Because I’ve got so much going on, classes are on hiatus till March, but once they start, there’s a bunch! May is coming within the week; I am still nailing down two classes for it.
Important Change: While the 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific slot remains the same, the other slot has moved from 1-3 PM to 12-2 PM Pacific.
Class cost is $79 for Patreon supporters and former students; otherwise $99. There are three Plunkett scholarships in each class taught by other teachers; classes that I am personally teaching will take extra ones or sliding scale as appropriate. All classes are recorded and the recording is sent out the week after class. You can register to just get the recording if you prefer; please indicate that’s what you’re doing if so.
To register for a class, mail me and include:
- The class or classes
- Whether or not you are a Patreon supporter/former student
- How you would like to pay (Paypal, Venmo, check, other)
Here is the current list. New classes are bolded. AM classes are 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific time; PM classes are 12-2 PM Pacific time.
March 5 AM Xander Odell Writing Neurodiversity
March 5 PM Cat Rambo Eating Your Words: How to Write About Food
March 6 AM Kate Heartfield Planning and Outlining Your Novel
March 6 PM Cat Rambo Principles for Pantsers
March 12 AM Cat Rambo Replying to Other Stories
March 12 PM Evan J. Peterson Two Truths and A Lie: Writing Unreliable Narrators
March 13 AM Jennifer Brozek Project Management for Writers
March 13 PM Cat Rambo Follow the Money: Using Economics in Plotting, World-building, and Character Development
March 26 AM Margaret Dunlap Demystifying Outlines
March 26 PM Cat Rambo Beginnings & Endings
March 27 AM Rebecca Demarest Building Blocks of Mystery Writing
March 27 PM Cat Rambo Dunking the Reader in the Details
April 2 AM Tracy Townsend Reading Like a Writer
April 2 PM Cat Rambo First Draft Novel Blues
April 3 AM Cat Rambo Writing Stories that Change the World
April 3 PM P.J. Manney New Mythos Class
April 9 AM Fran Wilde Cussing in Secondary Worlds
April 9 PM Sam J. Miller Writing Masculinity
April 10 AM Cat Rambo Moving From Idea to Draft
April 10 PM José Pablo Iriarte/Cat Rambo Writing Nonbinary
April 23 AM Monica Valentinelli Introduction to Game Writing
April 23 PM Cat Rambo Fixing the Broken Story
April 24 AM Catherine Lundoff So You Want to Put Together an Anthology?
April 24 PM Cat Rambo Writing Your Way Into Your Novel
April 30 AM Cat/Wayne Rambo The Algorithms of Storytelling: Design Patterns and Fiction
April 30 PM Henry Lien Outlining for Pantsers
Descriptions of new classes that don’t have pages up yet:
- Eating Your Words: How to Write About Food: (Cat Rambo) Taste is one of the most evocative senses to explore in writing, adding new dimensions and resonances to a scene. In this workshop, we’ll talk about how to incorporate food details into your scenes and worldbuilding, including some specific techniques that we’ll test out in class. Come prepared to learn how to write drool-worthy food to delight your readers.
- Planning and Outlining Your Novel: (Kate Heartfield) Starting a new novel can be daunting. How long will it take? How long will it really take? How many drafts should you plan for? Should you write in drafts at all? Is an outline necessary? How do outlines work, anyway? In this class, an award-winning novelist who’s been through the drafting and revision trenches many times will take you through a process to plan it all out in a way that works for you. We’ll talk about time management as well as the craft side of moving from idea to draft and beyond. And we’ll discuss the psychological side of dealing with the unexpected — and the tedious — aspects of novel writing. Suitable for those who already have an idea in progress, in any genre, and for those who don’t. We’ll do a few short exercises together in class.
- Follow the Money: Using Economics in Plotting, World-building, and Character Development: (Cat Rambo) Far too often, writers don’t consider the economic underpinnings of the world in which they’re working. But factoring in finances can yield new story ideas as well as plot twists and turns, rich world-building details, and insight into character and motivation. How do you use economics to create not more sensible worlds — but more interesting ones?
- Writing the New Mythos (P.J. Manney) Description to come.
- Writing Nonbinary: (José Pablo Iriarte/Cat Rambo) What does the idea of nonbinary do to traditional ways of writing gender, and how does it create richer, more interesting characters? How do you write nonbinary characters? How does being nonbinary shape writing not just about gender, but fiction overall? Join two accomplished story writers in a class that will combine lecture, discussion and writing exercises to deepen your understanding and skills.
- Fixing the Broken Story: Cat Rambo Sometimes you know a story isn’t working, but you don’t know why. Identifying gaps and structural problems is the first step to fixing them. In this workshop you will learn techniques for identifying what’s missing in a story and then fixing the problem through a mixture of lecture, discussion, and in-class exercises. bring a story (or two) that you want to work on!
- Outlining for Pantsers: (Henry Lien) This workshop teaches writers a painless but powerful technique to create a plot outline for their novel or story without killing spontaneity or discovery. Instructor Henry Lien has developed a Plot Grid technique to offfload the outlining process to a document that will keep track of the plotting for you. The Plot Grid allows for a sort of x-ray vision revealing the rhythm of your plot threads, and is scalable from the beat level to the act level. The workshop also explores how a) the Plot Grid delegates plot structure to a document that can be manipulated and rearranged in a mechanical way, freeing you to disregard structure and remain spontaneous; b) the Plot Grid allows you to see and be in control of your story like you’ve never been able to before; and c) The Plot Grid enables you to write stories that you couldn’t have before because their architecture or choreography were too intricate. Students will leave the workshop with a finished portion of their Plot Grid and clear steps on how to complete it for the rest of their novel. Note from Cat: I expect this class to run well over the two-hour mark.
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