Short Story: Writing the First Draft

Fridays: January 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st, February 21st, & 28th | 6:30-8:00pm

Have you been wishing for more time to read and to write? Let's help you write your next, or possibly, your first (!) short story. We'll fill the winter's long dark nights with unforgettable stories, community, and words by reading the newly published The Best American Short Stories 2024 together. This year's anthology is guest edited by Lauren Groff, who's a fantastic short story writer. I trust her taste and I can't wait to dig in. I hope that you can join me!

In each class we will:
- Discuss the week's stories to develop our sense of what a short story can do.
- Review core craft aspects of writing a contemporary short story and apply what we learned via guided writing prompts.
- Use the focusing power of in-community writing to complete a first draft.

This class is for you if:
- You're brand new to writing and want to learn in a supportive and inclusive atmosphere - Write in other genres and want to try your hand at literary fiction
- Want to improve your ability to get the first draft on the page
- Want to meet others writers in our community
- Struggle to fit reading and writing into a busy life

Expectations outside of class:
- Read two stories per week from The Best American Short Stories 2024 anthology, edited by Lauren Groff. (Instructor will be in touch after registration deadline about a local group rate for the book)
- Optional: work more on your story draft, if desired.

Karolina Letunova grew up in Western Siberia. Her stories appear in The Cincinnati Review, AGNI, The Kenyon Review, among others. She has an MFA from the University of Michigan, where she was a Rackham Merit Fellow and a 2020-2021 Zell Postgraduate Fellow. She was the 2023 Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Scholar in Fiction and a 2023-2024 California Arts Council Artist Fellow.

Her writing has been supported by the 2024 The de Groot Foundation Writer of Note grant, as well as residencies and fellowships at Ucross, Storyknife, Good Hart Artist Residency, Ragdale, VCCA, and Monson Arts.

She lives with her family in Davis, CA, where she’s at work on a novel.

https://karolinaletunova.com/

Host or Publisher YoloArts