Writing Workshops LA: Mixed Levels Fiction

Westside Mixed Levels Fiction (taught by Scott Cheshire in Manhattan Beach)

Wednesdays, 7:3O to 9:3O pm
July 22, 2O15 to September 16, 2O15 (no class August 5)

This eight-week mixed levels class is designed for both short story writers and novelists. For the first four weeks, students will do in-class writing exercises and discuss published short fiction and novel excerpts from a craft perspective. The class will cover such topics as characterization, pacing, point of view, structure, voice, and scene, and there will be short take-home writing assignments designed to help students progress with their manuscripts. In the final four weeks of the course, students will be expected to turn in either a short story manuscript or a novel excerpt (maximum 25 pages) to be critiqued by the instructor. Students will also share excerpts and works-in-progress with the group in a workshop environment designed to inspire and challenge every member of the class.

Scott Cheshire is the author of the novel High as the Horses’ Bridles (Henry Holt). His work has been published in AGNI, Electric Literature, Guernica, Harper’s, One Story, Slice, and the Picador Book of Men. He earned his MFA from Hunter College, and has taught writing for the Gotham Writers’ Workshop and the Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop.

This class will take place in Manhattan Beach, where wine and sparkling water—and the occasional gourmet cheese—will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$39O for new students; $35O for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students.)

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.

Writing Workshops Los Angeles offers courses and one-on-one instruction to those interested in honing their fiction, nonfiction, and poetry writing skills. Workshops are held in the home of the course instructor, or, occasionally, in the home of one of the students. In our classes, work is discussed from a craft perspective, and we delve deeply into the techniques of story, character, language, structure, and so on. Classes are small and always fun, and there are refreshments (wine, sparkling water, coffee), and sometimes even gourmet cheeses and tasty snacks, to keep us going.

At Writing Workshops Los Angeles, we value aesthetic daring, and we strive to read student manuscripts with both our highest standards and an open mind. Our students have gone on to attend MFA programs across the country, published novels and memoirs, placed their work in a variety of literary journals and magazines, and won numerous awards and fellowships. Feel free to email us at info@writingworkshopsla.com if you have any questions.