6 Sessions, Wednesdays, September 9 to October 14th, 7-9pm Eastern
Online
$450 for the entire program; individual sessions $100 each
Enroll for the entire program.
In this series of classes, five accomplished and accoladed short story authors join forces to demystify how to write the short story, from beginning to end. With readings, discussion, as well as in-class writing time, you will learn how to closely read stories, decode the author’s craft, and use their techniques to inspire and improve your own creative work. Though designed to be taken sequentially, each class also functions as a stand alone session; enroll in the whole package for a reduced price and to have access to a final panel with all of the teachers answering your questions about writing and publishing, or simply take the session(s) that you need.
Are you new to writing stories? Or an experienced writer looking to sharpen your skills and approach your craft with a set of fresh eyes? Then these sessions are for you.
Please note that the sessions will be recorded, and readings will be distributed prior to the class meetings.
Schedule of Classes:
Stephanie Feldman on The Art and Craft of Launching a Story, September 9th, 7-9pm
A story must establish a world, a character, and a conflict–and grab the reader–in just a few sentences. Together, we’ll examine first sentences, paragraphs, and pages to discover the power of voice and the mechanics of tension, and open conversation about the foundational elements of a great short story. Bring a rough draft or excerpt for an in-class revision exercise.
Anca Szilágyi on Character and Mystery, September 16, 7-9pm
We’ll explore the many facets of character development that help create vivid, memorable characters. These include discovering the quirks of your own writing process (what do YOU need to know about a character to get started) and common elements which inform character behavior, and therefore, plot. We’ll also consider whether and when to leave certain aspects of your character mysterious. We’ll discuss fiction rich in characterization and dive into some in-class writing. Students should come to class with a character they would like to develop further.
Lena Valencia presents It’s a Mood: Using Setting to Define Interiority, September 23rd, 7-9pm
What does a cozy winter getaway look like to someone in a disastrous marriage? What does someone harboring a secret notice at a wild party? Well-defined surroundings are a great way to clue our readers into the emotional depths of our characters. After analyzing fiction that uses place as an insight into its protagonists, we’ll spend this session setting the mood as we craft our own character-driven descriptions of place.
Danielle Lazarin on Time and Perspective, September 30th, 7-9pm Eastern
In this session, we'll consider the effect of time on perspective. How does when a story is told from shape the narrator and in turn, how the story is told—its language and tone, moment selection, and structure? We'll look closely at stories narrated from the near aftermath and long distance from significant events and then practice the tools they offer in our own work.
Rachel Lyon on Pacing, Exposition, and Scene (Getting To Your Best Ending), October 7th, 7-9pm Eastern
The best short stories end with a bang — or a twist, or a moment of ecstasy, poetic connection, or brilliant subversion. If there are as many ways to end a story as there are stories, whatever your project, and whatever mode you write in — whether comic or tragic, ironic or earnest, realist or absurdist — your best ending will be inextricable from the mechanics of your plot. In this class we will look under the hood of a couple of short stories to reverse-engineer their endings through analysis of their pacing, plots, and endings, and spend time workshopping brilliant new endings for our own works-in-progress.
Authors in Conversation, a panel, October 14th, 7-8pm Eastern
Join your teachers–Stephanie, Anca, Lena, Danielle, and Rachel–and Writing Co-Lab co-founder Brian Gresko for a panel on writing short stories. They’ll talk about their own history writing and publishing stories as well as answer any questions you’ve had, either from work done or topics covered in class, or more generally about publishing stories and building a creative career.
Enroll in the entire program.
About the Instructors
Stephanie Feldman is the author of the novels Saturnalia and The Angel of Losses and the forthcoming collection The Night Parade and Other Stories. Her work has been named a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, Crawford Fantasy Award winner, Mythopoeic Award finalist, and Locus Award finalist. She teaches fiction writing at Arcadia University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Danielle Lazarin is the author of the short story collection BACK TALK. Her fiction and essays have been published by places such as The Southern Review, Colorado Review, Glimmer Train, The Cut, Catapult’s Don’t Write Alone, and Literary Hub, amongst others. A graduate of Oberlin College’s creative writing program, she received her MFA from the University of Michigan. Her work has been honored by the New York Foundation for the Arts, Hopwood Awards, Millay Colony for the Arts, and The Freya Project. She lives and works in New York.
Rachel Lyon is the author of Sixes, forthcoming from Zando in 2028; Fruit of the Dead, which was a finalist for the 2025 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize; and Self-Portrait with Boy, a finalist for the Center for Fiction’s 2018 First Novel Prize. Rachel’s short work has appeared in One Story, The Rumpus, Electric Literature, and elsewhere. She has taught most recently at Bennington College and the American University of Paris, where she was the 2024 Paris Writer in Residence. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, she lives with her family in Western Massachusetts.
Anca L. Szilágyi is the author of Daughters of the Air, which Shelf Awareness called “a striking debut” and Dreams Under Glass, which Buzzfeed Books called “a novel for our modern times.” Her writing appears in Orion Magazine, Lilith Magazine, and Newsweek, among others, and has been listed as notable in Best American Essays. She has taught creative writing since 2010.
Lena Valencia is the author of the short story collection Mystery Lights (Tin House Books / Dead Ink Books), which was longlisted for the Story Prize, named a Best Short Story Collection of 2024 by Electric Literature, and a Best Horror Book of 2024 by Esquire. Her fiction has appeared in BOMB, The Baffler, Electric Literature, Ninth Letter, Epiphany, the anthology Tiny Nightmares, and elsewhere. Her writing has been supported by the Elizabeth George Foundation and the Convent Arts Fellowship. She holds an MFA in fiction from The New School and lives in Los Angeles, where she is the director of educational programming at One Story.