Every work of fiction and personal writing is essentially a work of suspense. What will happen next? Will the characters change? How will the writer bring together different themes or timelines? What unforgettable image or idea awaits us on the next page?
In this four-week class, we’ll investigate how writers keep readers engaged by planting seeds of curiosity through pacing, empathy, scene construction, and extraordinary use of language. We’ll explore topics including:
How do we know when to reveal or withhold information?
Once we’ve planted a seed of curiosity, how do we develop it over time?
What strategies can we use to incorporate tension into every scene?
How can writers create unique, vivid voices that keep a reader engaged?
The class will include discussions, generative writing, and readings by authors of genre fiction, literary fiction, and creative nonfiction.
“This suspense is terrible,” wrote Oscar Wilde. “I hope it will last.” Join us for this class, and build the skills you need to keep your readers' curiosity piqued from beginning to end!
Whitney Bryant holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her fiction, nonfiction, and reviews have appeared in The Georgia Review, One Story, Shenandoah, REVISIONIST, and Chapter 16. In order to support her writing habit, she has taught literature and writing to high school and college students in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia over the past fifteen years. She has recently completed a novel in stories. She lives in Nashville with her husband and four cats and enjoys exploring the city's arts scene and the great outdoors.
"Whitney was the perfect blend of encourager and teacher! She is also so skilled in bringing a class together."
"Whitney was fantastic at adapting to all of the different story ideas everyone had. Our group had a wide variety of genres and experience levels and she deftly found a link between every one of them and what we happened to be discussing at the time."
"I really loved Whitney's class! We were constantly encouraged to lead with curiosity, which I'll take with me outside of my creative practice."
