Online class: "Taking Risks in Creative Nonfiction"
Next session: 11 July (Sat) 10am - 3pm Pacific Coast Time
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Writing creative nonfiction almost always requires taking risks - whether formal or emotional. In this one-day workshop, we will explore the resources at our disposal to do this on and off the page.
In the first half of the workshop, we will look at examples of recently published books that enact varying degrees of experimentation or risk – to take in the broad “lay of the land,” and better understand the current state of writing/publishing in this genre. This seminar will be interspersed with generative writing exercises for students to try their hand at formal play. In the second session, I will speak about the “behind the scenes” journey of writing my memoir, THE STORY GAME, and share resources I used to manage risks beyond the page. There will then be an “Ask Me Anything”-style session, followed by a guided exercise to help students think through some of the mental or emotional blocks they might personally be facing in their publishing journeys. Finally, I will share about my time as a nonfiction editor at literary magazines, to provide some industry perspective. |
Online class: "Writing From the Body"
Next session: 12 & 19 July (Sun), 10am - 12pm Eastern Time
Image by Arthur Cadre
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Have you ever wondered what knowledge your body holds that your mind doesn’t - yet? In this two-part class, we will explore this question together.
In our first week, we will do a close reading of several fiction and nonfiction texts written from a bodily perspective - covering themes including food, movement, sex, and pain. Together, we will learn about the strategies that writers across genres have used to successfully tap into the body’s point-of-view - inhabiting the particular ways in which the body perceives sensation, time, and space, so as to bring the fullness and materiality of its experiences into their writing. In our second week, we will pivot towards generative writing - while incorporating the theoretical knowledge we gained in week one. Shze-Hui will lead students through a writing ritual designed to help them find the unique voice of their own body - tapping into its memories and unconscious desires to help it "speak" more clearly. The aim is for students to leave equipped with a long-form writing exercise that they can utilize independently, in whichever genre they usually work with (e.g. as part of character design in fiction, or to explore the self more deeply in memoir). |
Online class: "Insider Guide to Lit Mag Submissions"
Next session: 9 & 16 August (Sun), 10am - 12pm Eastern Time
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Want to see your writing published and celebrated, but find the submission process daunting? In this two-part workshop, I will demystify the often-opaque procedure of getting published in lit mags for you.
In our first session, I will walk you through the submission models used by different styles of lit mags (Submittable-style platforms versus pitching, for example), covering the dos and don'ts for each and explaining the concrete procedures that editorial teams follow when they evaluate your work behind the scenes. Together we'll do textual analysis exercises to refine submission best practices — from learning how to draft a more eye-catching opening paragraph to figuring out how to structure a pitch so that it earns a "yes" from readers. In the second session, I will lead an "ask me anything"–style discussion drawn from my years inside the lit mag world. We'll then hold a feedback session built around students' writing samples, before turning to the afterlife of lit mag publication: how to leverage your publications to build the basics of a healthy literary career, including a portfolio of work, in-person readings, and a supportive writing community. |