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Most good fiction has its origins in one or more real life events. Or to put it another way: the fictional stories we write often rise from the realm of nonfiction. This course is designed to 1) discover something tucked away in your memory that’s story-worthy, and 2) start telling some lies about it. So, using a prompt, we’ll mine your memories for a number of recollections, then use one or more of those memories to begin a brand-new short story. The goal is to walk away with the first page or so of a new piece of fiction, full of good lies.

Scott Gould is the author of five books, including The Hammerhead Chronicles, winner of the Eric Hoffer Award for Fiction, and Things That Crash, Things That Fly, which won a 2022 Memoir Prize for Books. His other honors include a Next Generation Indie Book Award, an IPPY Award for Fiction, the Larry Brown Short Story Award and the S.C. Arts Commission Artist Fellowship in Prose. His work has appeared in a number of publications, including Kenyon Review, Black Warrior Review, Pangyrus, New Ohio Review, Crazyhorse, Pithead Chapel, BULL, Garden & Gun, and New Stories from the South. Gould's latest book is a story collection, Idiot Men. He lives in Sans Souci, South Carolina and teaches at the S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities.