No Idea: Writing Fiction from Nothing with Richard Mirabella (via Zoom)

A workshop focusing on generating fiction by utilizing prompts drawn from fairy tales and other sources. We will be generating flash stories or the beginnings of stories in this workshop, will read a fairy tale, and a few examples of flash fiction by people like Kathy Fish, Lydia Davis, and Kathryn Scanlan. We will start with nothing and begin stories by using symbols from fairy tales, generating titles, free-writing lists. Participants are also welcome to bring in short works of 1000 words or fewer that they are stuck on or need help with, but I would like to focus on creating new work. I hope that participants will surprise themselves with the strangeness and excitement of generating work when you have no plan. Hopefully, participants will leave with a new flash story, the beginning of something longer, or the desire to find new stories anywhere.

I will be utilizing parts of my essay On Writing (When I’m Not Inspired) in Catapult Magazine. https://magazine.catapult.co/dont-write-alone/stories/on-writing-when-im-not-inspired-writers-block-richard-mirabella

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 misty@writerscenter.org with any questions.

All HVWC scholarship applications will be available on Dec 1 and will be due on Dec 15 for all winter/spring 2024 classes.

Richard Mirabella is a writer and civil servant living in Albany, NY. His stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, One Story, Split Lip, Story Magazine, and swamp pink. He is the author of New York Times Editor’s Choice Brother & Sister Enter the Forest.