Workshop Descriptions & Instructors

Marilyn Abildskov
Mary Allen
Kate Aspengren
Thomas Fox Averill
Nancy K.Barry
Timothy Bascom
Kyle Beachy
Karen Bender
Linda Bendorf
Maudy Benz
Venise Berry
Bruce Bond
David Bouchier
Michael Dennis Browne
Maggie Conroy
Mary Cross
Thomas K. Dean
Amber Dermont
Janet Desaulniers
Kelly Dwyer
Hope Edelman
Josh Emmons
Jill Esbaum
Sarah Fay
Hugh Ferrer
Katie Ford
Geoffrey Forsyth
Cecile Goding
Douglas Goetsch
Sands Hall
Christine Hemp
Jim Heynen
Rick Hillis
Charles Holdefer
Richard Jackson
Rebecca Johns
Cheryl Fusco Johnson
Wayne Johnson
Daniel Khalastchi
Carolyn Lieberg
BK Loren
Peter Markus
Fritz Mc Donald
James McKean
Gordon Mennenga
Sharelle Byars Moranville
Michael Morse
Barbara Robinette Moss
Marc Nieson
Shannon Olson
Diana Ossana
Lon Otto
Juliet Patterson
Kiki Petrosino
Mark Jude Poirier
Leslie Carol Roberts
Anjali Sachdeva
Sarah Saffian
Sam Samuels
Sandra Scofield
Mary Kay Shanley
Robert Anthony Siegel
Carol Spindel
Karen Subach
Mary Vermillion
Kris Vervaecke
Ashley Warlick
Michelle Wildgen
Bart Yates

Sandra Scofield

Evaluating the Scene
Weekend Workshop
June 13–14

How to Talk about Fiction
One-Week Workshop
June 14–19

Tweaking Life: Make Yours into Fiction
One-Week Workshop
June 21–26

Biography

Evaluating the Scene
Weekend Workshop
June 13–14

The scene is the core of fiction, the arrow into the consciousness and heart of the reader. Every story has major scenes that turn and push the narrative, explode the tension, reveal character. In this conventional workshop (except we work with single scenes rather than complete stories), we will look at scene structure, balance of action and interiority, tension, and “memorability.” This class is suitable for writers of all levels.

How to Talk about Fiction
One-Week Workshop
June 14–19

This is a class for those who have sunk away from discussions about concepts that have never been explained to them; for those who want to sort out and perhaps prioritize the importance of story elements; for those who want to ask questions without looking foolish. What’s the difference in chronology, plot, and structure? What in the world is “earned” in narrative? What really is the difference among points of view? What’s exposition and when is it “okay”? What’s subtext? Grounding? And so on.

We’ll examine a story and a chapter from a novel, developing vocabulary for describing, planning and evaluating fiction. We’ll do exercises that build and reinforce skills. We’ll tackle problems that you’ve identified in your writing.

This course is good for beginners, for humble experienced writers, for those who would like to start writing groups, and anyone who loves to talk about fiction and write it, too.

Tweaking Life: Make Yours into Fiction
One-Week Workshop
June 21–26

If you have a strong sense that your experiences and/or those of your family would make good fiction, this is the class for you. We’ll start by inventorying story possibilities. Then we’ll review what makes up a good story, with an eye to compressing, expanding, enlarging, and focusing what “really happened” into strong fiction narratives. We’ll do exercises on building strong scenes, strong characters, strong settings. You’ll envision stories and get started on some of them. You should go away with a dossier of story possibilities, “caught moments” of drama that can be expanded, and an articulation of the vision that guides you as you translate life into story.

Biography
Sandra Scofield, a long-time Festival instructor, is the author of seven novels, including Plain Seeing, a memoir, Occasions of Sin, and a craft book for fiction writers, The Scene Book. She has been the recipient of a Texas book award and a finalist for the National Book Award. She teaches for the Pine Manor Solstice M.F.A. Program.

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Sponsored by the Division of Continuing Education
Iowa Summer Writing Festival
C215 Seashore Hall
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242

Phone 319-335-4160
FAX 319-335-4743
iswfestival@uiowa.edu

Last updated on February 10, 2009