“A well-crafted sentence communicates more than simply information,” says instructor Katharine Harer. “Language choice and syntax can create rhythms and music that echo in our minds long after we’ve finished reading. Vivid imagery and attention to detail can take us to a place we’ve never seen or smelled or touched, but feel we know.”
In this class, you’ll learn some of the techniques writers use to craft compelling sentences. “We’ll begin by looking closely at short excerpts by Toni Morrison, Thomas McGuane, Ocean Vuong and Ann Patchett,” says Katharine. “We’ll explore how choices of syntax, diction and sound shape a reader’s experience. We’ll also practice writing a variety of our own sentences that build pace, create emphasis, and heighten emotional impact.”
You’ll be invited to bring a short passage of your writing in order to apply some of what you learn to your own work. Sometimes a stronger sentence is hiding inside one you’ve already written, or most of the elements are there but need to be rearranged or sharpened. You’ll have a chance to notice some of your own sentence habits and to practice revising with a clear purpose and intention.
You’ll leave this class with a stronger sense of the tools available to you when writing and revising at the sentence level, along with practical strategies for shaping sentences with greater clarity, musicality and power.
About The Writing Salon's In-Person Classes
Before your class meets, you'll receive an email from The Writing Salon with more information about your class. If you have any questions about in-person learning, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at hello@writingsalons.com.
Katharine Harer loves teaching creative writing. She has worked with hundreds, maybe thousands, of students in her over thirty-year career as a community college writing teacher at Skyline College and as a private workshop instructor. Katharine has published seven collections of poetry, the most recent, Deconfliction, in 2020, and a full-length volume of poems, Jazz & Other Hot Subjects, in 2016. Her poetry and nonfiction have been published widely in literary journals, newspapers, magazines, and anthologies. Her travel essay Delle Donne appeared in Best Women’s Travel Writing 2016 and a personal essay, Blue Flags & Painted Crosses, is forthcoming from Sonora Review in Tucson.
- Saturday, August 29, 10:00am-1:00pm
I found Katharine's teaching style empathetic and helpful. She was always about improving, no matter what level we were at.
I think Katharine is a great teacher. She gives everyone respectful, individual attention. She lets everyone have their own opinion and encourages us to listen to each other with the same empathy.