It goes without saying that fiction writers need to read fiction—carefully, flexibly, broadly, deeply! But what clues and cues might be found for our written works in nonverbal forms? In this generative workshop, we will listen to music, look at art, and read the fiction and hybrid works of writers who have found new structural possibilities for literature in music ranging from jazz to shoegaze, and in art made out of anything from collaged cut-outs to light. Each day we will collaboratively read at least one short literary work, engage with its extra-literary sources or correspondents, then write an exercise employing the artistic strategies we’ve discussed. With an especial eye toward unexpected plot shapes, we will consider questions including: How might lyric pattern and variation create entertaining tension, compelling a reader to turn the pages in search of sonic resolution? What new narrative patterns might emerge from attending as much to how we place our characters in space as to the narrative circumstances in which they find themselves? And what subjects or stories might desire—or even require—this sort of extra-literary structural approach? Though our focus will be on fiction, this course is open to writers of any genre. Students need not have any project already in progress, but should expect to generate several new and exciting starts!

In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; provide first impressions on writing you produce in our week together.