We all know how to tell a story, yet when it comes to writing one, we often become our own worst enemy. We tell readers what to think and feel. We throw in extraneous details because we have them. We telegraph the ending. Memorable stories do not happen in the inverted pyramid of journalism school; they unfold more like the ghost tales we told as kids. In this six-week course, we’ll learn how to recapture that natural sense of storytelling. We’ll study examples, do some writing, critique each other’s work. In fact, much of the class will be a roundtable workshop as opposed to a lecture.

Each week we’ll focus on a different aspect of nonfiction writing: creating memorable characters, staging conflict and complication, setting scene and atmosphere, finding your voice and style, distilling theme and meaning. We’ll also explore one of the hottest topics in our craft: the line between fact and fiction. And we’ll talk about any other writing issues you want to hash out.

This course should be useful for anyone looking to write a book, a memoir, essays, magazine articles, journalism small or large, or better blog posts. All levels of writers are welcome.