This is an in-person workshop that takes place at Inprint House

This workshop is now full, please sign up on the waiting list here so you receive an update if a space opens up and so you receive priority registration the next time this class is offered.

Scene and Summary: Constructing the Contemporary Novel

Writing a novel means doing two essential things: you’re inventing the story and making decisions about how it gets told. You might already have a strong sense of your plot: the beginning, middle, and end. But the act of act of traversing this arc can become a maze of creative decisions. You’ll be navigating thorny questions such as: Should you open with a vivid scene or a description? How many scenes do you need, and how do you move from one to the next? How should time unfold? How do you convey what characters already know? Who is the narrator, that is, who tells the story, and from what distance or perspective? These choices can feel endless, and they are essential to shaping your novel. 

In this 8-week workshop, we’ll explore how the interplay between scene and summary can serve as the key to unlocking your novel’s storytelling. We’ll read excerpts from novels of various styles and genres and experiment with new writing through discussion, exercises, and experimentation. Texts and authors might include: Less, Andrew Sean Greer; Days of Abandonment, Elena Ferrante; Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Peter Hoeg; A Burning, Megha Majumdar; The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead; plus excerpts from fiction by Annie Ernaux, Louise Erdrich, Reyna Grande, Toni Morrison, and James Baldwin. We will workshop sections of your novel-in-progress with a focus on the dynamic between summary and scene. Whether you’re still developing your story or deep into a novel draft, this class will help you move forward with fresh insight.