Reading and Writing Short Stories
S06
Rebecca Godwin
We’ll read a lot of stories in this class—mostly contemporary, though we may throw in a few glorious others—and look for what makes them, well, stories. That’s part one. Part two is writing: first bits and pieces, scenes and dialogue and narrative explorations, and then a couple of polished stories to discuss in workshop and to revise. Intensive involvement in reading, writing, and talking is an absolute requirement. Likely texts: The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction, The Best American Short Stories of the Century, and The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories.