IMF 51635 Fiction: Story Sprint: Writing into the Unknown W

Instructor

Zachary Vickers

Class Type

Workshop

Course Description

Hypoxia is achieved during hypoventilation training—a method in which periods of exercise (running, cycling, swimming, rowing, skating, etc.) with reduced breathing frequency are interspersed with periods with normal breathing.

In this class, we will be athletes of short fiction and achieve literary hypoxia through “hypoverbilation”—that is, we will draft a new ten-page story each week over five consecutive weeks, culminating in the workshop (the exhale) in Week 7.

The goal is to help produce a large body of new work that writers can revise beyond the scope of their classwork or degree. By drafting at an accelerated rate, the brain and heart are forced to dig deep, looking for the creative third and fourth gear, resulting in the creation of surprising new work. The course texts will be books that offer hundreds of prompts to help get students started, eliminating any blank page anxiety or writer’s block. Discussions each week will come from provided resources on drafting short fiction and the importance of embracing the rough draft.