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OCT | The Craft of Fear: Writing Horror That Does More Than Just Scare
Instructor: Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya
The best horror writing is about so much more than just monsters and ghouls but rather uses those monsters and ghouls to tell deeper, more layered stories about human relationships, grief, loss, society, politics, identity, and themes beyond the spectral.
You will learn → How to write horror that upends, devours, surprises, unsettles, disorients, and titillates the reader. You don't have to consider yourself a genre writer or have any horror experience to benefit from learning how to harness fear and the uncanny in your writing.
NOV | How to Finally Get Started on that Novel: Answering these 8 questions will help you find your way
Instructor: Amy Shearn
A big part of writing a novel is making decisions and sticking with them -- and many an aspiring novelist has gotten tangled up trying to write every kind of book at once, or not being strategic about the choices they do make.
We’ll demystify the process with discussions of 8 craft topics to focus on as you're getting started. The goal is that by the end of this workshop, you'll be informed and inspired for the novel-writing path ahead of you.
Curriculum sneak peek:
You have an idea, but do you have enough ideas to start with? How to make sure it's a novel's worth, and not just a short story or an essay.
Do you know your protagonist? Like, REALLY know them?
Wait but what about the other characters?
Where is this happening? How to fully figure out the macro setting (the place) and the micro setting (the interiors).
Got a plot?: Some easy ways to think about plot, or at least how much of it you need to know before you start.
Have you made enough storytelling decisions? What's the POV, the tense, and the voice? Some of this will change, but you need to start somewhere.
What's your goal in writing this? Related to this: What's the genre?
How's this going to happen? Some process-focused tips and tricks for making writing a part of your life, which is what you'll need to do in order to write a whole novel.
DEC | From Fantasies to Futures:Â Lessons from Speculative Fiction
Instructor: Grace P. Fong
Speculative fiction is a vast umbrella that encompasses several genres and includes topics ranging from swords to superheroes to space opera. But no matter the time or place (or even dimension), they all are all connected by their use of imaginative elements.
No matter whether you are a sci-fi savant, fantasy fan, or horror hobbyist, you will learn how a little make-believe can go a long way towards expanding your stories beyond our everyday reality.
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