Begins Tuesday, February 16, 2027

Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Tuesdays, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM ET

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Instructor Bio

Instructor Jared Sayet is a born and raised New Yorker and long-time Los Angeles resident, currently at work on a collection of stories. Stories from the collection-in-progress have been published in North American Review, Booth, and Chiron Review, and received two Pushcart Prize nominations in 2025. The stories have also earned Jared admission to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Iowa Summer Writers' Workshop, the One Story Writers' Conference, and the Kenyon Review Fiction Workshop. As an instructor, Jared leads the creative writing workshop program at the University of Pennsylvania. He also hosts classes and workshops with other leading literary organizations, and mentors writers 1-on-1 across the country.

Who is this class for?

This online fiction workshop is for writers newer to short fiction who want to understand how to build a story in stages, whether they are starting something new from scratch or improving work already in progress. Open to all levels, the class gives you practical tools for developing complex characters, creating premises that place those characters under meaningful dramatic pressure, making purposeful narrative choices, and structuring scenes.

What to expect:

Stories are built through a series of interconnected decisions. This five-week online writing class offers writers newer to short fiction a practical, step-by-step process for making those decisions, whether you are developing a new story from scratch or seeking to improve a draft you already have. Each week focuses on a distinct step in the story-building process: Character Development, Story Premise, Narrative Strategy, Structure and Sequencing, and Revision.

What makes this creative writing workshop distinctive is that the class builds a story together, live. Drawing on psychology and his original character concepts — the Identity Myth, the Coping Mantra, and the Unseen Truth — Jared guides the group through a progression of leading questions, helping students uncover connections and arrive at specific creative decisions as a group. You will begin by collaboratively creating a complex character from a set of arbitrary, sometimes contradictory details, then develop a premise that places that character under real dramatic pressure, test how point of view, tense, and narrative distance shape the reader's experience, sequence scenes into an effective structure, and finally approach revision as a reconsideration of the story's foundational decisions rather than a pass of sentence-level polish.

Because the course is built around a cumulative, live story-building process, there is no assigned outside reading. The shared story the class creates serves as the primary text, so you can examine each craft decision as the work takes shape and apply the same methods to your own story between sessions. Rather than treating elements of craft as isolated choices, this fiction workshop reveals how they work together, helping writers understand not only what decisions a story requires, but how to make those decisions purposefully.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will leave with either a first draft of a new short story or an improved draft of a story already in progress. Each story will be supported by a developed character profile, a clearly articulated premise, purposeful narrative choices, a more considered structure, and a focused revision strategy. Students will also leave with a repeatable framework they can apply to future work.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: Character Development

Students will collaboratively build a character from a set of arbitrary and sometimes contradictory details. Through a guided series of questions, the class will explore how those details connect to form a coherent psychology using the instructor's original concepts of the Identity Myth, Coping Mantra, and Unseen Truth. Students will then apply this framework to a character in a new or existing story.

Week 2: Story Premise

Students will learn how a strong premise grows from character rather than being imposed upon it. The class will develop a situation that places the shared character's self-conception and coping mechanisms under meaningful dramatic pressure, then identify the resulting conflict and stakes. Students will use the same process to develop or refine the premises of their own stories.

Week 3: Narrative Strategy

Students will examine how point of view, tense, narrative distance, and other storytelling choices determine the reader's experience. The class will test different approaches to the shared story before students make narrative decisions for their own.

Week 4: Structure and Sequencing

Students will explore how the selection and ordering of scenes, revelations, and turning points create escalation, momentum, and emotional change. The class will collaboratively outline the major events of the shared story, experimenting with how different arrangements alter the narrative's effect. Students will then create or revise a scene-by-scene structural map for their own stories.

Week 5: Revision

Students will approach revision as a reconsideration of the story's foundational decisions rather than simply an exercise in polishing prose. Using a guided diagnostic process, they will evaluate how effectively character, premise, narrative strategy, and structure work together in their new or existing stories, identify what needs improvement, and determine specific solutions.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• A first draft of a new short story, or a significantly improved draft of a story already in progress
• A developed character profile built with the Identity Myth, Coping Mantra, and Unseen Truth framework
• A clearly articulated premise that places your character under meaningful dramatic pressure
• Purposeful narrative choices around point of view, tense, and narrative distance
• A scene-by-scene structural map for your story
• A repeatable diagnostic approach to revision you can apply to every story you write

TESTIMONIALS:

"The workshop was a great experience! What made it great? Two key elements stand out: the participants in the workshop and Jared's leadership. Jared selected a group of really smart, really engaged, and really talented writers and readers. The material that was workshopped was very diverse. Short stories and novel excerpts. Literary fiction and legal thrillers and post-apocalyptic zombie stories. Each week, everyone came prepared to discuss the two pieces that were being workshopped that night. The comments and critiques were constructive, specific and thoughtful. Jared did an excellent job leading the discussion, framing key issues at the outset and ensuring that everyone had a chance to weigh in. He was able to lead the discussion, often amplifying and building on other people's comments and injecting key questions about craft and narrative voice. He did this not with a heavy hand but with a confidence and clear sense of what the elements of good writing are. Almost everyone in the workshop had been in previous writing groups. And to a person, myself included, we felt that this was the best writing group we had ever been in. At the outset of the workshop, I had three goals. First, and most importantly, I wanted to come out of the workshop more engaged with my novel-in-progress, more determined to complete the first draft. Second, I was hoping that a future writing group would emerge from the workshop. And last but not least, I was hoping to get some constructive criticism on the first chapter of my novel, which I got this in spades, in last Tuesday's workshop, in the letters I received from Jared and the other participants, and in my one-on-one session with Jared. I went three for three with the workshop. I scored a hat trick. And for that, I thank you both for helping me secure a spot in the workshop." — UPenn workshop participant

"Thank you so much for sending over your thoughts on this workshop. I am so happy to hear you got so much out of it! I've heard from some other folks in the group, all of them praising Jared, and the work you collectively accomplished. We plan to offer more workshops led by Jared in the future." — Program admin at UPenn

"I thought you struck the right balance between talking and letting other people talk. It's a tough tightrope to walk -- how much do I say? How many questions can I ask? But you nailed it! Your framing questions at the beginning of workshop were helpful, as were your additional remarks once a participant had made a point you agreed/disagreed with etc. ALL helpful, so great job there!" — UPenn workshop participant

"Jared was incredibly knowledgeable, thoughtful, and precise in his praise and critique. I learned so much from him." — UPenn workshop participant

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $395 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Jared Sayet
• Begins Tuesday, February 16, 2027
• Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Tuesdays, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM ET
• Tuition is $395 USD.