Flash Forward: A Short Nonfiction Workshop

with Anna Scotti

flash memoir writing course

April 16, 2025
4 weeks

Original price was: $345.00.Current price is: $295.00.

Zoom sessions Mondays from 6-8 PM Eastern

Original price was: $345.00.Current price is: $295.00.Enroll Now

In this generative course, we’ll write and revise flash creative nonfiction using prompts and professionally published works as our inspiration!  You’ll craft meaningful, concise pieces that capture core memories and emotions as we explore new approaches to editing and revision.

Our focus will be on evocative imagery—language that engages all five senses to create vivid mood and tone. We’ll also dive into the concept of “emotional truth” vs. “literal truth,” a key element in crafting powerful creative nonfiction. We’ll also explore the overlap between prose poetry and flash prose.

Before each of our four Zoom meetings, I will provide you with a short prose piece to read. In class, we’ll break down these pieces, examining what makes them work within the limitations of flash nonfiction. Most of our sessions will be spent writing, sharing aloud, and continuing to refine our drafts together.

You should expect to spend about an hour each week working independently on the pieces started in class. You’ll be asked to post your work, whether finished or in-progress, and offer feedback on your peers’ writing as well.

Who this course is for:

This short course is for writers of both poetry and prose who want to stretch their creative nonfiction muscles! Working in the flash form – pieces of 700 words or fewer—we’ll write evocative miniature essays on what inspires us. Come join us! We will dig deep, write bravely, and have some fun!

Note:  Students are welcome to re-enroll in this course up to three times.  Please note that the prompts and lessons will be updated  to accommodate returning students.

Zoom Schedule

We will meet on Zoom Mondays, 6-8 PM Eastern starting April 21.  This is a four-week session.

Learning and Writing Goals

Learning Goals

In this course, you will: 

  • Understand the difference between “emotional truth” and “literal truth” and how to apply this concept in creative nonfiction.
  • Analyze the structure and techniques of flash nonfiction through close readings of professionally published works.
  • Enhance your ability to use sensory language and imagery to evoke mood and tone in short nonfiction pieces.
  • Develop skills in editing and revision, with a focus on refining flash-length writing.
  • Engage with a supportive community of writers by offering and receiving feedback on short works.

Writing Goals

In this course, you will: 

  • Share vivid experiences using concise, impactful language in flash nonfiction pieces.
  • Experiment with writing prompts to generate fresh ideas and explore new storytelling techniques.
  • Write multiple drafts of at least two new flash nonfiction pieces, drawing on personal experiences and emotional truth.
  • Revise and refine your new flash pieces, focusing on strengthening imagery, mood, and tone.

Weekly Syllabus

Week One: For Rent!

Prior to our first meeting, students will read Rosa Kwon Easton’s For Rent. After a quick round of introductions, we’ll jump right in, examining how Kwon uses imagery and specific detail to recreate a seminal moment of her childhood.  Students will be asked to post a piece—finished or in-progress—on wet ink and to comment on the work of others before the next class.

Week Two:  Calcification!

Rebecca Schwab’s work is funny – and heartbreaking.  We’ll read her essay, Calcification, which first appeared in Brevity.  We’ll discuss Schwab’s skillful balance of light and dark, sweet and sour, which gives this short essay depth and contrast.  Then we’ll write short essays of our own!

Week Three: Tiny Love Stories!

Maybe you’re already a fan of these very short, very sweet micro-essays published each week in The New York Times. We’ll read several and discuss how authors are able to convey drama, passion, and a satisfying story arc using a scant 100 words – or fewer! Then we’ll try our hands at writing tiny love stories of our own. Writers will be asked to post a piece – finished or in-progress – on Wet.Ink and to comment on the work of others before the final class.

Week Four: The Chicago Story Press!

We’ll read a piece from CSP, an online journal that specializes in creative nonfiction and the short essay form. Then we’ll work on our essays in progress, offering each other sensitive criticism. Although this is our final session, our work is not complete – writers will post a finished piece or one that is under construction, and are asked to comment on the work of others.

Why Take a Flash Nonfiction Course with Writers.com?

  • We welcome writers of all backgrounds and experience levels, and we are here for one reason: to support you on your writing journey.
  • Small groups keep our online writing courses lively and intimate.
  • Work through your weekly lectures, course materials, and writing assignments at your own pace.
  • Share and discuss your work with fellow writers in a supportive course environment.
  • Award-winning instructor Anna Scotti will offer you direct, personal feedback and suggestions on every assignment you submit.

Original price was: $345.00.Current price is: $295.00.Enroll Now

Course type:

Student Feedback for Anna Scotti:

Anna is a brilliant teacher. I will take her course again and again. We learned style and syntax from reading and analyzing poetry and then experimented with those techniques through in-class prompts. She created a safe space to share our work and that process encouraged a lot of growth. I left her class with a series of poems that I’m proud of and a sense of my voice as a poet. Jodi Morton

Anna is a fabulous teacher. She is 100 percent engaged with every writer and extremely supportive of everyone’s individual progress. She knows how to smoothly and effectively run workshops so everyone’s voice is included and raised up. Janice Scudder

Excellent! The course materials were very good and the teacher, gifted. Her feedback on work submitted was very helpful. The students who submitted every week and offered feedback were amazing. Talented writers, every one! Lynne Schilling

Anna was a very good instructor. She is generous with her time and energy in helping students to improve their writing. Anna’s prompts in class were very good and led to lines for new poems every week. She also offered real world experiences with literary magazines and publishing that I felt were very helpful. Jeffrey Shalom

Anna is an exceptional writing teacher who possesses a unique blend of warmth, understanding, and deep knowledge of the craft. Passionate about poetry and its transformation into prose, she is a kind and insightful mentor who leaves no stone unturned in helping students unlock their inner power as writers. 

With patience and expertise, Anna helped me edit my poems to their best versions. Her classes are fun, but you will work hard!

Anna shows you how to break a poem down to what she calls “the working parts-” and then she shows you how to use that as inspiration to write your own.

I learned so much working with Anna, and I’ve published four poems since our class together.

With her own successful writing career as a foundation, Anna’s guidance is invaluable. Anna’s expertise in the prose poem genre and her intuitive sense of how language and image work makes her an excellent choice for anyone who wants to improve their skills in this particular form. I wholeheartedly recommend Anna to anyone looking to grow as a writer.

April 16, 2025
4 weeks

Original price was: $345.00.Current price is: $295.00.

Early Bird! Enroll now & save 15%

Zoom sessions Mondays from 6-8 PM Eastern

Original price was: $345.00.Current price is: $295.00.Enroll Now

anna scotti author headshot

About

Anna Scotti is the author of Bewildered by All This Broken Sky, a collection that was awarded the inaugural Lightscatter Poetry Prize in 2021. Ms. Scotti’s poems have been awarded the Pocotaligo Prize, the Fisher Prize, and many other prizes and honors, and have appeared in The New Yorker since 2016. She writes in various forms, but is especially noted for her prose poetry, which Ellen Bass called “suffused with beauty, pulsing with life,” and “miraculous.” Katharine Coles characterizes Ms. Scotti’s work as “wry and snappy, equal parts sorrow and bliss.” Also a celebrated young adult novelist and mystery writer, Ms. Scotti has guided many aspiring poets toward publication - and excellence. She believes in the power of poetry to transform, uplift, and inspire, and she knows that while inspiration is divine, most poetic excellence results from hard work, revision, and self-editing. Learn more at www.annakscotti.com.