Quickies!
Tuesday, July 27
Description: Quickies! The Joy of Writing Very Short Fiction! This course will introduce exercises and readings that will expose the student to the joy and craft of writing very short fiction.
The rewards of writing very short fiction are many. Mastering the art of very short fiction allows a writer to value the integral components of their story and enables the writer to become closer to their own relationship with language. The audience for very short fiction is growing while dozens of respected online literary journals are solely looking for fiction under 1000 words. This course will give students the tools to write, edit, and submit very short fiction.
We will study the work of published authors to discover the methods they have used to create a fully formed story in 1500 words or less.
Exercises will enable students to venture out of their comfort zones to expand their use of language and structure.
This course is for writers of all levels interested in developing their storytelling and language skills.
About the instructor: Mary Hamilton is the co-host and co-founder of the QUICKIES! Reading Series, named by Time Out Chicago as the best reading series of 2008. Her work has been published by Pindeldyboz, Word Riot, Eclectica, Thieves Jargon, Northeast Performer, The Somerville News, and Featherproof Books, among others. She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently putting the finishing touches on two chapbook-length collections of very short stories and one chapbook-length palindrome.