Propulsion: How to Keep Your Readers Hooked, with Cleyvis Natera
An action-packed plot is not the only way to keep your readers turning pages. We can create tension through many other aspects of writing craft. In this generative workshop, participants will be guided through a series of craft insights to better understand narrative tension as a critical aspect of propulsive writing. We will discuss the works of authors such as Mateo Askaripour (Black Buck), Tony Early (Place of Safety), and Alyssa Songsiridej (Little Rabbit) that illustrate these craft insights. Then, we’ll use writing prompts to practice what we’ve learned. By the end of the workshop, students will have a deeper understanding of how to inject propulsion into existing prose, or the seeds for a new short story or novel chapter.
Sunday, April 9th, 1 – 4 p.m. ($75)
Cleyvis Natera is the author of the debut novel Neruda on the Park. She studied literature and creative writing at Skidmore College and holds a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from New York University. Her fiction, essays and criticisms have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, URSA Story, TIME, Alien Nation: 36 True Tales of Immigration, Gagosian Quarterly, The Brooklyn Rail, The Washington Post, Memorious, The Kenyon Review, Aster(ix) and Kweli Journal, among other publications. She has received support from Rowland Writers Retreat, Hermitage Artist Retreat, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Disquiet International Literary Program, Voices of our Nation Arts Foundation and Juniper Summer Writing Institute. She teaches Creative Writing in New York City at the undergraduate and graduate level. She lives with her husband and two young kids in Montclair, NJ.
