Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories author Steve Almond returns with a fresh 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.

Sept 3rd: Worst Job Ever: How Bad Work Generates Good Stories

We tend to think of our job history as just about labor. But the world of work--especially those jobs that we hated at the time--is also a powerful teacher, a way of understanding the world beyond our home lives and families--our own powers and vulnerabilities. We'll look at the work of T. Kira Madden and others as inspiration for our own work stories.

Sept 10th: Writing the Body

To have a body is to have pleasure and shame about that body, to carry our emotions in our flesh. We'll look at the work of Nora Ephron, and others, in an effort to get "out of our heads" and map out the story of our bodies.

Sept 17th: The Internet and You

Nearly all of us, at this point in human history, are all living two different lives, the one IRL and the one we conduct on the internet. In this session, we'll examine the work of the brilliant Jia Tolentino to explore our relationship to the internet and the stories we're telling about ourselves when we go online.

Sept 24th: Writing the Relics of Your Life

We write about what we hold onto, both in fact and memory. In this class, we'll look at the work of Thomas Lux, Ben Shattuck, and others as a means of examining the relics from our own lives, and the stories they contain and elicit.

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