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  • Seminar
  • Online: Zoom
  • Adult (18+)

Leaping Forward, Slowing Down: Time in Prose

No Longer Enrolling

  • $85.00 Non-Member
  • $75.00 Member

Class Description

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” If Soren Kierkegaard is correct, what’s a writer to do? We want to include understanding, revelations and truths that come with reflection. Yet stories must have forward movement brought with action and tension in the present. How then do we manage time on the page? Time is compressed and extended, endured and suffered. Something must always be happening, and that something has to be relevant to things that have already happened and things that will happen. In other words, character events are causally linked. We want to move forward, and sometimes moving forward requires moving backward, slowing down, speeding up, or leaping around. In this workshop, we will look at how to control time; how character's past experiences color their perceptions and inform their decisions; and finally, how to activate the past when it must appear on the page. We'll read examples from Alice Munro, Tobias Wolff, Toni Morrison, Vivian Gornick, Evan S. Connell, Domingo Martinez, Ray Carver, Tessa Hadley, TC Boyle.

Our discussion will include writing samples, prompts, and sharing our work. Open to writers of both fiction and nonfiction.



Class Format

This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting!



Scholarship Information

Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

For more more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.

Scholarships Format/Location

Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.

This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting!

Zoom Participation:

Students are not required to turn their camera on, but are encouraged to participate any way they feel comfortable through functions such as the live chat, emoji reactions, and unmuting the microphone. Learn more about using Zoom here.

Zoom Accessibility:

We ask that instructors enable closed captioning and send a transcript of the session after class. You can also enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting. If your instructor forgets to send the transcript, just send ’em an email!