Joyful writing can be difficult in times of social and political instability. Indeed, anxious times often beget anxious storytelling. While writers might choose to process or resist societal woes by creating prose that reflects the world around them, choosing to write joy can be an equivalently radical act. In this class, participants will explore the depths and perspectives of joy in their writing. Why choose to write joy? How can we write joyful characters and scenes that retain complexity and depth? How do we incorporate interiority and backstory to write joy more compellingly and transcend narrative tropes/stereotypes? In each session, we'll analyze various examples from fiction and memoir, as well as engage in writing prompts, to explore joyful writing as meditative, resistive, and fun. By the end of this class, we'll be able to think more critically about approaches as writers of joy while also developing strategies to write joy that effectively develops our stories.
This class is part of our Writing for Wellness program, which focuses on the relationship between the creative act of writing and wellbeing. While we may look at craft during these programs, our focus will be on writing that supports ourselves as human beings.
