All language subtitles for Masterclass Joyce Carol Oates Teaches the Art of the Short Story - 01.Introduction

I've always felt that art is the highest

expression of the human spirit

and art is the way that we communicate

with one another.

But that instinct to transcend the

particular and the finite and to reach

for something universal

that speaks to people across

generations.

I think that is the instinct for all

kinds of art.

But I think a born writer wants to tell

a story and that instinct to tell

stories is very natural. All you need to

do really is to take that instinct and

transform it into a craft.

So if anyone who's listening to me feels

that he or she is a writer, you probably

are.

This class is not not about theory or

philosophical background so much as it

is about the craft of writing and and

and getting you habituated to writing

because we all have stories to tell but

some people just don't have the the form

quite yet. Uh the master class follows

the outline of my class my undergraduate

fiction writing class at Princeton

University. So I've been teaching there

for for many years and it's the the same

syllabus that we go through like 12 15

weeks with the short assignments

beginning with really short paragraph

page two pages. So it's basically

working with telling stories which is my

anthology which is for writers because

when you're a writer you're not reading

just for pleasure you're reading as a

writer. So you have special eye for

pros. I have a great love for fiction

which I hope I can u uh share with with

you. And we're going to begin with

shorter forms. And we're beginning

focusing on just the act of writing. The

short the short nar narrative can be

like one paragraph long and move into

writing as you might move into a

fastmoving river where you just take a

little step at first and another step

and another step and you get acclimated

to what you're doing and get to love

writing and and feel always you should

be having a good time writing.

As time goes on, you may take on more

complicated projects. But in the

beginning, the assignments are very

short and you may even be working in

fields like memoir or journal and diary

that are not necessarily fiction but you

use for fiction. Writing is a process.

At the end there may be a product. Maybe

a book or a story that's the product but

you are living in the process and the

product is is what is in the future but

a short story is is the best form for

starting out.

I'm Joyce Carol Oats and this is my

master class.