Writing Class - Writing for Story – Taking Your Memoir, Fiction, or Nonfiction to the Next Level with Professor Chrissy Kolaya

In this two-day generative writing class, taught by Professor Chrissy Kolaya, you will learn and practice strategies for developing and deepening your memoir, fiction, and/or nonfiction projects. 

Together, participants will learn and practice techniques for immersing readers in the detailed and specific world of your characters, exploring how those details impact character development, setting, energy, narrative momentum, and more. 

Along the way, we’ll explore writing craft topics like:

• How to introduce readers to the culture, history, and societal context of your story 

• The value of grounding your work in a specific time and place

• Details that bring the time and place of your narrative to life on the page

• Researching and/or imagining the world of your characters

• The power of the senses in writing

• How to share essential details in your work while avoiding the pitfalls of an info dump

Chrissy Kolaya is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Central Florida. 

This is the third class she has taught for the Library Foundation. Aspiring local writers may have attended her class in writing short fiction (2024) in writing memoir (2026), or her Literary Series talk with fellow professor Jamie Poissant (2023).

Kolaya is the author of Charmed Particles: a novel and two books of poems: Any Anxious Body and Other Possible Lives. Her work has been included in anthologies by Norton, Milkweed Editions, and in a number of literary journals. She is passionate about collaboration and has worked with filmmakers and composers on adaptations of her work. Her work has been supported by grants, fellowships, and awards.

Advance event registration will open to our donors via an email invitation in late October, six weeks before the event. 

Shortly thereafter, registration will be open to all.