Awake on the Page: Point of View, Attention, and the Telling Detail
A 5-Session Online Workshop
Point of view is one of the most powerful — and perhaps also the most misunderstood — tools a writer has. It’s not simply a question of first person versus third, or whose head we’re in. It’s a question of attention: what your narrator or character notices, how long they stay with something, what they can’t bring themselves to see. In this five-session workshop, we’ll explore POV as a living, dynamic craft element — one that shapes not just how a story is told, but what it actually communicates to the reader.
Specifically, we explore how to:
- Use point of view to reveal character psychology
- Move along the spectrum from close interior narration to omniscient distance — from the intimate to the ironic to the panoramic — and understand what each mode makes possible
- Control what our narrators notice — and what they don’t — to generate meaning and narrative tension
- Find the right distance — intimate, ironic, panoramic — for the stories we’re telling
Each week, students will come together in a supportive, engaged space to apply these techniques to new work or works-in-progress. This is a generative workshop, meaning there are no requirements outside of class beyond some readings and whatever you are able to expand upon between sessions. No prior workshop experience is required. Enrollment is capped at 15, and sessions will be recorded so students can view or review at their own pace. Tuition includes a brief, optional one-on-one consultation designed to help clarify a specific craft question or offer feedback on up to two pages of a work-in-progress. (For price information on deeper manuscript feedback, developmental editing, or ongoing private consultation, feel free to reach out through my Contact page for details.)
Led by Edgar-nominated novelist Jennifer Cody Epstein, the course will also include conversations with two celebrated writers — Pulitzer-nominated Rebecca Makkai and international bestseller Janice Y.K. Lee — who will speak about their approaches to POV, process, and craft, and answer questions from the group.
Schedule & Tuition
October 21 – November 18, 2026
Wednesdays: 7:00–8:30 PM EST (Zoom)
Recordings available after each session.
Full Tuition: $875*
Two-Payment Plan: $437.50 x 2 (second payment due one month after registration)
Limited to 15 participants.
*Limited scholarships and discounts available for students and returning participants. Please reach out via the contact form to inquire.
Guest Authors
Rebecca Makkai is the New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions for You, The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, The Borrower, and the story collection Music for Wartime. The Great Believers was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and named one of the New York Times’ Ten Best Books of 2018 — and one of its Best Books of the 21st Century. A 2022 Guggenheim Fellow, Makkai teaches on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada University and Northwestern University, and is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.
Janice Y.K. Lee is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels, The Piano Teacher and The Expatriates, both of which were published to critical acclaim from the New York Times, People, and The New Yorker among others. The Expatriates was made into a television series, EXPATS, starring Nicole Kidman at Amazon Studios and Janice served as producer and wrote the finale episode. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Travel & Leisure, as well as numerous other publications. She graduated from Harvard University with a degree in English and American Literature and Language and worked as an editor at ELLE and Mirabella magazines upon graduation. The recipient of several residencies at Yaddo, the artist colony in Saratoga Springs, she now serves as co-chair of the board. She lives in New York with her husband and four children.
Testimonials
About the instructor
Jennifer Cody Epstein is the internationally bestselling author of The Madwomen of Paris, Wunderland, The Gods of Heavenly Punishment, and The Painter from Shanghai. Her work has been published in 21 languages, won the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association Honor Award for fiction, and was a finalist for an Edgar Award for Best Novel. She is currently Director of the MFA in Creative Writing and Literature at Stony Brook University, where she also teaches, and is a Visiting Faculty Fellow at Doshisha University in Kyoto. She has worked one-on-one with emerging and established writers for over two decades, consulting on hundreds of projects — from personal essays and editorial assignments to full-length manuscripts, screenplays, and novels-in-progress.
Artwork Credit: Rutilio Manetti, Saint Ambrose (detail). Public domain image.