Instructor Leila C. Nadir is an award-winning writer, community-engaged artist, creative-critical educator, and an academic and creative writing editor. She is a 2023 MacDowell Fellow in Literature, 2023 Hedgebrook Fellow, 2023 de Groot Foundation Courage-to-Write grantee, 2023 Tin House Scholar, and 2024 VCCA 50th Anniversary Fellow. Her work appears in literary and scholarly journals, in museums and galleries, and in forests, classrooms, and kitchens, and she is the founder of one of the first Environmental Humanities academic programs in the nation. She holds a PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and regularly works with writers and academics around the world on developing their research and literary projects. She is an editor for Los Angeles Review of Books and is represented by Ayesha Pande of Ayesha Pande Literary in NYC.

This class is appropriate for students of fiction and nonfiction prose.

The right ending makes or breaks a story, and yet there is so little clear advice on how to write effective conclusions. This course will introduce students to a range of approaches to closing out their projects, from short stories to memoir to novels to creative nonfiction.

Homecomings. Gamechangers. Portals. Disasters. New Beginnings. Rebirths. Doors.

These are just a few of the wildly divergent words that are used to describe conclusions. Endings should be believably unbelievable and also unbelievably believable. Endings should fade into the horizon, making readers leave the last sentences with a satisfied sigh.

Yet endings should also explode readers’ assumptions so they see the world anew.

In this class, we will study the mystery of endings, denouements, climaxes, returns, resolutions, and more in novels, memoirs, essays, short stories, TV, and film with the goal of generating ideas for our own endings.

Meetings will include craft lectures, generative exercises, and group critiques.

Students will be invited to submit 1000-word endings accompanied by context, and a limited selection will be chosen for class discussion. The critique part of this class will be more of a brainstorming session and a strategy-sharing presentation than a traditional workshop. 

Planned assigned texts: endings from Jaquira Díaz's Ordinary Girls, Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits, Alejandro Zambra's "My Documents," Adania Shibli's Minor Detail, and more. TV excerpts include The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and The Studio.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: Overview of How to End Things, Navigating Inner and Outer Character Struggle, and the Roles of Catharsis, Justice, and Resolution (Craft Lecture, Discussion, and Generative Writing/Sharing)

Week 2: Endings as Expansions, Circles, Accumulations, Closures, Openings (Craft Lecture, Discussion, and Generative Writing/Sharing)

Week 3: Time Travel, Speculative Endings, and Dual Endings (Craft Lecture, Discussion, Generative Writing, Student Workshops)

Week 4: Endings within Beginnings and Ending with Objects and Gestures (Craft Lecture and Student Workshops)

Week 5: Avoiding Cliché Endings, Wrap-Up Discussion and Q&A, Student Workshops and Brainstorming Sessions 

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Demystification of the “magic” of great endings
• Discussion of dozens of examples of effective endings 
• Drafts and ideas for possible endings for your projects  
• Opportunity to share in-class generative writing
• Writing Prompts to use toward conceptualizing your endings 
• Language for How to Understand and Deconstruct Endings in Books, TV, Film
• Workshops and brainstorming sessions on student endings 
• Recommended authors and titles for further reading
• Literary Connections and Community
• Ask Me Anything session with the instructor to ask all your pressing questions

TESTIMONIALS:

“I would definitely recommend Leila C. Nadir class, and her as a creative writing instructor in any capacity. This was a really excellent workshop, with a focus on collaborative and uplifting critiques interspersed with well-structured craft lectures. I was impressed with the care Leila used to construct each session's lecture on craft, focusing on a connective theme within the pieces to be workshopped that same day: this was a really eye-opening way of looking at writing. Leila's classes carried a high level of empathy and caring as we workshopped objectively difficult, always very personal subject matter, and I left every class feeling that we, as a whole, had achieved only a high level of learning and success. Leila welcomed challenges with patience. An all-around great workshop experience.” – Johan, 2025

“The class I took with Leila Nadir was excellent. I have taken a number of memoir classes over the past few years and I found her to be very personable and well read. In addition to a short reading/lesson on memoir each week, attendees shared their feedback on each other’s submissions. What I enjoyed so much in the sharing was Leila's guidance for us to only present feedback in a supportive and positive way—what works in a piece, what could be expanded, what else we might want to read for examples—rather than critiquing in negatives. Additionally Leila gave each of us specific notes on our submitted work, something to take away and refer to as we continue our writing. Throughout the course she referred to published memoirists’ work for future reference. I sensed that I could easily spend a semester improving my writing and my voice with Leila’s encouragement. She is very approachable and really made each one of us feel seen.” – Meredith, 2025

“Leila's course was one of the most enriching, productive writing workshops I have ever participated in. She provided a great balance of instruction, writing exercises, and discussion. Each week she incorporated relevant lessons and themes that we then applied to our reading and writing exercises. In addition to that, she facilitated interesting and rich discussions among the attendees so that each workshopped piece was a learning experience for all of us. I was really impressed with the way she encouraged and inspired participation by creating a safe and comfortable workshop environment. I learned so much from her over a short period of time.” – Katie, 2025

“My recent workshop with Leila Nadir, was excellent. I found the in-class readings, craft discussion, generative exercises and weekly workshops beneficial and appropriate for both my skill level and that of others much further along with their own memoirs. They allowed me to make good progress on my memoir and to develop a clear understanding of the craft of memoir writing. Leila was an excellent facilitator, infusing writing critiques with craft lessons appropriate to the issues being raised in student memoir excerpts being workshopped. She was affirming, yet candid, in her own comments on student writing, an approach I find most helpful. Her personality and skill as an educator helped create a collegial and collaborative spirit among members of the class. I can say without hesitation that this workshop was one of the best I’ve attended.” – Judy, 2025

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE: