WORKSHOPS/ Events
I have taught a variety of workshops over the years, including classes on flash fiction, sprints (generative workshops with prompts), submission sessions ( how to submit your work, editing /evaluation submissions), and traditional fiction/nonfiction workshops focusing on specific elements of craft, e.g., character.
TeACHING & One-on-one SERVICES
I offer manuscript consultations, Ask Me Anything for publication sessions, and agent query letter coaching. Please reach out to me at libbyfloreswriting at gmail.com for inquiries.
Past Teaching Experience: Sackett Street Writing Workshops, San Diego Writing Workshops, Bennington College (undergrad and grad), PEN, South Carolina Writers Association Fall Conference, Grub Street, HubCity, One Story, and Tin House.
CURRENT WORKSHOP
THE PRACTICE
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CURRENT WORKSHOP THE PRACTICE =
Welcome to The Practice
I have long believed that writers get the less joyful words: submit, slush pile—you get the idea. This space might have been called another less appealing word accountability, but I am borrowing here from the visual arts community. (They seem to have better words to describe getting to the work). We will cultivate a writing practice on Sundays together. The practice of sitting down to write—a simple act yet one of the most challenging for writers of all stripes. This is the practice of making sentences. The practice of coming to a place with the sole intention to create. As I have taught over the years I have heard this countless times around the room: this was the greatest hurdle for the writer. Say no to the world and make time.
Consider this a place to find fellowship with other writers (it can be a lonely sport) and create a place that is just yours. Writing makes books, staying in the room creates finished work, and consistency creates a practice— that is one of the most important things, in my opinion, a writer can give to themselves.
When:
The workshop will be two hours on Sundays from 12:30-2:30 PM ET on Zoom. The first class will be on December 15th.
Dates to begin:
Dec 15, 22, 29.
Jan 5, 12,19,26.
Feb 2.9,16,23
I will put up the the second set in Feb.
How it Works:
You register below and send in your payment. Then show up! We will do a quick check-in regarding your practice then I’ll issue a prompt at the start of the hour (if you need it) and then you are off writing. In the second hour, you will receive a new prompt (if you want it.) You simply write. You can drop in late if need be.
Payment:
The Practice is $20.00 a session. Drop in even if you are not registered. I will remind you to send a payment before we begin the session.
I can take monthly payments (like a gym membership you actually use) or a one-time payment. I am keeping this to a low and accessible price point the idea here is that you are most likely to show up and write if you have put a value on it! If this is price-prohibitive then email me and we can work out something that’s reasonable to you.
Payment is accepted via Venmo and Paypal.
Individual class: $20.00.
A month (4 sessions) comes with a discount: $72.00.
Register below for the Zoom link. My Venmo is below and Paypal is libbyflores5. Thank you for registering. Please don’t forget to include the subject line: The Practice.
REGISTER FOR THE PRACTICE
PAST WORKSHOPS / PANELS/ EVENTS
Tin House Workshop:
Character: The Heart of Desire with Libby Flores
Sunday, September 22, 2024
10 AM – 1 PM PST / 1 PM – 4 PM EST
Online
Past summer workshop for Tin House online here.
8-week Fiction Writing I/II – begins 1.8.19 – taught by Libby Flores – Park Slope
In this workshop, writers will learn how to manipulate the tools of fiction-writing (point-of-view, plot, characterizing detail, tone, etc.) to craft complete and unique stories that engage the reader. In-class critiques and exercises, as well as lectures and feedback from the instructor, are used to help students further develop their writing. This course is intended for writers with some writing experience who are looking to learn more about what makes a story, “a story.”
A private conference with the instructor is included.
Begins: Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Day/Time: Tuesdays 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Location: Park Slope
Building the Short Story Collection: Elizabeth Crane, Kanishk Tharoor, Akhil Sharma, and Meredith Kaffel Simonoff
Wisdom abounds on the art of writing short stories, but what about assembling a short story collection? In truth, curating a set of stories that work in concert and stand on their own is as much of an art as the writing itself. How does a short story collection come together? If a story is “finished,” does that qualify its appearance in the book? Do the stories need to be linked? Does it hurt or help to place some pieces in literary magazines? Join four short story writers as they chart their paths to creating their collections. Learn what factors shaped their choices, what they wish they would have known, and how they approached the format in surprising ways.
Moderated by Libby Flores
https://slicelitcon.org/sessions/panel-twenty-one/
June 2017
Teaching Fellow Craft Session: Bennington Writing Seminars
This Will Only Take Minute: When writing short short stories (less than two-thousand words) it is even more critical to grab readers by the collar. What can any writer learn from flash fiction, sudden fiction, or micro-fiction? We will examine the parameters of the form and look at several different approaches to the short short. We'll look specifically at the great flash fiction of Lydia Davis, Ann Beattie, Amy Hempel, and many others to discover what captivates and arrests our attention, and what resonates with a reader long after the last line is read. After discussing these examples the class will be given writing prompts.
Westwind, UCLA's Journal of the Arts: Spring Reading. Hosted by Westwind Journal and Creative Writing at UCLA
April 23, 2017
Panel/ Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
Fiction: Writing Short Stories with Deb Olin Unferth, Rebecca Schiff, Dana Johnson, and Chanelle Benz.
April 23, 2017
Panel/ Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
Fiction: Writing Short Stories with Deb Olin Unferth, Rebecca Schiff, Dana Johnson, and Chanelle Benz.
August 7, 2016
A PEN Center USA Craft Session: A Very Short Story with Libby Flores
When writing short short stories (less than two-thousand words) it is even more critical to grab readers by the collar. What can a writer learn from sudden fiction? We will examine the parameters of the form and look at several different approaches of the short short. We will examine the form by looking specifically at the great flash fiction of Lydia Davis, Rick Moody, Stuart Dybek, Amy Hempel, Jamaica Kincaid, and many others to examine what captivates and arrests our attention, and what resonates in a reader long after the last line is read. We will discuss these examples and the class will be given writing prompts. By using these prompts participants will leave with a draft of their own short short story.
All handouts will be provided by the instructor. Students should bring a notebook and a pen.
This program is presented with the support of the City of West Hollywood through its Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission. For more info on WeHo Arts programming please visit www.weho.org/arts or follow via social media @WeHoArts.
Sign up here! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-very-short-story-with-libby-flores-tickets-24199293739?ref=ebtn
2016 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
April 2016
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
Panel: With Friends Like These: Tony Tulathimutte Matt Sumell, and Steve Toltz Moderated by Libby Flores
April 9, 2015
AWP Minneapolis
A Few Good Mentors: How to Cultivate a Literary Life with a Mentor
Most aspiring writers dream about having a successful author drop into their lives and recognize their talent. This panel will explore the importance of mentorship by looking at the experience within the MFA structure, nontraditional writing pairings, and nonprofit writing fellowships. We will ask what can be gained in the relationship between the more established writers and emerging writers. Leave with pedagogical approaches to mentoring, how to bring mentorship into your writing life.
Moderator: Libby Flores
Panelists: Tom Grimes, Ethan Rutherford, Jennifer F. Steil and Lilliam Rivera
April 2015
The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
Pushing Boundaries
Moderator: Libby Flores
Panelists: T. Geronimo Johnson, Cynthia Bond, Janet Fitch, and Bridgett M. Davis