Upcoming Classes

Virtual & Digital

6 Weeks, 6 Stories

Class offered through Grub Street Center for Creative Writing.

This class is a creative laboratory where you can experiment with new forms and share fresh work in a supportive environment. Whether you’re a seasoned writer or new to fiction, this fun, intensive course invites you to take on a generative writing sprint, crafting a new story draft each week (ranging from 100 to 1,500 words). You’ll have the opportunity to be workshopped by your peers at least three times, receiving thoughtful, constructive feedback to help your stories grow.

Through our workshop sessions and discussions of contemporary published stories by authors such as Lorrie Moore, Jamaica Kincaid and Aimee Nezhukumatathil we’ll build a collaborative craft toolbox to inform and inspire your own writing.

By the end of the course, you’ll leave with six new story drafts, fresh ideas and inspiration, useful writing prompts to carry you forward, and a tighter grasp of the essential elements of short fiction—plot, form, character, dialogue, setting, and voice.

6 Mondays, Jan 26 - Mar 9 (skips 2/16) | 6:00 – 9:00pm ET |  Zoom | $445 ($430 members) | Register at: https://grubstreet.org/workshop/6-weeks-6-stories-shoen-w26

Developing Your Short Stories

Class offered through Grub Street Center for Creative Writing.

The short story is a precise and powerful form, where every detail matters and each moment shapes the whole. In this course, we’ll explore how we can give stories deeper resonance using key elements of fiction writing—theme, character, motif, structure, and point of view—with a focus on the particular demands and possibilities of the short story.

Classes will combine close readings of compelling stories with focused discussions on craft and workshopping of student writing. You will have the opportunity to write or revise at least two complete stories (up to 25 pages each) and receive detailed written feedback from the instructor and your peers. Writers will actively participate in shaping the workshop, not just listen passively.

Feedback will include both content questions (“How does this character challenge or reflect expectations?” “What themes emerge from the story’s events?”) and craft questions (“Is this the best point of view for this story?” “Is this the best length for this amount of story?” “Are the events being revealed in the best order?”). This approach aims to strengthen your voice as a writer and help you develop clear revision strategies.

We’ll study work from The Best American Short Stories 2025 (guest edited by Celeste Ng) and use insights from this collection to help our stories reach their full potential.

10 Wednesdays, Feb 25 - Apr 29 | 6:00 – 9:00pm ET |  Zoom | $765 ($740 members) | Register at: https://grubstreet.org/workshop/developing-short-stories-shoen-w26