No Second-Guessing: Writing with Confidence

Class Description

It’s an exciting time to be a fiction writer, and indeed to become one. With the rise of artificial intelligence, and more specifically, large language models, the need to express oneself, to validate one’s status as a writer, has become an existential project. For many, it’s a scary time, with AI threatening to take over jobs, outdo us at various tasks, and, some fear, make our very imaginations redundant. It’s that threat, those looming questions surrounding our worth as writers, that makes the response so urgent. And therein lies the excitement, the potential, the call to explore, to act, to feel and imagine; to be human.

In this class, meant for fiction writers of all levels struggling with their identity and self-worth as writers, we’ll use a series of prompts to explore, poke at, and undress our humanity, a subjectivity rooted in lived experience and the untethered imagination that frames every piece of writing. We’ll seek guidance from other writers, such as Wole Soyinka, Namwali Serpell, and William Faulkner, surprising ourselves with the human capacity to be held captive, by the strange and familiar alike, with the human superpower to become, with every word and in every instance, new writers. The journey to uncovering our humanity will, fittingly, involve a series of prompts that form a narrative, a story within the story, a quiet voice that serves as the backdrop to an impromptu drama, a necessary perspective on an unfolding mystery involving none other than ourselves. We’ll share our writing, as we see fit, and develop thoughts, themes, and storylines through discussion and introspection.

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.