6 Sundays from 5:00pm-7:00pm MT

October 5- November 9

$500 (Earlybird: $400 if paid in full before August 30)

How can a writer turn a sequence of events from their life into a narrative with specific, resonant meaning? In this six-week class hosted over Zoom, we’ll take a deep dive into Melissa Febos’s new memoir The Dry Season to understand how one masterful writer accomplished just that.

In our first few weeks together, we’ll notice how Febos poses the question that lives at the center of this book, chewing on where she starts us in the prologue and in Part I. We’ll talk about how Parts I, II, and III move the central question forward in distinct ways, the logic of splitting the material into sections, and where the book ends. In Week 4, we’ll discuss more minor throughlines in the book that help flesh out important ideas. In Week 5, we’ll collectively examine the historical figures Febos has brought into her story, discussing how she builds these people on the page, the order they appear in, and their overall effect. In Week 6, we’ll talk about secondary themes—how new ideas appear as the initial question finds answers and evolves.

Although this class is much more “structure masterclass” than “generative workshop,” along the way we’ll do some writing of our own through “intimacy prompts” that help us dig into past relationships, connect to the media/figures that have influenced our love lives, and uncover the ideas at the center of the sexual history we’ve lived. Writers should leave this class feeling clearer about how they can work with timelines and ideas in their own manuscripts, and able to notice the elements of The Dry Season that make it such a powerful, exceptionally well-wrought book.

You will need to read the entirety of this book before the class begins in order to fully benefit from its material. I recommend owning a copy so you can make notations in the margins.

Payment plan available at checkout: four payments of $150 completed by December 15. By initiating a payment plan, you are agreeing to complete all payments regardless of your continued participation in the class.