This session covers:

• Discerning the significance of patterns, juxtapositions, and emphasis.
• Everything is context.

This session covers:

• Why we like bad guys.
• Character drives plot.
• Character evokes theme.

This session covers:

• When is place important?
• When is historical period important?
• The relationship of setting to . . . everything.

This session covers:

• The purpose of symbolism.
• The purpose of irony.
• The purpose of foreshadowing.
• The importance of discerning tone.

This session covers:

• Whose story is it? Whose reality?
• Language and character
• Language and action.
• Language and setting.

This session covers:

• A good story is an artful and meticulous selection of small details.

•    Discern the interconnections among character, point of view, plot, setting, and theme.

•    Understand the value of symbolism, irony, foreshadowing, and tone.

•    Become sensitive to the nuances of word choice.

•    Evaluate the effectiveness of a variety of fictional techniques.

•    Appreciate the significance of style and the importance of meticulously selecting details.

This course offers bonus video tutorials in which Mark Spencer further discusses the course material.

To get the most from this workshop you should:

Read closely and re-read.  Just as good writing is usually the result of re-writing, good reading is usually the result of re-reading.  

•    Anyone who wants to become a better writer, a more perceptive student of literature, or just a better reader.

The course will be appropriate for—and valuable to—writers at all levels: beginner, intermediate, or advanced.

Ernest Hemingway’s short-story collection Men Without Women.

Additional readings will be brought up in class.

"Awesome course! The instructor’s feedback was extremely eye opening. He helped me see the importance of small details that the reader can see, smell, taste, touch, and feel in a story. I am so glad that I took this course." - Allyson Rudolph

"Excellent, eye-opening course! I will never read the same way again. Each lesson was well constructed, built on the one before, and provided the right level of detail to digest and apply within the timeframe. Mark’s patient, encouraging, and insightful feedback is eye-opening. What better way to learn about writing across time and genre than from the masters, including this awesome instructor?" - Donna Magnani

"Fantabulous! Mark Spencer has a keen eye for storytelling, and a gift for helping writers strengthen their work. I'd highly recommend any class he teaches." - Lyri Ahnam

"I did not want this class to end. Mark's lectures are concise and his feedback is insightful. Best class I've taken to improve my writing." - Joya Hricko

"Mark Spencer is an exemplary writing teacher, reading teacher and critical reader. This class was particularly useful to me because there is so much more to writing than writing, which is to say reading, and reading well. Mark's not dogmatic, insisting that you see things his way. Instead, he broadens the discussion to help you add breadth and depth to your reading and to sharpen your eyes and ears to elevate your level of writing. An added plus is that Mark designed this course, which somehow makes the readings seem more familiar, when all's said and done, than they otherwise might be." - Craig Donegan

"Thank you for a great class! This class has given me the insights I needed to understand how great fiction gets made in every element of style and composition. Great refresher for the experienced and great overview for the less experienced literary reader!" - Senem Guney

"I thoroughly enjoyed this course. I looked forward to the lectures and assignments every week. The readings helped me to understand how deliberate authors are when it comes to character, setting, symbolism, irony, foreshadowing, point of view, small details. I highly recommend Mark as a teacher of close reading for writers!" - Amy Martin