The basics: The main point of this Brainstorming class is to give writers of any genre a method of ransacking their imaginations in a way that reliably connects them to the unique raw material of their stories and reveals an organic plan of attack.
The goal: normalizing that part of writing when you must forsake the quest for perfect composition and clarity to root around in the messy swamp of possibility.
Consider the class a boot camp for practicing two distinct steps: figuring out what you want to say, and figuring out how you want to say it.
Previous installments of the class have included novelists, essayists, poets, monologists, songwriters, screenwriters, even grant-writers. There have been novices just feeling their way into creative writing and seasoned professionals with a specific project to attack. If you’re the type of person who’s always got five project ideas simmering on the back burner, pick one and attack it here.
I like to use classtime for things that can be done only in class—out-loud reading and discussion of drafts, group reading and discussion of supplementary texts. Then I send you off to do the lonely work of actual writing all by yourselves, with directions to bring the results back to class next week. (There’s nothing as generative as a deadline.
Looking forward to working with you. For more information, please click.
David
