Featured Online Creative Nonfiction Workshop

FLASH TRAUMA NARRATIVE by Chelsey Clammer

START DATE: Monday, May 26, 2025

END DATE: Sunday, July 6, 2025

DURATION: 6 weeks

LOCATION: Private Forum

FEEDBACK: Weekly instructor feedback and edits with weekly or bi-weekly peer feedback

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Taking an experience and condensing it into under 1,000 words can be challenging. Taking a life-changing event—such as an experienced trauma—and condensing that into under 1,000 words can at times feel impossible. But trauma events are the perfect experiences to use in a flash piece because they are such huge, highly emotional moments that fitting those big EVENTS into tiny narratives is what can make for amazing writing. The class will explore different readings of trauma narratives and will invite participants to write about their own trauma—however they define that.

Flash Trauma Narrative will focus on generating flash essays through various approaches. Then, participants will pick one of their pieces they created in the class to refine and prepare for publication. The course will look at the importance of writing in scene, how structure can affect the way you tell your story, fun things you can do with literary devices and point of view in flash writing, and the best approaches for revising flash nonfiction. The class will also guide participants in the submission process and there will be some brief discussions about self-care and writing about trauma.

This 6-week class is asynchronous, meaning you work at your own pace throughout each week. Readings, lessons, discussion questions, and writing exercises will be provided every week. Every student will receive feedback on their weekly essays from both their peers and the instructor. All course materials will be provided by the instructor.

Having Chelsey for a writing teacher happily exceeded my expectations. She a gifted and accomplished writer, fully dedicated to the writing life and to sharing her talent and knowledge with others, and it felt to me she was a much a member of our class as she was the instructor, which allowed me to trust her and take risks with my writing. ~ Patricia Heim

Ms. Clammer taught me that, whether published or not, all of my writings are important. She showed me how rewarding it is to investigate a portion of one’s life and share it with an audience. I discovered I could write about a tiny segment of my past. The resultant essay gave information and a degree of entertainment to my readers. ~ Carole M. (Previous WOW class participant)

Chelsey’s class has been absolutely amazing. I have produced three refined and excellent pieces—one has already been pubbed by The Nervous Breakdown, and I just got an acceptance from Hippocampus for the second (pub in January)! The third is still out there, submitted to three places. Chelsey provided me excellent edits and emailed back quickly when I had questions. The class was fun, I learned a lot and was inspired to continue writing after it ends using the prompts she gave. She was even generous enough to answer questions I had about MFA programs. I am thankful that I ended up in her class. ~ Sarah W. (Previous WOW class participant)

This past August I signed up for Chelsey Clammer’s four-week WOW! course, The Women Writers’ Book Group: Furiously Happy. Not only have I never participated in an online book club or writing class, but I have never tried my hand at flash/short fiction or humorous fiction. But I can read, and thought it would be fun to dissect the book with an instructor and other writers. And laugh a little along the way. I was blown away. Not only was the online class a lot of fun and very informative, but Chelsey’s exceptional insights into the book combined with her weekly exercises and feedback gave me some confidence and inspiration to try my hand at writing humor. She kept the pace and energy level of the class high, not easy to do online. Chelsey also expertly guided me with her edits and encouragement. She suggested I submit a couple of my pieces that came out of her exercises. I was so new to all this, I didn’t even know where to begin to submit. Chelsey walked me through that process, too! I thought you’d like to know that one was published online. I couldn’t have been published without Chelsey and the WOW! classroom. Thank you so much for offering the opportunity to grow as a writer! ~ Kate Bradley-Ferrall (Previous WOW class participant)

Chelsey is a careful and thoughtful editor who let’s other writers’ voices stand out while at the same time helping them clarify and distill their words. ~ David Olimpio

Working with Chelsey I feel I’m in a rich partnership that as much about preparing essay drafts for publication as it is about growth, discovery, and the joy that comes from telling the stories that matter to me. ~ Kineret Yardena

WEEKS AT A GLANCE:

Week 1: Writing in Scene

For this first week of the class, we will look at the importance of writing in scene. What does that mean? It’s the basic concept of “show not tell.” But we’ll take that further and look at the ways in which you can show to that tell the best, most engaging story. Writing a scene is a way to plop down the reader right into your experience, which is key for flash nonfiction. This week will help get your reader engaged because she will feel your experience, not just understand it.

