Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories author Steve Almond returns with a quartet of classes laser focused on inspiring new work. Each week, we'll find inspiration in a different subject, produce new writing, and learn by sharing that work. You have nothing to lose but your inhibitions! Attend all 4 or order ala carte. All sessions will be live and recorded for maximum viewing pleasure.

Secrets & Lies (May 8th)

In an ideal world, we would hold nothing back and tell each other the truth, and only the truth. But that's not how the real world works. Instead, we spend much of our time lying to others, and to ourselves. We also lie by omission, which is to say: we keep secrets. In this class, we'll examine how writers like Sally Rooney, Meg Wolitzer, and Nora Ephron confront these evasions, then confess to some of our own secrets and deceptions.

Writing Sex Scenes Without Shame (May 15th)

Even though people think about sex all the time, and even have it occasionally, writers tend to shy away from the subject. Which is crazy. Because sex is the one experience that makes us all hopeful and horny and embarrassed and vulnerable (at least if we’re doing it right). In this freewheeling session, we’ll look at the work of Mary Gordon, Toni Morrison, and other literary rock stars in an effort to figure out how to infuse our own sex scenes with genuine emotion and ecstatic sensation, not evasions and porn clichés. Arrive ready to lay your characters bare.

How to Write About Friendship (without Losing Friends) (May 22nd)

Friendships form the most significant relationships in our lives. Sometimes they save us, and sometimes they can sink us. We’ll look at how literary luminaries such as Elena Ferrante, Margaret Atwood and Ann Patchett focus on friendship to drive their stories, then put what we’ve learned into practice.

Rage on the Page: How Anger Can Serve Our Story (May 29th)

We’re living in an age of wrath, one in which the impulse to make art is being shouted down by the desire to make war. In this freewheeling workshop, we’ll examine how writers such as Claire Messud and Herman Melville are able to harness their anger and use it to super-charge their stories. Then we'll use an in-class exercise to examine the sorrows that lurk beneath the armor of our anger.

Suggested companion text: Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories (Zando, April 2024)

About the instructor

Steve Almond is the author of twelve books of fiction and non-fiction including the New York Times bestsellers Candyfreak and Against Football. His first novel, Which Brings Me to You (co-written with Julianna Baggott) was made into way-better-than-he-expected movie starring Lucy Hale and Nat Wolff. His last novel, All the Secrets of the World, is in development for television by 20th Century Fox. His work has appeared in the Best American Short Stories, the Pushcart Prize, Best American Mysteries, and the NYT Magazine. His most recent book, Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow, is about craft, inspiration, and how to keep going at the keyboard. Almond teaches at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and lives outside Boston with his family and his anxiety.

Kickstart Your Muse: A Generative 4-Part Series with Steve Almond