Writing Workshops

Writing Powerful, Characterizing Dialogue in Fiction with Joanna Cantor

$445

6 Sessions

Out of stock

Once a week Mondays, 6:00 pm EDT - 8:00 pm EDT March 11 to April 15, 2024

The Center for Fiction

This course is sold out. To join the waitlist, please email Sebastian Mazza at [email protected].

This course is held in person at The Center for Fiction.

In this workshop, we’ll examine both student work and assigned readings by writers such as Bryan Washington, Emma Cline, and Jhumpa Lahiri, focusing on how to write pithy, characterizing dialogue as well as several other crucial elements of craft including the interdependent relationship between character and plot and the balance between scene and exposition. During class, we’ll use writing prompts to help generate new work.

Each writer will have the opportunity to submit new work for peer and instructor feedback. Writers will leave this workshop with a heightened instinct for playful, engaging dialogue and more confidence in their craft.

Course Outline

Session I: Intro, writing exercise, Anne Lamott, writing process, Bryan Washington
Session II: Jhumpa Lahiri, plot, five modes, student work
Session III: Dialogue, Emma Cline, student work
Session IV: Character, ZZ Packer, student work
Session V: Emotion, Dialogue, Point of View, JD Salinger, student work
Session VI: Revision, Antonya Nelson, Jason Brown, Sally Rooney, student work

Led by

Joanna Cantor

Joanna Cantor

Joanna Cantor holds an MFA from Brooklyn College and a BA from Colorado College. Her debut novel, Alternative Remedies for Loss, was an Amazon Best Book of the Month for May 2018 and received coverage in Vanity Fair, Real Simple, Nylon, and elsewhere. Her writing has appeared in Literary Hub, Electric Literature, Departures, Fodor’s Travel, Greatist, and the Willamette Week. Joanna was a recipient of a Vermont Studio Center Fellowship. She previously taught fiction writing at Catapult and is also a yoga teacher. She lives in Brooklyn.

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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