Assignment: Read the assigned reading, and complete at least one of the writing exercises on your own. Post your response to one of the discussion questions online. Email the instructor your writing-in-progress for the week (1,000-word limit) on Sunday. Comment on your peers’ essays as assigned by Tuesday.

Week 2: Structure

For this second week, we’ll explore different structures through which you can tell your flash narrative. Trying out different structures—lists, sentence-long essays, fragments, hermit crab essays, etc.—can help you to conceive of telling your story differently. If you’re having a hard time focusing on one scene of your experience, using a different structure can help you to write differently about your experience in a way that engages the reader’s mind creatively.

Assignment: Read the assigned reading, and complete at least one of the writing exercises on your own. Post your response to one of the discussion questions online. Email the instructor your writing-in-progress for the week (1,000-word limit) by Sunday. Comment on your peers’ essays as assigned by Tuesday.

Week 3: Literary Devices

Metaphor! Alliteration! Simile! Word choice! Fun sentence structure (which I’m calling its own type of device)! This week we’re looking at the language with which we use to tell our stories and how it can change an okay narrative into something fantastic. Each word counts in flash writing, so this week we’ll explore how the specific words you use and the way in which you use them are utterly important to your narrative as a whole.

Assignment: Read the assigned reading, and complete at least one of the writing exercises on your own. Post your response to one of the discussion questions online. Email the instructor your writing-in-progress for the week (1,000-word limit) by Sunday. Comment on your peers’ essays as assigned by Tuesday.

Week 4: Point of View

You think you have an awesome story to tell, but you’re having a hard time getting into that story. Or, when she writes, she feels like there’s too much of a separation between what she’s trying to say and what she experienced. For me, I try to use different points of view to see how I can write out my experience and the different effects these POVs can create. That’s what we’re looking at this week.

Assignment: Read the assigned reading, and complete at least one of the writing exercises on your own. Post your response to one of the discussion questions online. Email the instructor your writing-in-progress for the week (1,000-word limit) by Sunday. Comment on your peers’ essays as assigned by Tuesday.

Week 5: Revising

If you don’t hate your flash essay by the time you’re done revising it, then you haven’t revised it enough! Now that we’re approaching the end of the course, we’ll spend a week getting sick of our essays as we learn several ways to approach and successfully execute the revision process.

Assignment: Read the assigned reading, and complete at least one of the writing exercises on your own. Post your response to one of the discussion questions online. Email the instructor your writing-in-progress for the week (1,000-word limit) by Sunday. Fill out the revising feedback form for your peers’ essays as assigned by Tuesday.

Week 6: Submitting Flash CNF

For the last week of class, we’ll take a look at the various literary journals that accept flash CNF, and we’ll learn the best ways to go about submitting your work. From learning about the different formatting requirements to writing an effective cover letter, this week we’ll walk through the submission process and, if you feel like your piece is ready, you’ll submit it this week.

Assignment: Read the assigned reading, and complete at least one of the writing exercises on your own. Post your response to one of the discussion questions online. Email the instructor your final draft of the essay (1,000-word limit) by Sunday. Comment on your peers’ essays as assigned by Tuesday.

Materials needed: All readings and lessons will be provided by the instructor.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Chelsey Clammer is the award-winning author of the essay collections Human Heartbeat Detected (Red Hen Press, 2022; finalist for the Memoir Magazine Book Awards 2023), Circadian (Red Hen Press, 2017; winner, Red Hen Press Nonfiction Manuscript Award), and BodyHome (Hopewell Publications, 2015). Her work has appeared in Salon, The Rumpus, Brevity, and McSweeney’s, among many others. She was the Fall 2019 Jack Kerouac Writer-In-Residence through the Kerouac Project. Chelsey teaches online writing classes with WOW! Women On Writing and is a freelance editor. Visit her website at: www.chelseyclammer.com.

