The best prose writers aren’t just storytellers; they’re poets. They know how to make a sentence sing. In this one-day generative workshop, we'll investigate a variety of approaches for making the most out of our sentences, thinking about placement, language, sound, ordering, rhythm, pacing, and more.

Reading examples from established writers and identifying their techniques, we'll figure out how to write the kinds of sentences that not only get at what we're really trying to say, but point outward to larger truths. Even if you’re already confident in your prose-writing voice, sharpening your poetic sensibilities and attention to the lowly sentence can powerfully improve the quality of your writing.

This course is appropriate for fiction and nonfiction writers at any stage in the writing process. We’ll generate new work during in-class writing exercises, though you may also wish to bring writing you'd like to revise. Together we'll sift through a variety of styles and approaches to make our sentences as powerful as they can be.

NOTE: For the safety of all FWR participants, masks will be required at all indoor IN-PERSON FWR workshops and events. In addition, you must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination, including at least one FDA-approved booster shot, to attend any IN-PERSON workshop. Instructions for submitting proof of vaccination will be provided in your order confirmation.

TESSA FONTAINE is the author of The Electric Woman: A Memoir in Death-Defying Acts, A New York Times Editors' Choice; A Southern Living Best Book of 2018; An Amazon Editors' Best Book of 2018; A Refinery29 Best Book of 2018; A New York Post Most Unforgettable Book of 2018. Tessa spent the 2013 season performing with the last American traveling circus sideshow, the World of Wonders. An essay about the sideshow won the 2016 AWP Intro Award in Nonfiction. Her writing can be found in Outside online, The New York Times, Glamour, The Believer, LitHub, Creative Nonfiction, The Normal School, Seneca Review, DIAGRAM, New Orleans Review, and more. She recently won a Tin House residency to work on her next book, a novel, which will be published by FSG in 2023.