Reading Like a Writer: A Monthly Craft Workshop, with Emily Lackey

A piece of writing succeeds for a variety of reasons: a distinctive voice, moving storytelling, an empowering message, or unforgettable characters. But writers don’t come to that success accidentally. They earn it by studying how to craft every plot point and character, every stanza and line break, with care and precision. And reading is the best way to learn how to write brilliantly. In this workshop, writers will meet monthly to discuss short works of prose—essays, short stories, and/or book excerpts—and look closely at what makes them so successful. Each month, we’ll read two to three pieces and examine how other writers employ elements of craft to create powerful and impossible-to-put-down prose. Afterward, writers will be given prompts inspired by that month’s craft discussion and have time to write and respond to each other’s work. By the end of the workshop, writers will have a deep understanding of what is possible in prose, and the techniques necessary to write compelling and consequential works of their own.

This workshop will be held online.

First Thursday of each month, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST. This workshop will meet on April 3, May 1, June 5, July 3, August 7, and September 4 ($255)

You may also like the following events from Writers in Progress:

• Next month, 6th September, 01:30 pm, Flash Essay: The Macro in Micro, with Olga Katsovskiy in Northampton, Massachusetts
• Next month, 15th September, 10:00 pm, Writing from Life, with Emily Lackey in Northampton, Massachusetts
• Next month, 27th September, 04:30 pm, Manuscript Intensive Reading and Celebration! in Florence