“The art of storytelling,” novelist Robert Coover wrote, “revels in the improbable and the unexpected, even as its focus remains on the real.” We assume that good fiction should be believable—but it must also spring from the writer’s imagination. In this class, we will examine the relationship between the improbable and the real driving much of modern storytelling. By reading writers like Alexandra Kleeman, Leonora Carrington, Rachel Cusk, Julie Otsuka, George Saunders, and others, we will uncover how writers make unlikely events seem believable and defamiliarize everyday life. Over six weeks, we will focus on craft aspects like voice, character development, world-building, and dialogue as foundations of literary believability—which differs from real-life believability. What do these writers get away with in their fiction? And how can we get away with the same in our own work? Through a combination of in-class writing exercises, reading discussions, and workshops, we will create fictional stories that astound readers with their unexpected authenticity.