Madelaine Lucas: Writing Dynamic Relationships

Duration: 180 minutes

Join Madelaine Lucas, author of the debut novel Thirst for Salt and a professor of creative writing at Columbia University, New York, for an interactive workshop on how to craft dynamic relationships in fiction and memoir. In this generative three-hour session, we will examine the textures and tensions of relationships between strangers, lovers and family members. Through targeted prompts and exercises, writers will begin to create their own compelling portraits of intimacy and learn how to use the tools of our craft—such as voice, form and sensory detail—to avoid familiar scripts when depicting romantic or familial bonds and bring relationships to life on the page. This workshop is open to prose writers at all stages of their practice and participants will be encouraged to share their responses to in-class writing exercises with the group.  

 
In this workshop, participants will learn how to:

• Create compelling relationships in fiction or memoir that resonate with readers
• Bring complexity and specificity to depictions of intimacy between strangers, lovers and family members  
• Develop a deeper understanding of character dynamics through targeted craft exercises
• Experiment with voice, form and sensory detail
• Use personal experience as a jumping off point for generating new material