Create Extraordinary Stories from Ordinary Events with Joann Smith (via Zoom)

Playwright and novelist Mehmet Murat Ildan said, “The more you spend your time in the ordinary streets, the more extraordinary things you will learn!”

In this class, we’ll look at authors who write extraordinary stories about ordinary people and ordinary events. We’ll explore the methods the authors use to pull us into these ordinary lives and we’ll look at how they turn mundane events into engaging stories.

We’ll use exercises and prompts to help us find the extraordinary in the ordinary. We’ll build characters and a plot line, and we’ll share ideas to help each other turn an everyday occurrence into a compelling story.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom and will be capped at 15 students. Registrants will receive the Zoom link to the email address they use to register. It will arrive immediately after registration so please check your spam folder if you do not receive it. It will also be sent the day before class as a reminder. Please review the course policies page before registering for any classes. Please email ask@writerscenter.org with any questions.

Joann Smith’s collection of short stories  “A Heaven of Their Choosing” was published by 7.13 Books in September 2021.Her stories have been anthologized and published in many literary journals. Best American Short Stories 2000 named one of her stories as one of the 100 Notable Stories of the year. Her novel of historical fiction, When I Was Boudicca, is available online. She recently completed a novel titled “Birthday Girls” and is currently shopping it around. Joann is now at work on a collection of linked stories. She holds an MFA in Fine Arts: Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College, and an MA in English from Lehman College, CUNY. She has taught creative writing for many years and mentors writers through the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), of which she is s longtime member.