Han Ong is a playwright and the author of two novels, Fixer Chao and The Disinherited (both FSG). His stories have appeared in the New Yorker, and he is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.
Master Class
Han Ong
Online
Saturday, September 23, 2023
Registration is now closed for this class.
The Story Instinct
I have been reading the obituaries nearly daily for the last thirty years. It is sometimes the first section of the newspaper I look at. I read these mini-novels, in part, to replenish my store of fictional incidents for work: all human life is here. Very rarely—and this is never the point of my habit—I alight upon a biographical subject for my writing. Most usefully, each obituary that I'm drawn to—whether because of the quality of the life or the quality of the writing, or both—provides a test of my story instinct: Which, among the wealth of details, is a feasible story beginning? (Not everything is linear, and not everything begins at birth.) Which is a good end point? What is the bridge between the two? The story instinct is, most basically, the "and then” principle. He survives a plane crash. And then? And then what after that? (Part of the beauty of the obituary is that it can more often be suggestive than comprehensive, meaning that you, the writer, are required to step in and invent—missing details, chronological gaps.) Lastly, the story instinct is the habit of reading and wondering: Is everyone a story? Can everyone be turned into a story? Using three recent New York Times obituaries as examples, we will put the above questions to the test. The aim of this Master Class is to sharpen the skills of selection that comprise so much of the task of story writing: are all interesting details relevant; if a short story is, by basic definition, a sliver of a life, which sliver is the most resonant, the most worthy of dilation; and, once again, and most important: is everyone a story?
Saturday, September 23, 2023
3:00–5:00 p.m. ET
1 session
Online on Google Meet
Where is this Master Class located?
Please note that this Master Class will be held on Google Meet. You will receive a link to the meeting one week before the Master Class.
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Cancellation Policy
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