Writing is largely a matter of habit (to paraphrase Flannery O’Connor), yet it’s not always easy to maintain a consistent writing practice. This course offers a supportive push for writers of all levels toward creating and cementing that habit. For both fiction and nonfiction writers, and at any stage of a project—from facing a blank page to a completing a draft of a story—we’ll use exercises, writing prompts, and a constructive critiquing process to improve our writing practices as well as our work.While the focus is on loosening up and kick-starting our creativity, the exercises in this course connect to and explore important features of both fiction and nonfiction writing—including description, voice, character, plot, and revision—as well as ways to apply them to current and future projects. We also read pieces by acclaimed writers about process. By the end of the course, each student has a good start on a new piece or have a clear direction in which to take a piece they’d already begun—and have a solid foundation for a regular writing practice.