THE ESSENTIALS OF WRITING
with Ken Foster

In this three-hour lecture, we will cover all aspects of the writing life, from how to get started to getting your polished work published. Perfect for the novice looking for the tools to get started as well as more experienced writers searching for techniques to give their work an extra edge. Whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction, the elements discussed in this class will help push your work to the next level.

Getting started:
What motivates us to write and how can we channel that into a steady writing schedule? We will discuss the various goals writers hold for their work, as well as exercises for breaking writers block and tricks to keep the writing going even when it conflicts with a busy schedule.

Getting the details right:
Often the quality that makes a story succeed is not the story itself--because everything has been told before--but the telling of the story. Creating memorable characters and portraying the events of their lives in a realistic, compelling fashion, requires the effective use of detail. Using William Maxwell's classic novel They Came Like Swallows, we will study the ways in which the accumulation of detail, observation, and point-of-view create a complex but clear story. As an editor, Maxwell worked with some of the greatest writers of the century. In addition to the lessons in his own work, we will learn some of the advice he gave these writers, and why they considered him to be their greatest editor.

Getting published:
Writing and publishing are not always related to each other. Some people write without considering publication at all; for others, publication is the prize at the end of the tunnel. How do you get an agent when agents only want published writers and editors only accept agented work? We will explore how the publishing industry works, what it expects from writers, and how and when to submit your work for publication.

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Ken Foster is the author of a collection of stories, The Kind I'm Likely to Get, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. For more than four years, he curated the reading series at the KGB Bar in New York City, and edited the anthology The KGB Bar Reader, which Harper's called "one of the best collections of new writing available." His fiction and non-fiction has appeared in Salon, The Believer, McSweeney's, The New York Times Book Review, The Village Voice, Newsday, Paper, Flaunt, The San Francisco Chronicle, Bomb and other publications. The recipient of fellowships from Yaddo, Sewanee Writers Conference and the New York Foundation for the Arts, Foster has taught at The New School, The Iowa Summer Writing Festival, and Florida State University, where he is currently a visting writer. His most recent book is Dog Culture: Writers on the Character of Canines.