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Surprising Yourself: Writing Workshop with Diane Cook

My favorite reading moments are when I come upon something in the story that takes me completely by surprise. Being taken by surprise is also my favorite moment when I'm writing. It might sound counter-intuitive, but it's possible to turn off your critical--even conscious--mind when writing new material. And doing so can lead you to new turns and twists in your work that are revelatory and unexpected. In this session, we'll use writing exercises to help us explore the hidden spaces of the scenes we're trying to bring to life. And we'll work to turn off that inner editor who sometimes says, Stop! You can't do that. In this session, we'll aim to overcome that voice and write ourselves into a place of surprise. Bring a short scene or moment from something you're working on. And bring a lot of paper (or your computer.) We'll be writing a lot.

Diane Cook is the author of the story collection Man V. Nature, and was formerly a producer for the radio show, This American Life. Man V. Nature was a finalist for the Guardian First Book Award, Believer Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, and received Honorable Mention for the PEN/Hemingway award. Her stories have appeared in Harpers, Tin House, Granta, and elsewhere and anthologized in Best American Short Stories. She is the recipient of a 2016 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She lives in Oakland, CA.