People — fictional or otherwise — are messy and flawed and constantly creating — well, life. And it’s one of our jobs as fiction writers to try and replicate that as accurately, honestly, and generously as possible. We'll discuss how to approach our characters holistically — both on a craft level, looking at point of view and characterization exercises; and on a psychological level, finding ways to understand, love, and empathize.

Claire Lombardo is the New York Times Bestselling author of The...

Mark your calendar for our 100-Word Microstory Contest — a free online writing competition for a variety of age groups. You don’t have to be an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad — or even have participated in a flash writing contest before — to join in the fun. Just create a story in 100 words or less that uses one of two specific writing prompts. We will announce the writing prompts here on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 9 a.m. CDT.

Grinnell College assistant professor of English and Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad Santiago Jose Sanchez will read from their debut novel, Hombrecito. They will be joined in conversation by novelist Claire Lombardo.

Hombrecito is a queer coming-of-age story about a young immigrant’s complex relationships with his mother and his motherland. “Hombrecito is a gorgeous novel of the in-between, the waiting lull, and the changing mind, that shows Santiago Jose Sanchez to be a brilliant poet of silence...

Why is it that some narrators feel real to us — as if they were sitting across the table, telling us their story? And why do we feel so utterly compelled to listen to them?

The sense of a narrator’s deeply individual presence starts with what we like to call voice, the linguistic expression of character. Voice is why your mother can call you up on the phone and start talking without ever stopping to identify herself. You know it’s her because of her voice. Voice is the feeling of the person...