Courage

Sean Glatch — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 12:54:30 +0000

Writing with Consistency and Courage is designed for writers at any level who are looking to begin a new project, resume an old one, overcome obstacles in a work-in-progress, or surprise themselves with a forward leap.

Success in writing—whether it means starting your story that longs to be written, joyfully adding pages, being surprised by the muse’s gifts, or, yes, publishing—isn’t determined simply by talent, connections, or a deep understanding of craft. Success depends on consistency and courage. These qualities aren’t flashy. But they work. The good news is that everyone can develop and strengthen them.

In this workshop you’ll learn practical tools for cultivating consistency and courage. We’ll explore why and how these qualities count for more than talent or craft when it comes to starting, finishing, and polishing drafts. You will be guided to examine what they mean for your own writing. You’ll set achievable goals for making incremental progress, and identify ways of meeting those goals. You’ll learn several techniques for getting to and staying at the page, overcoming resistance, and tapping into and trusting your creative intuition.

Finally, you’ll compose new work in response to prompts, generating momentum that can carry you into your next writing session. We won’t share what we write, but we’ll gather in a spirit of curiosity and generosity to support our own and each other’s writing. There will be plenty of time for questions.

Learning Goals

By the end of this workshop, you will have:

Explored and defined what courage and consistency mean for your writing.
Devised strategies for writing more boldly and regularly.
Learned and experimented with techniques for overcoming resistance to writing.
Practiced bravery and trusted your creative intuition while crafting new work.

Writing Goals

Responses to prompts about consistency, courage, obstacles and desired outcomes in your writing practice.
At least two pages of new writing while practicing courage and experimenting with generative techniques.
Responses to prompts about the drafting experience, including successes, surprises, stumbles, and joys when challenged to push beyond resistance.

Workshop Schedule

This workshop meets from 2-5 P.M. U.S. Eastern Time.

15 minutes: Introduction and lecture on the role of consistency and courage in writing
30 minutes: Writing in response to prompts to explore courage and consistency, anticipate obstacles, and identify techniques to overcome obstacles
15 minutes: Discussion about answers to process-related prompts
15 minutes: Lecture on silencing the inner critic and writing techniques that can build bravery.
30 minutes: Drafting new work with generative writing techniques

15 minutes: Writing in response to prompts to reflect on the generative exercises
10 minutes: Discussion about how new generative techniques lead to breakthroughs
35 minutes: Lecture on dependable strategies for overcoming resistance at every stage of writing
15 minutes: Questions and answers about cultivating consistency and courage

In discussions, writers will be encouraged to share individual challenges, revelations, and resolutions revealed during the workshop as a way of supporting themselves and each other.

Why Take a Creative Writing Course with Writers.com?

We welcome writers of all backgrounds and experience levels, and we are here for one reason: to support you on your writing journey.
Small groups keep our online writing courses lively and intimate.
Work through your weekly lectures, course materials, and writing assignments at your own pace.
Share and discuss your work with fellow writers in a supportive course environment.
Award-winning instructor Tamara Dean will offer you direct, personal feedback and suggestions on every assignment you submit.

Click the Enroll Now button below, enter your details on the Checkout page,
and reserve your spot in the course.

$115.00Enroll Now

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Tamara Dean | Writers.com