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The Art of the Start: How to Write Powerful Openings in Any Genre (for Writers of Stories, Essays, Memoirs, and Novels) Zoom Seminar, Saturday, August 24th, 2024
Regular price
$135.00

The Art of the Start: How to Write Powerful Openings in Any Genre (for Writers of Stories, Essays, Memoirs, and Novels) Zoom Seminar, Saturday, August 24th, 2024


Unit price per

Saturday, August 24th, 2024

Live Seminar via Zoom from 12PM CST - 1:30PM CST 

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button (lower left) to talk with us.

Instructor Kyle Minor is the author of Praying Drunk, winner of the Story Prize Spotlight Award. His work appears online and in print in Esquire, The Atlantic, Iowa Review, Story, the New York Times Book Review, and three volumes of the Best American series. Sarabande Books will publish a new collection of essays, How to Disappear and Why, in August 2024.

Read an Interview with Kyle on The Art of the Start.


Master the art of crafting compelling beginnings by understanding the writer-reader contract, managing essential information, and hitting the ground running in your stories, essays, memoirs, and novels.

All stories have beginnings, but what should beginnings do? What can they do? How can the writer manage the sometimes contradictory needs to orient the writer in the story's givens but also to take off with great speed? What information does the writer owe the reader, at story's beginning, and why? How much patience can the writer expect from the reader? How many different ways can a story open? How can the writer know how to make all of these choices?

This seminar will provide you with a brief introduction to everything you need to know to craft an opening that makes the reader want to keep reading, an opening of great clarity, and most of all: an opening that serves the story's ending.

In this seminar, we will learn at least three things:

  • The notion of "the contract" between writer and reader as established at story's beginning.
  • Strategies for managing information without sacrificing speed and forward motion.
  • And how to make all the important writerly choices while crafting the story's opening.

Why Take This Seminar? A powerful opening can elevate your writing from memorable to unforgettable. This seminar provides you with a comprehensive toolkit of techniques to make your beginnings as compelling as your endings. Under Kyle Minor's expert guidance, you'll develop the creativity and confidence needed to craft openings that linger in your readers' minds long after they’ve turned the last page.


Benefits of Enrolling:
  • Expert Instruction: Learn from Kyle Minor, a seasoned author with extensive publishing credits and accolades.
  • Practical Techniques: Gain actionable strategies to enhance the opening of any narrative form.
  • Interactive Learning: Engage in dynamic discussions.
  • No Required Reading: Focus entirely on your writing and the insights shared during the seminar without the burden of additional texts.

Enroll now to revolutionize your writing with openings that captivate and compel your readers to keep turning the pages!


No Required Reading:


No assigned course texts, although you'll probably be seeking out a lot of the stories, essays, and books we discuss after the course is over.

Can't Make It Live?

No problem! The session will be recorded and available to watch after the seminar concludes.

PAYMENT OPTIONS
:

Tuition is $75. 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.
  • Kyle Minor, Instructor
  • Saturday, August 24th, 2024 | 12PM - 1:30PM CST
  • Tuition is $75
  • Seminar is fully ONLINE and meets via Zoom.

If you have questions, please us the Chat Button or contact us via email HERE.