ONLINE Scenes That Stick: Crafting Memorable Moments in Creative Nonfiction
4 weeks | Mondays | Begins June 8, 2026
5pm-7pm PT | 6pm-8pm MT | 7pm-9pm CT | 8pm-10pm ET | 9pm-11pm AT
Instructor: Shara Cooper
MEMBER PRICE: $160.00
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $200.00
Have you ever read a book and there’s one scene that sticks with you long after you’ve finished? Years later, you might think of the book and it’s still that one scene that lingers.
Scenes are the soul of compelling nonfiction.
In this hands-on, four-week course, writers will learn to craft vivid, immersive scenes that pull readers in and anchor the emotional core of memoirs, personal essays, and literary journalism.
Through mini-lectures, close readings, and guided exercises, participants will explore how to choose moments to dramatize, layer sensory detail, manipulate point of view, and integrate scenes with reflection and exposition.
By the end of the course, each writer will have drafted and revised multiple scenes and developed tools to make their writing resonate long after the page is turned.
This class takes place online using Zoom.
Shara Cooper is an Edmonton-based editor and writer with a background in journalism. As an editor she loves working with writers in the early days of a manuscript and helping the author find their voice, working on structural components, and fine-tuning sentences.
As a writer, she is currently pitching a picture book, finishing a memoir, and can’t wait to have time to work on a YA novel idea that is based in Alberta in the 1960s. Her most recent publications are op-eds that have appeared in the Toronto Star.
Shara has completed an MA in Creative Writing, a Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design, a BA in English, a Bachelor of Journalism, and a 4/5ths of an editing certificate. In the spring of 2026 she will graduate with an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of King’s College in Halifax.
Perhaps most importantly, Shara is raising two witty, empathetic, and neurodiverse daughters. As someone with ADHD herself, she knows what it’s like to walk in a neurotypical world as a neurodiverse person and believes in a creative and compassionate world.
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We are a community that thrives on support and encouragement. Based on the philosophy of "no writer left behind", the J. Michael Fay Subsidy Program is available to anyone who finds themselves in financial need but really wants or needs to participate in one our programs are classes. Click link above for more details and to apply.
