Sugar and Salt: Using Fiction Techniques for Writing Nonfiction and Vice Versa

This free workshop will take place online on Zoom and is split into two parts, each part lasting two hours and held on a separate day. August 15th will be dedicated to fiction strategies for nonfiction and August 22nd will be dedicated to nonfiction strategies for fiction. Participants - please register for each week separately if you wish to attend both sessions. Once registered, you will receive the Zoom Meeting information approximately one week before the event.

Guests are welcome to attend either or both parts; though there will be some content crossover, each part will be structured as a stand-alone program for maximum flexibility and benefit. For the first part, we will explore how certain techniques used for fiction, such as dialogue and setting, can be applied to nonfiction. For the second part, we will explore how certain techniques used for nonfiction, such as using particular research methods or content formatting, can benefit fiction writing. Plenty of examples from books, magazines, and literary journals will be provided. Each part will include brief writing exercises as well as time for attendees to work on their own writing, fiction or nonfiction or both.

Monika has served as the editor-in-chief of Conceptions Southwest, the managing editor of New Mexico Woman, and as the nonfiction genre editor for Qu, the literary magazine at Queens University in Charlotte, NC, where she recently earned her MFA in Creative Nonfiction. She also has a BA in Journalism from the University of New Mexico and holds a Master’s Certificate from the Columbia Publishing Course. She currently works as a freelance editor and writer, specializing in developmental editing and ghostwriting.