Elizabeth Genovise will talk about tips for starting short fiction (where to find inspiration or “story triggers,” and how to cull from our own life experiences), and we’ll discuss techniques for opening a story. We’ll then spend some time exploring how to develop character via plot & conflict, place & time, and the use of showing versus telling. Time permitting, the workshop will include some in-the-moment writing exercises, as well as an opportunity for attendees to ask whatever questions they might have about fiction writing.

Elizabeth graduated from the MFA program in fiction at McNeese State University and now teaches literature, composition, and creative writing at Roane State Community College. She was a 2016 O. Henry Prize recipient, and has published two collections of short stories- “A Different Harbor” and “Where There Are Two or More.” Her third collection of stories, “Posing Nude for the Saints,” is due out from Texas Review Press in summer 2019. She is currently at work on a new collection of stories and a novel.