Registration now closed

Fiction Writing Workshop: The Short Story

Third Mondays, March, April, May, July, August, September

Six-month fiction writing workshop focused on creating and completing a new short story. *Please note, we will meet March, April, May, SKIP JUNE, and then meet July, August, September.*

This fiction writing workshop will meet once a month for six months (March, April, May, SKIP JUNE, July, August, September) to explore the elements of craft and start (and potentially finish) a new piece. Each month, we will focus on one aspect of fiction writing, including character, wants, plot, dialogue, and resolution.

At the first meeting, writers will work through a writing exercise to spark the start of a new story. Twice during the course of the workshop, each participant will share their story draft. Submissions will be compiled into one document and emailed to participants.

We will workshop submissions each month. At the end of each meeting, writers will receive a writing task and word count limit to continue building their story. Each writing prompt will build on the ones that came before. At the end of the six months, the goal will be for participants to have drafted a new short story or the beginning of a longer work.

Writers will be invited to help guide the agenda for feedback about their own work. Participants should commit to:

· Submitting twice during the six months

· Submitting by the due date

· Reading up to 10,000 words (approximately 40 typed, double-spaced pages) per class

· Responding to other people’s drafts during workshop 

It's important to the workshop process that we create a community of writers who know and trust each other, so please commit to attending at least five of the six classes. Space is limited and registration is required.

Susan Petrone is the author of the novels The Musical Mozinskis (2024), The Heebie-Jeebie Girl (2020), The Super Ladies (2018), Throw Like a Woman (2015), and A Body at Rest (2009). She is a recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for fiction. She has been published in such diverse venues as the Cleveland Noir anthology, Glimmer Train, ESPN.com, Belt, and Whiskey Island. Her short story, “Monster Jones Wants to Creep You Out” (Conclave, 2010) was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is also one of the co-founders and former president of Literary Cleveland (litcleveland.org).