Yearlong in Fiction
with Peter Mountford
Genres: Fiction
In Person
In Person Open to all levels
Open to all levels 30 Sessions
30 Sessions This yearlong class is open to fiction writers, regardless of genre, and is designed to help writers meet creative goals/deadlines, and provide feedback on their work (whether you're working on short stories, a novel, starting a book, or in your third revision). The aim is for students to be producing work that is ready for publication—many former students have published. The class uses an array of workshop and peer-review techniques to build fluency with craft—controlling narrative time, narrative structure, characterization, tone, voice, and point of view—which empowers writers to make intentional creative decisions (instead of feeling like you're being held hostage by the whims of inspiration). Students will gain control over the craft elements in their work so that they can more easily write and revise with intention.
No class on 11/8, 11/15, 11/22, 11/29, 12/20, 12/27, 1/3, & 4/11.
AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST:
1. Previous years’ syllabi
2. Samples of feedback from instructor
3. Lesson Plans
Payment plans available. Contact registrar@hugohouse.org for more information.
Registration dates:
August 22: Scholarship Donation Day (Learn more.)
August 23: Member registration opens
August 30: General registration opens
Peter Mountford
Peter Mountford is the author of the novels A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism (2012 Washington State Book Award in fiction), and The Dismal Science (a NYT editor's choice). His work has appeared in The Paris Review, Southern Review, The Atlantic, The Sun, Granta, and The Missouri Review. He is currently on faculty at Sierra Nevada University's MFA program, teaches at Creative Nonfiction, Hugo House, and is a writing coach and developmental editor. Peter's former students and clients have gone on to publish numerous books and stories and articles, and include two NYT best-selling novelists (Tara Conklin and Rachel Griffin).
Teaching Style and Philosophy: I believe the best I can do for students is help free them from the tyranny of talent and the whims of inspiration, which are fair-weather friends. Instead, I want you to hone your personal aesthetic, and to develop an authorial voice, and most importantly develop fluency with the elements of craft. One you can control what's happening on the page with ease, producing publishable work is no longer a mysterious fluke, but a familiar and non-scary process.
Website: petermountford.com
FAQ
Complete FAQMost classes are offered at a general and member tuition rates based on instruction hours, with Hugo House members receiving a 10% discount on classes fewer than six sessions.
Early bird discounts are available during the first two weeks of registration and apply to both general and member tuition rates.
To help provide financial accessibility to our class offerings, some classes each quarter are offered with a sliding-scale tuition model, allowing students to pay what they can for the class. For these classes, tuition increments starting at $5 and going up to 125% of the standard pricing will be listed on the page.
Hugo House will only process refund requests that are submitted 5 business days or more before the class start date. To request a refund, log in to your account, go to “My Account,” select the “Orders” tab on the left-hand side, click the appropriate order, and request a refund for your specific class. Administrative fees apply. Please see our full refund policy here.
Class sessions may be recorded if a session falls on a holiday, or if a student has access needs. Class recordings are not guaranteed.
We do not tolerate racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, transphobic or any other oppressive behaviors, regardless of who commits them. Please check out our full community guidelines by clicking here. If an instance of community guidelines are violated and not resolved within the classroom, students may let us know by filling out the student incident report.
Classes may be cancelled if less than the minimum number of students are enrolled within ten days before the class start date. If Hugo House needs to cancel a class for any reason, students can choose between receiving a full credit toward future classes or full refund.
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