Instructor: Kelsey Costa
Monday - Friday
July 6 - 10
1pm - 4pm
5 sessions
In this generative class, writers will explore how the every day can inspire new storytelling ideas. Each class we will address different aspects of every day that can appear in our stories—for example people, objects, nature, places, media influences—with a short introductory lesson on craft. Following this, we will analyze examples of how authors infuse these every day inspirations into their work. After discussing these examples, writers will be given in-class exercises and time to write the beginnings of their own stories based on the every day aspect discussed for that day. In one class period, writers will gain a better understanding of basic essentials to storytelling such as perspective, setting, and character development through building their understanding of what life experiences they can use to inspire them, while also growing their repertoire of writing that they can continue to develop outside of class. Exercises will draw on both a writer’s personal experiences and fictional scenarios. Small group work will be part of the class for writers to share what they wrote with their peers or discuss the topic we are covering and gain inspiration from each other’s ideas.
Writers of any genre are welcome to participate—the lessons and exercises will be general enough that it’s able to be adapted to fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Writers should come to class prepared to write with their preferred method—whether a laptop/tablet, notebook, or other tool. At the end of the class, writers will have multiple exercises they can repeat outside of class, a body of work they can build upon, and a better understanding of how they can take inspiration from their everyday lives to fuel their writing.
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Kelsey Costa is a Boston-based speculative fiction and nonfiction writer. She holds a BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College. Her nonfiction is forthcoming in Pangyrus Literary Magazine’s Zest!, published in Ruminate Magazine, and her essay Trapped Spirit was a semi-finalist in the 2021 Ruminate VanderMey Nonfiction Prize.