If you think or write in obsessive, associative tangents and bursts, followed by flatlining, you are not alone. Tidy, linear progress is not the only kind of progress and structure isn’t always a problem to solve before you begin—it’s a tool that matches how attention actually moves. This fun, generative workshop is designed for writers who need some stimulation and containment, including those with ADHD.
Each week we'll read stories and long-form excerpts by authors whose work is unapologetically obsessive or digressive, like Mary Robison, Jamaica Kincaid, Albertine Clarke, Kiese Laymon, Carmen Maria Machado, Miranda July, Gabe Habash, Cris Kraus, and Ottessa Moshfegh. Then we’ll consciously distill and model their techniques into our own one-to-three-page chunks.
If you are working on something already, you are welcome to write into that project, but all work produced in this class will be new. This class is designed to set free a lot of raw material, not to teach critique, and as such, follows the “hypoxic” workshop model—every student turns in writing every week. Work is shared and applauded briefly as time allows or is used as the material for creative response. Brief written feedback by instructor and class members will focus on vivacity and questions to encourage development.
Trigger warning: Some readings may be visceral, disturbing, or violate the social contract.
