Brett's Approach

Most of my teaching philosophy is simple: Be kind, honest, knowledgable, specific, funny, curious, rigorous, emotionally brave, and let the expletives rip. I come from a family of teachers, and so it feels only natural to share what I learned from being a professional writer with people who want to up their game and find a creative community.

While I am eager to celebrate my students’ artistic growth, I am not a bullshitter. To that end, it is not enough for me to identify areas of growth (notice how I use that educational phrase rather than say, “weaknesses”?) in my students. I like to give them actual tools that will move them forward like aide memoir, mentor texts, paying attention to verbs, slowing down scenes, locating characters in time and space, sharpening turns in the narrative – I could go on (and do – in my classes).

I avoid lecturing like the devil and prefer to use student work to reinforce drafting and editing principles. In most instances, I encourage note giving from fellow students, which helps them to articulate and identify those “areas of growth” in themselves as well. I lean heavily on organizing any manuscript around a stated theme. To that end, I hammer theme as the source from which all else springs. From there, I help students identify the emotional logic of the story they want to tell.

Because I am a working writer, I am happy to share my knowledge about submitting, publishing, and marketing.​