Advanced Weeklong Fiction Workshop: Finding the Subterranean Story with Danielle Evans

Often the process of drafting fiction is a process of uncovering what it is we actually mean to be writing about and bringing that thread to the surface in revision. At the same time, one of the great pleasures of reading is noting what suggestions or questions remain just beneath the text or come to the surface as surprise or revelation. In this workshop, we'll consider the “layers” of a story and the way that being attuned to what’s just underneath the obvious story can guide us toward structures and narrative arcs that serve the project. We'll negotiate the balance between what works best when illuminated and said directly and what works best when left to be discovered by the reader. Each workshop will open with a discussion of a published short story and a brief responsive writing exercise, then move to an in-depth discussion of work submitted by participants. Accepted participants will submit up to 15 manuscript pages by May 13, and will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with Danielle during the week of class.