Reading as a Writer

One of the best ways to become a skilled writer is to become a skilled reader.

In this immersive seminar, you will learn to read—not as a critic but as a craftsperson.

This course will teach you how to x-ray any piece of writing, from its design to its prose, so that you can make its strategies your own.

Examining contemporary masters like Joan Didion, Louise Erdrich, and George Saunders, you will learn, for example, what makes a particular physical description effective, how to advance plot with dialogue, and how to subtly develop a piece’s insight.

We will look at design elements (like plot, point of view, and image systems) and prose elements (patterns that help produce narrative voice, style, and tone).

Other authors we will consider include Alice Munro, Colson Whitehead, Colum McCann, Isabel Wilkerson, David Sedaris, David Quammen, Ocean Vuong, and Jhumpa Lahiri.

This is a close reading course; we will not critique student manuscripts.