Classes

• VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS: WRITING MICRO-MEMOIRS | APRIL

  ZOOM | APRIL 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 | WEDNESDAY NIGHTS 7-9 EST

  We’re adept at narrativizing our lives. Even the dull and dreadful become fodder for a good story. But when faced with a blank page, too often our skill and joy abandon us. In this generative workshop, we’ll transform our rich experience as veteran storytellers into the key that unlocks our voices and our narratives. Whether you’re writing for yourself, your loved ones, or for publication, the goal of this course is to translate your stories to the page, to mine your memories for sensual details, and to find new meanings in the stories you keep telling. While tapping into the personal, oral tradition of storytelling can be a rich source of inspiration, participants need not limit themselves to writing micro-memoirs. I draw on examples from fiction, poetry, and memoir to illustrate certain techniques, and I invite participants to write in the mode or genre that feels appropriate to them. This is a workshop. Participants generate and submit 1-3 pages each week, and receive written feedback from me. This class is ideal for writers who wish to commit to and develop a consistent writing practice, but need accountability and community to support those efforts. The course is $250 for the month and will meet over Zoom. I offer sliding scale, too, if cost is an inhibiting factor. Join me in APRIL and write your micro-memoirs! TO SIGN UP for the course or to receive more information, click on the CONTACT section of this website and drop me a note.

• VIRTUAL WORKSHOP | FICTION IN A FLASH | MARCH

  THE IOWA SUMMER WRITING FESTIVAL | ZOOM

  This course explores techniques for building evocative settings, compelling characters, suspenseful narratives, and (un)believable worlds through the study of flash fiction. Because flash fiction is a narrative microcosm, it provides the ideal medium through which to study the mechanics of story, sentence by sentence. Writing flash fiction is also an excellent exercise in precision and economy. It’s an exercise in understanding the spine of a story. In this course, we’ll study the fundamentals of story (inciting incident, rising action, climax, dialogue, scene, and summary) through various works of flash fiction. Students will generate new work and have multiple flash workshops.   Through a combination of collaborative craft talks, writing exercises, and peer feedback, participants will learn how to turn tension into full-blown conflict in swift and efficient strokes. This class is for beginning and experienced writers alike. It’s for students who wish to grasp the fundamental elements of story in their bare-bones form.   While participants will be given prompts to help them generate new flash fictions, they are also welcome to revise existing flash fictions, or to transform existing material into flash fictions. Participants will share their responses in class and receive instructor feedback.  While we’ll look, specifically, at published flash fiction, this course welcomes writers of all genres who want to better grasp the core elements of narrative structure.  This course includes a 30-minute one-on-one Zoom conference with the instructor. To enroll in this four week workshop, visit the Iowa Summer Writing Festival: https://mcuw-uiowa.catalog.instructure.com/browse/iswf/iswf2025/iswfsp25/courses/iswf-spring-2025-alexander-march-4-25

• IN PERSON CLASSES AT THE CHATTERY | MARCH - APRIL

  231 BROAD STREET | CHATTANOOGA, TN

  SATURDAY | MARCH 1 | 3 - 4:30PM MAKING A SCENE SATURDAY | MARCH 22 | 12:30 - 2PM EVOCATIVE SETTINGS SATURDAY | MARCH 12 | 3 - 4:30PM FICTION IN A FLASH SATURDAY | MARCH 26 | 3 - 4:30PM MICRO MEMOIRS SATURDAY | APRIL 10 | 3 - 4:30PM FASCINATION AND FICTION SATURDAY | APRIL 24 | 12:30 - 2PM OPENINGS To sign up for any of these classes, visit the Chattery: https://thechattery.org/