According to art critic Herbert Read, “True art persists as an object of contemplation.” One of the reasons that it has this capacity to hold our attention—like the note of a tuning fork after it has been struck—is that it has been created out of contemplation. The contemplative essay, also called...

This workshop provides a two-day entry into defining and manipulating prose styles. Most writers and readers will tell you that to have an engaging style, we need to capture the sound of a “real person speaking,” but it is equally true that good prose is not merely “writing down what people say.”...

The best works of speculative fiction aren’t just imaginative, they’re immersive. As spec fic writers, we want readers to sink into our stories, to sense the “truth” of the tale, no matter the strangeness of the setting or situation. So how can we create emotionally round, authentic characters who...

This weekend class will focus on learning how to edit effectively while maintaining peace, confidence, and inner balance during the editing process. Editing is a crucial part of the writing process: Writing is neither good nor bad—it’s only finished or unfinished, and it’s in the finishing—i.e., the...

In this spiritual writing class, we’ll explore what the people, events, emotions, and experiences in our lives have to teach us, and ponder what we feel, sense, and know—or don’t know—about hope, grace, love, life, and death. Every day we’ll “listen” with our writing to another part of our lives: We...

Mystery is the heart of all narrative, its pulse the fine tension between question and perception, wonder and suspense. For the purposes of this workshop, our prose need not hinge on a crime, a culprit, or a private eye. We will build inquiry into fictional ecosystems and discuss how the mechanics...

A clock ticks inside every story. The clock might measure a decade, a day, or a single moment. Your story’s clock might not even look like a clock. Your clock might be a river, a tree, or a rock reflecting years of erosion. To locate your story's clock is no small thing, because it means unlocking...

The personal essay might be the original selfie: a snapshot of the self, written by the self. The beauty of the personal essay is its smallness, what Phillip Lopate calls its “access to the small, humble things of life,” and a “taste for the miniature.” A love of uneven potato chips, an errand in...

Why do our characters do what they do? Every story brings headlines from the human heart, and those headlines turn on motivations as petty as a pet peeve and as grand as a ruling passion. Character-driven fiction encourages us to abandon the conventional and to explore new ways of being with others...

No matter what type of novel you’re interested in—literary, science fiction, paranormal, young adult, rom-com, mystery, etc.—you’d probably think it ideal if it had many readers. If it attracted buzz. If it were, in other words, popular. In this weeklong workshop, we’ll discuss the elements that...

All fiction is speculative. Our grasp on the real world is limited, and it is a writer's job to push the boundaries. Why are we here? Why do we suffer? God. Space. Time. Life. Death. To enter a character is an act of empathy. To master a compelling plot is a structural feat. And to harness the music...