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 three-course sequence.
Enrollment limited to 15 students; early enrollment advised. Visitors not permitted. Internet access required. Materials required.
This course is held via video teleconference. Instructors use Zoom to offer live class meetings at the designated class meeting time. Students must be present at the course meeting time as each student’s final grade may include scores for participation. Please inform your instructor if you will miss a class meeting. You are responsible for any class information you missed. We suggest you arrange with a fellow classmate to share their notes when feasible.
Refund Deadline
No refunds after October 16, 2024
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
Mariner Books
ISBN 978-0544611610
(Optional)
Wonderbook (Revised and Expanded): The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction
by Jeff Vandermeer
Enrollment limited to 15 students; early enrollment advised. Visitors not permitted. Internet access required. Materials required.
This course is held via video teleconference. Instructors use Zoom to offer live class meetings at the designated class meeting time. Students must be present at the course meeting time as each student’s final grade may include scores for participation. Please inform your instructor if you will miss a class meeting. You are responsible for any class information you missed. We suggest you arrange with a fellow classmate to share their notes when feasible.
Refund Deadline
No refunds after October 17, 2024
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
Mariner Books
ISBN 978-0544611610
(Optional)
Wonderbook (Revised and Expanded): The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction
by Jeff Vandermeer
Enrollment limited to 15 students; early enrollment advised. Visitors not permitted. Internet access required. Materials required.
This course is held via video teleconference. Instructors use Zoom to offer live class meetings at the designated class meeting time. Students must be present at the course meeting time as each student’s final grade may include scores for participation. Please inform your instructor if you will miss a class meeting. You are responsible for any class information you missed. We suggest you arrange with a fellow classmate to share their notes when feasible.
Refund Deadline
No refunds after January 21, 2025
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
Mariner Books
ISBN 978-0544611610
(Optional)
Wonderbook (Revised and Expanded): The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction
by Jeff Vandermeer
ISBN 9781419729669
Schedule
Type
Date
Time
Location
Online
Tue Jan 7, 2025
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Online
Tue Jan 14, 2025
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Online
Tue Jan 21, 2025
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Online
Tue Jan 28, 2025
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Online
Tue Feb 4, 2025
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Online
Tue Feb 11, 2025
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Online
Tue Feb 18, 2025
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Online
Tue Feb 25, 2025
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Online
Tue Mar 4, 2025
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Online
Tue Mar 11, 2025
5:00PM PT - 8:00PM PT
Remote Classroom
Contact Us
Speak to a student advisor. Hours: Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm.
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