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

Master the Craft of Storytelling: The Sentence

The sentence is the building block from which all stories are made, whether short flash fiction or a full-length novel. In this two-day intensive workshop, we’ll slow down and study the sentence on its own terms. Through close readings of work by masters of prose like Vladimir Nabokov, Louise Erdrich, James Salter, and Lauren Groff, we’ll explore what gives a sentence its shape, clarity, and strength—and how we can apply those techniques in our own writing. We will develop an appreciation for the impact attention to the sentence can have on the larger work.

While most workshops focus on larger elements like plot, structure, or theme, in this one, we’ll turn our attention to the sentence itself. We’ll look at how choices in diction, syntax, rhythm, and sound affect how a sentence works. In-class exercises will include writing new sentences and reworking old ones, both through generative prompts and revision practice. Writers will leave with a deeper understanding of the sentence as a tool—and how to use it with care and control.

This class is open to writers of all skill levels and in all genres.