Reading for Writers: Improving Craft Through Close Reading

“Reading the works we love, we’ve all had the experience of picking up the writer’s voice in our heads until that ‘other voice’ somehow becomes our own voice. We are changed by it,” says instructor Kathy Garlick. “In this class, we’ll read like writers. By looking at things from the ‘inside out,’ by tapping into that ‘other voice,’ we’ll discover how writers pull off amazing feats.”

During class discussions and in short reading assignments for homework, we’ll explore how writers plant sensations in us, how they are able to move us. Together, we’ll go inside a scene, a character, a metaphor, and look around. What do we learn from what we discover? How can we apply what we learn to our own scenes, our own characters, our own metaphors? We’ll read and discuss the lyrical prose of Michael Ondaatje and Jhumpa Lahiri, the vividly realized nonfiction of Zadie Smith, and the powerful, unsettling genre-blending of Claudia Rankine’s work. Among others!

In response to the readings, we’ll experiment with what we’re learning by way of in-class writing exercises. Kathy says, “At the end of the five weeks, you’ll walk away with brand-new tools and strategies as a reader and writer, which you’ll be able to put to work writing fiction, nonfiction and poetry.”

About The Writing Salon's Remote Classes

Due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, The Writing Salon is running all classes in a remote learning format. You will be able to participate in live class meetings via Zoom videoconference. To attend classes, you'll need a phone, tablet or computer and access to the internet. You can participate in the class from wherever you'd like, whether on your living room couch or in your office. Before your class meets, you'll receive an email from The Writing Salon with more information about Zoom and your remote class. If you have any questions about remote learning, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at hello@writingsalons.com.