Master Classes

While publication credits are not required, Master Class participants should be experienced writers, dedicated to their craft. Applications will be reviewed, and qualified registrants admitted, on a rolling basis, until the Master Class fills or we reach the deadline of October 20—whichever comes first.

When you register for a Master Class, please choose another class as a back-up in case you are not admitted to the Master Class.

Please submit your current CV, along with the required manuscript (see each Master Class’s course description, below, for its manuscript requirements), to masterclass@ncwriters.org, on the same day that you register for the Fall Conference.

Application to a Master Class requires a non-refundable $30 processing fee, in addition to the Fall Conference registration fee. If registering for the conference online or by phone, you can pay this processing fee with a VISA, MasterCard, or Discover. If registering by mail, you must include a separate check for $30.

MASTER CLASS REGISTRATIONS (INCLUDING REQUIRED MANUSCRIPTS) MUST BE RECEIVED THE SAME DAY YOU REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE.

Reality Lit: Substance, Structure, Style: Creative Nonfiction Master Class with Rebecca McClanahan

The literature of reality, sometimes referred to as creative nonfiction, offers writers the chance to combine fact and lived experience with imaginative literary approaches. This class combines close reading of model essays and excerpts, guided discussion of students’ manuscripts, and instruction in approaching three essential elements of artful nonfiction: 

• Substance (What is it made of?)  
• Structure (How it is shaped? How does it move?) 
• Style (What makes it new? What makes it you?) 

Please submit up to 1,500 sequential words from a single work, along with your current CV in a separate attachment, on the same day that you register for the conference. Submissions should be saved in an MS Word document, using double-spaced 12-point Times New Roman font, with numbered pages, and sent as an attachment to masterclass@ncwriters.org. The Word document’s file name should include your own last name, and the title of the work and your name should appear on the submission itself. If accepted into the Master Class, your submitted work will be shared with other Master Class registrants.

Each registrant should be ready to handle the intensive instruction and atmosphere of the Master Class.

Master Classes continue through Sessions II & III.

Building the World: Fiction Master Class with Aaron Gwyn

**THIS MASTER CLASS IS FULL**

This master class will be an intensive look at how fiction writers construct fictional worlds from words—realistic, fantastic, and otherworldly. 

Please submit up to 1,500 sequential words from a single work, along with your current CV in a separate attachment, on the same day that you register for the conference. Submissions should be saved in an MS Word document, using double-spaced 12-point Times New Roman font, with numbered pages, and sent as an attachment to masterclass@ncwriters.org. The Word document’s file name should include your own last name, and the title of the work and your name should appear on the submission itself. If accepted into the Master Class, your submitted work will be shared with other Master Class registrants.

Each registrant should be ready to handle the intensive instruction and atmosphere of the Master Class.

Master Classes continue through Sessions II & III.

So What the Use of Meter, Anyway?: Poetry Master Class with Morri Creech

In an age that writes mostly in free verse, one might wonder what the use of meter is in contemporary poetry. Yet meter provides a supple music, weaving and, occasionally, contrasting speech rhythms with the natural cadence of meter to create surprisingly nuanced verse; it helps create surprising content by freeing the intuitive side of the brain from the tyranny of the rational; and it helps free verse writers by sensitizing them to stress patterns lurking under the music of the line. In this class, we’ll be learning the basics of prosody by looking at a few key examples, as well as composing original lines that correspond to a metrical pattern. With any luck, we’ll come to see the benefits of prosody in an age that favors freedom over constraint. 

Please submit three poems, totaling no more than five pages, on the same day that you register for the conference, along with your current CV in a separate attachment. Poems should be saved in a single MS Word document, using single-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman font, and sent as an attachment to masterclass@ncwriters.org. The Word document’s file name should include your own last name, and your name and the title of each poem should appear on the submission. If accepted into the Master Class, your submitted work will be shared with other Master Class registrants.

Each registrant should be ready to handle the intensive instruction and atmosphere of the Master Class.

Master Classes continue through Sessions II & III.