This workshop is full. Please email programs@mainewriters.org to be put on the waiting list.
A 5-Week Fiction Workshop on Keeping Your Reader Engaged
Mondays, September 20 to October 18
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Let's get right down to understanding the most important consideration for a writer: how to convince someone to read something you've written all the way to the end.
George Saunders' new book, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, is a guide to seven classic Russian short stories. But really, it's a primer on how to read, and in turn, how to write. Saunders’ approach is deceptively simple. He posits that in order for a story to work on us in the way good literature can—changing something small but fundamental about how we think and feel and apprehend that world—we first have to, you know, read it. Seems obvious, but his point is that if as writers we hope to have that effect on readers, we have to convince those readers, line by line, to keep reading.
Reading is an ongoing negotiation, an exchange of value for value: the reader offers time and attention, and the writer offers entertainment, modest enlightenment, maybe even the chance to feel something unmistakably authentic. With this in mind, we can then apply a set of uncomplicated questions (which can also be considered the standards we must measure our own work against) to both what we read and write: What do we know that we didn’t know before? How has our understanding of the story changed? What are we expecting to happen next? Do we want to keep reading? If so, why?
In this course, we will read assigned pieces and analyze them using these four questions, in order to understand what these stories do to convince us to keep reading. We'll also workshop participants' stories the same way—asking, page by page, whether they're doing the same thing, and if so how, and if not, why not.
This workshop is limited to 10 participants.
+ SUBMIT After registering, participants are asked to submit a short story or novel excerpt of up to 5000 words by no later than 9:00 a.m. on Monday, September 13. Please take this deadline and word limit seriously as late submissions likely cannot be accepted, and excess words will be cut. Please note that these manuscripts will be distributed in advance via email to the other workshop participants. Please email the manuscript to programs@mainewriters.org with the subject line: “CURRIE WORKSHOP MSS.” *Please use standard formatting (1” margins, double-spaced, 12 pt font), and Word docs (ideally) or PDFs only.
+ PLEASE NOTE This workshop will occur online, using the video meeting platform Zoom. Students do not need to create an account to participate, but should test out Zoom before their class if they are first-time users. On Thursday, September 16, from 5:30pm to 6:30pm, MWPA staff will offer a test session on Zoom. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in the test session, which usually takes only 5-10 minutes, and those who do not are responsible for ensuring that they are able to use Zoom on their own. The week of the workshop, students will be emailed a link that they may click to enter the test session and the class.
+ REQUIRED EQUIPMENT A reliable, fast internet connection (broadband wired or wireless (3G or 4G/LTE), speakers & a microphone (built-in or USB plug-in), and a webcam (built-in or USB plug-in).
If you would like to quickly and easily test your internet connection and your computer’s compatibility with Zoom, click HERE. Full details on supported Operating Systems, internet browsers, and more can be found HERE. To download and familiarize yourself with Zoom, click HERE.
PAYMENTS MWPA members may pay for this workshop in one payment, or may pay in two installments of $122.50, due at registration and October 8. *PLEASE NOTE If you have selected to pay for this multi-week workshop on the installment option, once registration for the workshop has closed, you are responsible for paying all of the remaining installments. If you should, for any reason, leave the workshop after registration has closed, you are still responsible for paying all of the remaining installments.
CEU The MWPA is proud to offer Continuing Education Units (CEU) for this workshop. The CEU is a nationally recognized method of quantifying the time spent in the classroom during non-credit learning. Ten hours of instruction equal one (1) CEU. (*Please note that by definition, CEUs are non-credit continuing education and therefore not transferrable as academic credit.)
Ron Currie is the author of the novels The One-Eyed Man, Everything Matters! and Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles and the short story collection God is Dead, which was the winner of the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award. In 2009, he received the Addison M. Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His books have been translated into fifteen languages. He lives in Portland, Maine.
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advance registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online (see below). We cannot guarantee registration in the final 24-hours before a workshop, and can rarely accommodate day-of registration.
PAYMENT & CANCELLATION POLICIES
If you need to withdraw from a class after registering for any reason, please email or call the MWPA immediately. You may be eligible for a partial refund or credit, depending on how far in advance you cancel. → MORE INFORMATION
QUESTIONS
For any questions regarding this workshop, please contact Hannah Perry at hannah@mainewriters.org.
REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-228-8263 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
REGISTER BY MAIL
If you prefer to pay by mail, please print this registration form (downloadable PDF) and mail it to the MWPA with a check or credit card information. Please note that mail delivery to the MWPA office is currently experiencing extensive delays, so please email hannah@mainewriters.org first if you would like to register by mail.
SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer one full scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Application Due on September 6 at 9:00 a.m.
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MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
Registration in any MWPA workshop, program, or event constitutes your agreement to our terms and conditions. → MORE INFORMATION