Graduate Program in Creative Writing

Join Western’s Graduate Program in Creative Writing and our director of the Nature Writing concentration, Dr. Laura Pritchett, for a free hourlong class. Setting should not only be multi-sensory, but it should also be multi-functional.

Laura Pritchett is known for this particular generative craft class, which she describes as her best-spent hour of work before launching into stories, essays, or novels. The purpose of this exercise is to use our setting to reveal the psychological truths of our narrators. Basically: Sophisticated writing uses exterior landscapes to deepen and reveal inner landscape –hopes, beliefs, desires, dreams, fears. By using specifics from the exterior to reveal the interior, we set the stage for our reader to make subconscious connections. Place is no longer just place—our setting deepens everything else.

This craft class is appropriate for all genres and levels – just bring a pen and paper!

Join Western’s Graduate Program in Creative Writing and faculty member Nakeesha Seneb,
for a free hourlong class.

In television, every scene matters. If you don’t hook your viewer and keep them engaged,
you’ll lose them to another channel. In this Masterclass, a former screenwriter turned
bestselling author will share how she uses what she learned in television writing rooms to
keep her readers glued to the page. Learn how to weave in multiple storylines, use leads,
sequels, and buttons, and determine the best character archetypes (like the red shirt) to
help you answer story questions and open closed doors for sequels.

Join Western’s Graduate Program in Creative Writing and new faculty member, Michael
Kleber–Diggs, for this hourlong class.

Podcasting, audio recordings, and other media are essential to modern writing practice. In this
Masterclass, poet and essayist Michael Kleber–Diggs, who hosts the podcast “Into a Darker
Wilderness” with Erin Sharkey, will share the expansive ways he’s come to think about nature
writing—in both poetry and prose—through his own evolving practice and through conversations
he’s had with other nature writers on the podcast. He’ll share how he came to identify (at first
somewhat to his surprise) as a nature writer, then dive into his thoughts on nature writing today.
You’ll leave with ideas on how to embrace diverse ways of sharing your work and thinking.

Join Western’s Graduate Program in Creative Writing and Screenwriting Director James
Napoli, for a free hourlong class.

Songs told in stories are part of a deep history in the evolution of music. From early oral traditions
and the Greek stage to song–centered folk tales and story songs in folk, pop and hip–hop. Many
popular songs echo classic story structure and invite the listener to follow along with character
development, growth, change and realization.

Join James Napoli for a craft talk on the places where screenwriting and songwriting intersect, and
an interactive brainstorming session on fashioning a story from a song.