Writing Workshops

First Chapters: Opening Your Novel with Alanna Schubach

$395

6 Sessions

Out of stock

Once a week Tuesdays, 11:00 am EDT - 1:00 pm EDT April 2 to May 7, 2024

Online via Zoom

The first chapter of a novel has a huge job to do. It must establish character, point of view, story, style; it must also, somehow, teach the reader how to read this particular novel. Zadie Smith once said that she spends more time on the first twenty pages of her novels than on any other part, because “worrying over the first twenty pages is a way of working on the whole novel, a way of finding its structure, its plot, its characters.”

In this class we will look closely at the opening chapters of several published novels, as well as workshop our own, with an eye toward using the opening as a way of understanding our broader projects.

Course Outline

Session I: Advance reading: Zadie Smith’s “That Crafty Feeling,” intro, taking on the project of a novel and how to keep going, writing exercises
Session II: First chapter of Yuko Tsushima’s Territory of Light, character, workshop two student chapters
Session III: First chapter of Charles Portis’ True Grit, point of view and voice, workshop two student chapters
Session IV: Additional chapter reading, workshop two chapters
Session V: Additional chapter reading, workshop two chapters
Session VI: Additional chapter reading, workshop two chapters

Led by

Alanna Schubach

Alanna Schubach

Alanna Schubach is the author of The Nobodies (Blackstone, 2022). Her short fiction has appeared in Shenandoah, the Sewanee Review, the Massachusetts Review, Electric Literature, and more. She was an Emerging Writer Fellow with The Center for Fiction and a Fellow in Fiction with the New York Foundation for the Arts. She earned an M.F.A. in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College.

About this series

Writing Workshops

We strive to make our classes the most inviting and rewarding available, offering an intimate environment to study with award-winning, world-class writers. Each class is specially designed by the instructor, so whether you’re a fledgling writer or an MFA graduate polishing your novel, you’ll find a perfect fit here.

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