COST: $250, which includes weekly assignments, individual feedback from the instructor, and an emotionally safe space to explore your stories.

BONUS! Many students hire Chelsey as an editor after the class’s completion. All students enrolled in this course will receive a 30% discounted rate for Chelsey’s Editing Services. (Limited to one piece of writing under 2,000 words.)

BUY NOW: Flash Trauma Narrative with Chelsey Clammer (6 weeks, starting 5/26/2025) Limit: 12 students. Early registration is recommended.

For Class Session Starting 5/26/2025

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Notes: Upon successful completion of payment, your name, email address, and contact info will be submitted to your instructor. Just before class begins, she will e-mail you with instructions on how to get started.

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Additional Testimonials for Chelsey Clammer:

I’ve taken two of Chelsey’s classes and signed up for her submission consultation services. I’m excited to share that all three of the essays we worked on have been accepted for publication! The first class I took with Chelsey is her fantastic Not What But How: Improving Essays with a Focus on Craft, Not Content where I worked on an essay I had been struggling with. Chelsey helped find the direction I needed, and I’m happy to say that essay is upcoming in Empty Mirror. Utilizing Chelsey’s editorial skills on an essay that had received personal rejections and come close, but not close enough, to receiving an acceptance, resulted in Under the Sun saying yes and is forthcoming spring of 2020. The essay I wrote in Chelsey’s When Life Fissures: Writing About Grief in Fragments class was picked up by Mojave Heart Review just weeks after the class ended. Whether you are new to writing, or need a refresher, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for with Chelsey. Chelsey has an innate and amazing ability to see your vision, even when you can’t. With her close reading, eye for detail, helpful feedback, friendly personality, she’ll get your words singing on the page. Chelsey is the writer/editor/teacher muse you didn’t know you needed. I can’t rave enough about what I’m a big fan of Chelsey’s writing, and an equally big fan of Chelsey’s editing/teaching. ~ Cindy Bradley (Previous WOW class participant)

I have taken two of Chelsey Clammer’s classes and I cannot wait to take my third. She is a very accomplished author and is so generous about sharing her talents with her students. The materials are timely, relevant and inspirational. I have no problems balancing coursework with other commitments; in fact, the work is so much fun that I find myself easily pushing everything else out of the way to write. Thanks to Chelsey and the feedback of classmates, I have several new writing projects that I plan to submit soon for publication! ~ Ashley Memory (Previous WOW class participant)

Chelsey Clammer is one of the best writing teachers I’ve ever had. When I signed up for this course, I had hit a dead period in my writing, when I felt I might not be able to write another essay ever. After 20 years as a publisher of a magazine I founded and years of coming up with a personal essay and a prose poem for the cover every month, I simply hit a wall. I was convinced I’d lost my mojo, but a friend had taken the same class with Chelsey and raved about it. This course was a major breakthrough for me, and I came up with drafts for three essays over the course of the four weeks! Thank you, Chelsey, for helping me find my words and my self-confidence. ~ Nikki Hardin (Previous WOW class participant)

In May, I took Chelsey Clammer’s course on writing memoir based on the empathic writings of Leslie Jamison. Discussion and analysis of Jamison’s essays, formed the backdrop for our approaches to our essays. I worried; I’d been writing only poetry for the past five years. Would I have enough ideas and skills to shape a coherent essay for feedback from the mentor and classmates? Ms. Clammer taught me that, whether published or not, all of my writings are important. She showed me how rewarding it is to investigate a portion of one’s life and share it with an audience. I discovered I could write about a tiny segment of my past. The resultant essay gave information and a degree of entertainment to my readers. Two of the essays completed during the four-week course are now under consideration by editors: one at an essay contest at Under the Gum Tree and the other at Mom Egg Review. ~ Carole Mertz (Previous WOW class participant)

Chelsey Clammer is professional and prompt, with a keen eye for detail. I trust her editorial advice absolutely. ~ Jen Palmares Meadow

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Questions? Email Marcia & Angela at:
classroom[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com

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