Science Fiction and Fantasy Novel I

WRITING X 416.1E

Start your sci fi or fantasy novel off right with this course that helps you build your world and start telling your story.

READ MORE ABOUT THIS COURSE
Remote
Starting at $720.00
As few as 11 weeks
3.0

What you can learn.

  • Understand the conventions that make science fiction and fantasy novels work
  • Plan your own novel and begin writing your first chapter
  • Build foundational skills like worldbuilding, pacing, and characterization
  • Complete an outline to guide your full novel draft

About this course:

Science fiction and fantasy novels are immensely popular and have inspired some of our most beloved, successful, and long-lived media franchises. But speculative novels are challenging to write due to their complex settings, their need to orient readers to an entirely unique world and its rules, and the challenge of connecting audiences to characters who might not even be human. This workshop provides both aspiring and experienced writers with genre-specific tools necessary to plan and begin a sci fi or fantasy novel. We focus on establishing a new world and its characters in the first pages of the book, working on both foundational skills like characterization and pacing as well as the worldbuilding skills unique to this genre of fiction. This course includes a workshop of your first chapter. The goal is to complete a compelling opening, a first chapter of up to 25 pages, and a preliminary outline for the whole book over the first of this two-course sequence.

Fall 2023 Schedule

Date & Time
Details
Format
 
-
Wednesday 5:00PM - 8:00PM PT
Future Offering (Opens July 31, 2023 12:00:00 AM)
See Details
Instructor: Henry Lien
393879
Fee:
$720.00
Remoteformat icon
Location: Remote Classroom
Notes

No meeting November 22, 2023.

Enrollment limited to 15 students; early enrollment advised. Visitors not permitted. Internet access required. Materials required. 

Refund Deadline
No refunds after October 18, 2023
Course Requirements
Internet access required to retrieve course materials.
Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story by Ursula K. Le Guin
(Optional) Wonderbook (Revised and Expanded): The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction by Jeff Vandermeer
Schedule
Type
Date
Time
Location
Discussion
Wed Oct 4, 2023
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Discussion
Wed Oct 11, 2023
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Discussion
Wed Oct 18, 2023
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Discussion
Wed Oct 25, 2023
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Discussion
Wed Nov 1, 2023
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Discussion
Wed Nov 8, 2023
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Discussion
Wed Nov 15, 2023
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Discussion
Wed Nov 29, 2023
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Discussion
Wed Dec 6, 2023
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Discussion
Wed Dec 13, 2023
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom

Contact Us

Speak to a program representative. Hours: Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm.
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