The fiction writing course will be conducted in a workshop format. Prior to the beginning of the course, each student will be required to submit a 500 word autobiographical piece about an event in their life that had meaning. During the course of the class, they will fictionalize what they have written and create a short story. The stories need to be literary fiction (no romance, science fiction, mystery, or other non-literary genres). During the course of the workshop, the elements of fiction, character, dialogue, point of view, voice, and plot will be discussed. Stories by well-known writers that illustrate the various elements of fiction will be required reading. The main focus of each session will be to workshop the stories submitted by the students. Everyone in the class will discuss their critique of each writer’s story and provide the author with a copy of the manuscript marked with their criticisms. The writer will then revise the story and submit the revision for discussion. Other literary topics that will be woven into the course would include: getting published, finding an agent, where to find the best literary fiction, creative writing workshops, M.F.A. programs, and self-publishing. In-class writing exercises will be assigned to participants during the course of the workshop.