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Fiction Fundamentals: A Four-Week Crash Course on the Art of Fiction

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SOLD OUT
IN PROGRESS
Wednesdays, 4 weeks
Mar 26
-
Apr 16
6:00 - 8:00 PM
INSTRUCTOR:
Katie McDougall
LOCATION:
The Porch House at 2811 Dogwood Pl., Nashville, TN 37206
$
196
FOR MEMBERS
$
230
FOR non-MEMBERS
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Use code EARLYBIRD at checkout for 10% off through February 26! (Members, check your email for your special 20% off limited-time discount code.)

Stories matter, even the made-up ones. This class will explore the craft of fiction writing—that magic art of telling truth sideways. Over the course of the four sessions, we’ll consider the basic ingredients of story—character, plot, setting, and scene. Through a blend of instruction, discussion, and writing exercises, you’ll come away with both a better understanding of the narrative craft as well as seeds for fictions of your own making. All levels welcome. While the course is designed for writers new to fiction, experienced writers will benefit from the refresh and writerly community.

In-Class Writing Lift: Medium

Homework: Optional

Workshopping Drafts: Optional

Katie McDougall, also a native Nashvillian, first took Fiction Writing as a senior at Colorado College, where she earned her BA in English, and in the twenty-plus years since, she has been writing stories, crafting novels, scribbling in journals, and teaching, reading, selling, breathing literature. She earned her MFA in Fiction Writing at Colorado State University, and her short stories have appeared in BarcelonaReview.com and in Storyglossia.com. Katie’s writing awards have included a four-week writing residency at the Kimmel•Harding•Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska, Association of Writers and Poet Intro. Journals Award Nomination for Colorado State University, and the Paul Gillette Writing Contest Finalist. She is currently in the process of finding a home for her second novel, Lady of the Lake.

Katie has over fifteen years experience as a teacher of literature and creative writing. Since leaving the traditional classroom, she has worked as the Master Teacher in Residence at The Island School in the Bahamas, as an outdoor educator, as a freelance writer, a tutor, and a proud bookseller at Nashville’s fabulous Parnassus Books. Additionally, she has coordinated writing workshops, ranging from the annual one-day Nashville Young Writers Workshop to the week-long Sense of Place Workshop with Richard Bausch at Cape Eleuthera, Bahamas. She has also been a guest teacher of Fiction Writing at the Ah Haa School of Arts in Telluride, Colorado. She is delighted to be a founder of The Porch, through which she hopes to give a little something back to her beloved hometown.

What Our Students Say

"The guided walk through the 21 story starter questions in Story Basics was worth the price of admission in itself, but I really found the entire session quite helpful. I will definitely be taking more Porch classes. What a great resource for Nashville."

"Katie McDougall is a fantastic teacher who is passionate about the subject herself. She gives you all the tools you need as a beginner in fiction writing, with the comfortability of allowing for flexibility and creativity in your own work."

"I was looking for writing techniques I could walk away with, and Story Basics delivered. It was a comfortable, creative, positive space. Excellent!"

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