Whether you’re new to writing or a seasoned author, this one-day class will get your imagination moving into some fresh and unexpected territory.

There are no available registration dates at this time.

Note: This course will be held online using the Zoom Platform. The class will be held on Saturday, Nov 12, 10am-3pm EST.

Whether you’re new to writing or a seasoned author, this one-day class will get your imagination moving into some fresh and unexpected territory. Guided by award-winning author Sarah Van Arsdale, we’ll warm up with a lightning round of quick writing exercises, then have time for more focused work. There will be an opportunity to read any of these exercises for immediate feedback and suggestions on how to keep moving forward. There will be one longer exercise at the end of the day. The schedule includes time for mini-breaks, discussion about points of craft, and one longer meal break mid-day.

Looking to focus on improving your fiction writing? Sarah also teaches an immersive 6-week course Reading for Writers, And Other People (Online).

Testimonials

“Sarah Van Arsdale is a remarkable person who teaches fiction as well as she writes it. From the start of my time as her student, I knew I was in capable hands—she is a role model as an author, a tactful critic as a teacher, and a skilled mentor for those of us starting out and daring to navigate the stormy seas of publishing today” – John Treat, author of First Consonants, forthcoming from Jaded Ibis Press.

“Even when a writer is struggling, Sarah offers no prescriptive or rote answers; instead she helps the writer realize their own vision for a piece. She can read in a text the author’s latent intention – even if it’s so latent the writer can’t quite name it herself yet! In a way, she helps decipher what’s on the page already and push writers to the next level.” – Sion Dayson, prize-winning author of As a River

“Sarah Van Arsdale is amazingly thoughtful, supportive, and rigorous. My writing improved immensely under her expert eye, and no matter how vulnerable I felt about the work I shared with her, I always knew she was on my side.” – Gabriella Souza, writer and editor, winner of the 2020 San Miguel Writers’ Conference Writing Contest

Header image by lilartsy.

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Instructor: Sarah Van Arsdale

Sarah Van Arsdale is a writer and illustrator. Her sixth book, Taken, a poetry collection, was published in 2021 by Finishing Line Press. Her book-length poem, titled The Catamount, was published by Nomadic Press in 2017. Her watercolors illustrate The Catamount and her fourth book of fiction, a collection of novellas titled In Case of Emergency, Break Glass, published by Queens Ferry Press in 2016. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Vermont College and teaches in the Antioch University/LA low-residency MFA program.

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