Workshops

A Concentrated Course in Nonfiction 2016 | March 10 – March 13, 2016

Use your imagination full force—as a nonfiction writer. Many writers believe that fiction offers more opportunity for creativity, but nonfiction authors beg to differ! Writing from reality requires just as much creativity as writing from fantasy. What differs is facts. Learn to write nonfiction with the same level of creativity fiction writers use, and you can tap into an almost limitless number of markets. This workshop delivers a concentrated course on nonfiction writing, from a thirteen-step process for the writer—including the critical concept of knowing your audience—to the self-editing that must be lavished on a complete manuscript. This concentrated course is led by Peter P. Jacobi, professor emeritus and visiting Riley professor at Indiana University’s School of Journalism, and a former professor and associate dean of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. During the workshop, Peter will focus on:

• securing the best information through reporting and research;
• clarity and completeness in copy;
• the long and the short of things;
• style and tone, and that mysterious, sometimes elusive matter called voice;
• power words of the language;
• beginnings and endings;
• structures that work to be inclusive and exclusive;
• narration, description and exposition;
• the treasures in detail, and more.

Whether you write for children or readers of all ages, whether your passion is the article or the book, the essay or the profile, the story or explanatory piece, you’ll acquire an improved understanding of reader needs and wants, as well as an enhanced self-understanding so that you can make the most of your gifts and personality.

Faculty blog posts
The hard but satisfying work of creative nonfiction
On conducting interviews

Faculty & Special Guests

Peter P. Jacobi