Description
Saturday, Mar 22, 1-4pm
Open to all
Limited to 12 participants
Hybrid Workshop*
Most aspiring writers are taught that, when it comes to everything from descriptions to dialogue to interiority, less is always more. But what if your instinctive sensibility is more expansive or discursive? Conversely, what if you’re a naturally economical writer who sometimes feels strangled by this bias toward restraint and subtlety? In this craft workshop, we will start with a brief overview of minimalist and maximalist approaches to fiction and poetry in history, asking ourselves how and why these approaches have gone in and out of style. We will then look at a few texts by writers of literary fiction and poetry who have taken these approaches – Susan Sontag, Wayne Corbitt, Rebecca Makkai, and Octavia Butler, among others – and used them to achieve deep emotional impact. Some of the questions we’ll explore: are the terms “minimalist” and “maximalist” even useful descriptors anymore and, if not, how can we make them so? How do we know which approaches are right for our own work?
There is no advance reading necessary, but please come with a hard copy or an electronic copy of the first page (300 words or so) of one of your own works of fiction, or one poem, and be willing to share them either with a partner or with the entire class.
*This workshop will take place at the QWF Office (Room 3, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Westmount, Quebec) with up to 2 virtual spots for participants who are unable to attend in-person because of distance or disability. By default, all workshop registrations are for in-person spots. If you can’t attend in person and would like to request a virtual slot, contact Riley at riley@qwf.org and wait for confirmation before registering. Please do not register until after you receive confirmation that there is a virtual spot for you.
