Crafting Short Fiction

• Tuesdays, March 2- March 30 (5 sessions)
• 7-9 pm
• The Ink Spot

Fiction is experimentation; when it ceases to be that, it ceases to be fiction.
-John Cheever
 
In this class we will experiment with short story/short fiction forms—from short-shorts to longer short stories. Rob Williams provides a friendly, comfortable, relaxed environment to create and share ideas for (and various drafts of) your short fiction. We will begin with the beginning: how to start your story and the significance of a good first line, and move through plot, characters, dialogue, details and descriptions, scenes, symbols, recurring themes, and endings.
 
We’ll work with traditional short story forms but also play with form and structure through writing activities and prompts. We'll also read and discuss examples of contemporary fiction in an invitation for writers to stretch themselves and their writing and to cultivate writing voice and style. We'll make time for at least one read and critique in the last weeks of the class as well as numerous opportunities to read work aloud and get on the spot critiques, guidance, and encouragement in a workshop setting, all of which will help you become a better critic of your own and others’ writing.
 
This class is tailored so that you may work on one piece during the 8 weeks, focusing on a different aspect or strategy each week and adding to the story and sharing the progress with the class, OR, you might start something new each class. Any and all fiction writing is welcome.

Rob Williams is the co-editor of the Lambda Literary-nominated anthology, From Boys to Men: Gay Men Write About Growing Up (2006, Carroll & Graf). His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and journals including San Diego Citybeat, Maisonneuve Magazine, Pindeldyboz, 400 Words, Versal, as well as the anthologies including I Do/I Don't, Fool For Love: New Gay Fiction, and I Remember When Mom: Memories and Stories About Mothers. He received an MFA from Columbia University in 2004 and is the recipient of fellowship to the Vermont Studio Center Residency for writing for January 2010. He currently teaches Creative Writing and Composition at Grossmont College and serves as Program Coordinator for San Diego Writers, Ink.