comes from confronting taboos.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

All those subjects relate to many people who have no outlet.

As a writer, if one can face the darkest elements in oneself

and the things that are secret, you

have such a feeling of power.

In this class, you're going to be

exploring your own imagination deep within you.

And we're going to begin with shorter forms,

because short stories, short monologues, poetry, things

that you can finish and show other people--

that's very satisfying and necessary for a writer.

What we all need is the satisfaction

of this little uplift that we get psychologically

from finishing something.

There are two ways of looking at writing.

One way is that you're telling a story very transparently.

The other is that you're telling a story with language,

and-- and language is the point.

How fast do you want your story to read?

If it reads too fast, then it might be superficial.

A person reads it in five minutes, it's all over.

So we're also going to be exploring a writing workshop.

Writers are like cooks that--

they keep everything in the refrigerator

and put it all in the casserole.

Like, what doesn't go in for dinner tonight,

well, it's going to show up next Sunday.

So your story has a few too many bits in it.

I've always felt that art is the highest

expression of the human spirit.

Art is the way that we communicate with one another.

So if anyone who's listening to me

feels that he or she is a writer, you probably are.

Everybody has at least one story to tell.

Writing should be pleasurable.

It should be fun.

It should be exploratory.

You should be writing about things that surprise you.

I think that is the instinct for all kinds of art.

All you need to do, really, is to take that instinct

and transform it into a craft.

I'm Joyce Carol Oates, and this is my MasterClass.