Introduction to Fiction Writing at UCLA!

This fall I’ll be teaching Introduction to Fiction Writing at UCLA Extension.  The ten-week class begins Tuesday, October 6th and  it will be held at their downtown location.  (To all you eastsiders out there, you’re welcome).

The folks at the Writers’ Program were nice enough to put up this little interview with me on their website.  Here’s a bit:

Q:  In your fall course Introduction to Fiction writers learn the fundamentals of fiction and even begin sharing their work with others.  This “workshop” experience can be a bit scary for first time writers.  What’s your advice for students who have never allowed anyone to read their work before?

A: The workshop experience can be daunting, but it’s also enormously exhilarating to have people reading and commenting on your work. If you’re new to the workshop format, I would say that it’s okay to feel a little nervous about sharing your writing with others; that nervousness simply signifies how important your writing is to you.  In my classes, I try to establish a comfortable and compassionate environment where we can discuss material seriously and constructively.  I ask students to find the “dream” of a workshop manuscript–what it wants to be, rather than what it might be currently, as a draft.   There’s a real sense of the group helping each other to become better writers.  We’re all in it together.  I think, too, that people are often surprised by how much fun a writing workshop can be–it’s a wonderful intellectual conversation and exchange of ideas.

Check it out.  And sign up for the class!