8-Week: Writing for Delta—Capturing Change Over Time

In the first four weeks of class, we’ll focus on how authors add delta—a sense of change happening over time—to their work. Showing change or development in characters and their circumstances gives the reader a feeling of suspense; they’re carried along by the need to find out what happens next. We’ll also examine how authors show transformation in the narrator's perceptions over time. By doing close readings of acclaimed writers who exemplify this kind of dynamic prose, we’ll learn how our own work can become propulsive and include more forward momentum. The instructor will also offer optional writing exercises so participants can practice their skills. Then in the final four weeks of the course we’ll workshop one another's writing via Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process. Authors we are likely to read include Carmen Maria Machado, Philip Gourevitch, Dervla Murphy, and Alexis Okeowo. This class is open to all prose writers, but all the readings will be drawn from narrative nonfiction, which is the instructor's area of expertise.