Want to write sci-fi and/or fantasy? Don't know the difference between an elvish sword and a lightsaber? Kat Howard will teach you to write effective, exciting, fantastical stories.
Your Instructor: Kat Howard, sci-fi/fantasy writer, editor, blogger
Where: Online — Available everywhere!
When: This class is not currently enrolling. To be notified when it is offered again, Click Here
Enrollment: 18 Students Maximum
Price: $399
Class Description
Science fiction and fantasy are the literature of possibility.
As genres, they're rich with opportunity. But like any genre, they possess their own freedoms and conventions. In this four-week online course, Kat Howard, a pro in the field of sci-fi and fantasy, will teach you the expectations of the field, and help you build the confidence to work within it.
The class is designed for all levels—even if you can't tell the difference between an elvish sword and a lightsaber. Kat will guide you through the process, so that you'll leave with a stronger sense of these genres—and with skills you can apply to any genre of writing.
And don't forget, some of the most heralded books in literature are sci-fi or fantasy.
The Lord of the Rings
1984
Fahrenheit 451
just to name a few...
Because sometimes you have to take your fiction to an extreme, for it to really reflect back on what you're exploring.
What This Class Covers
Week One - Where do you get your ideas from?
Writing science fiction and fantasy means transforming "That could never happen" into "I wonder what would happen if it did?" You'll talk about how to find our own big ideas, and to begin imagining the impossible.
Week Two - Where are we, and what are we doing here?
Hogwarts. Middle Earth. A generation ship. The moons of Mars. You're familiar with the otherworldly and out-of-this-world settings of SF/F literature, but now you'll learn how to create your own worlds, and make them believable.
Week Three - Whose story is this?
When writing fantasy and science fiction, your characters can be anything you want: Robots, elves, gods, sentient spaceships. If you can imagine it, you can write it. Here you'll learn to write complex, well-rounded characters of the human (and non-human) variety.
Week Four - How do we make the impossible possible?
Writing science fiction and fantasy works best when the reader engages in a willing suspension of disbelief. Learn how to give your imagination free rein without throwing the reader out of your story.
Bonus lecture: Learn how to revise, accept feedback, and submit your work.
Goals Of This Class
- Explore the expectations of writing in the SF/F genre, and how to use them to strengthen your writing.
- Develop your imagination and your creativity.
- Learn to create imagined worlds, and populate them with compelling characters.
- Practice character perspective, voice, and point of view.
- Discover your own path within the almost unlimited terrain of story possibilities for SF/F.
- Finish a draft of a short story, or write the beginning of a novel.
- Learn tools you'll need to pursue professional publication.
