Fall 2008, NEW YORK CITY
New School University- taught by Nahid Rachlin
Advanced Fiction Building Full Real Characters NWRW4329
Tuesdays at 6pm, Fifteen sessions
Beginning Sept. 2nd
66 W 12th (between Fifth and Sixth)
***Info: (212) 229-5620

DESCRIPTION OF COURSES: Building full real characters
To reach readers it is important to develop believable, three-dimensional characters. How do you create complex, real people within the context of plot, dialogue, viewpoint, voice? This is the question we will try to answer. The class sessions will be mainly devoted to students' own work – chapters of novels, memoirs, novellas, short stories, which we will read and comment on (please bring 15 double-spaced pages to the first class). We will also discuss a published short story in each session. In the first session we will devote some time to a general discussion of the craft of writing fiction and also cover some publishing aspects of writing-- how to go about getting an agent, writing a cover letter, what to expect from the publishing world today. The criticism will be constructive. We will point out strengths as well as weaknesses and make suggestions for improvement.

BIO:
Nahid Rachlin: (http://www.nahidrachlin.com) went to MFA programs at Columbia University and Stanford University. Among her publications are four novels, Foreigner, Married to a Stranger, Heart's Desire, and Jumping Over Fire; a short story collection, Veils; and a memoir, Persian Girls. Her individual stories have appeared in more than fifty magazines and she has written reviews for the New York Times. Among the grants and awards she has received are a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a Wallace Stegner Fellowship (Stanford). Presently she teaches at the New School University.