"Often the trouble we have trying to figure out how things unwind has to do with the fact that we're trying too hard to decide what it MEANS. Forget all that. Get into the feel of the experience itself, how it sounds, tastes, smells, looks, FEELS; and your characters will start doing things and saying things you have been keeping them from saying through your will to be profound, or to show your love of humanity, or to shine forth your sensitive inner cringing self. Putting all that on a character is smothering, and can lead to silence--stop fixing them in the amber of your confounded intelligence and let them breathe. Go with it, go with it, a little at a time, and don't worry where it will take you. It'll eventually take you to the truth of the experience. Don't think so much. Dream." – Richard BauschIn this class, we will explore the art and craft of writing fiction in a workshop format. Students will put stories or essays up for class discussion, and be asked to constructively and thoroughly examine one another’s efforts. In addition we will read the work of published writers such as George Saunders, Rivka Galchen, Donald Antrim, Antonya Nelson, Edward P. Jones, Matt Klam and others, and we will discuss the ways in which these writers move us on the page. Students are expected to bring a serious work ethic to class. We will also try and have a lot of fun along the way. Literary Forms courses are designed for Writing and Literature Majors and Minors and are focused on a specific genre, medium, form, or technique specific to their disciplines. Lit Forms courses might focus on a genre (fiction, SF, poetry, CNF, etc.) or might focus on a technique (i.e. dialogue, character, setting, image, research). Literary Forms classes explore similarities and differences across mediums and genres, involve reading and writing, and multi-modal approaches to critical inquiry including creative responses. Literary Forms courses typically balance seminar and workshop activities.

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