Our online classes are offered throughout the year. We occasionally also offer retreats and in-person workshops. See a class you’d like to take but registration isn’t open? Subscribe to our announcement mailing list to get notifications of new classes.
In this webinar, author Stant Litore will explore techniques for designing the stories behind the story you’re telling–the stories that your characters either carry in their hearts or resist with all their capacity. How deep does your lore go? And how fiercely does it press on your characters’ lives and actions? Register today and find out!
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Research is a necessary part of the creative process for every fictional narrative, whether you’re creating whole new worlds or futures, using historical settings or events, or crafting characters whose identities or cultures are very different from your own. You don’t have to be a scholar or even a university student to get help and learn how to find the information you need to craft great stories. In this course, reference librarian Melody Steiner will take you through the research process step-by-step.
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Writing emotionally charged, sexually explicit scenes in fiction can be challenging no matter what genre you write. This webinar will provide a deep dive into writing inclusive sex scenes that are true to your characters and are memorable for your readers.
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer of fiction will, in the course of their career, screw up. A truth not universally acknowledged is that authors can recover from a screw up, even a highly public one, by avoiding specific behaviors that do nothing but escalate and make the situation worse. Nisi Shawl and K. Tempest Bradford will break down what authors should not do and advise on what they should do, instead.
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Western storytelling traditions decree that a linear structure (along with the three act structure, the hero’s journey, and a rising self-esteem arc) are mandatory features of any satisfying story. This is Western-centric silliness. In this webinar, author Henry Lien will explore non-linear structures, specifically cyclic and nested structures, using examples from non-Western stories and films.
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How can you create convincing characters who see the world in really different ways? Nisi Shawl’s talks and exercises explore the roots of religions and other models for understanding the universe, helping you to depict practitioners of non-dominant group faiths OR believers in your invented religions and cosmologies.
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Bisexual author Cecilia Tan walks writers through the process of researching and representing characters who are not attracted exclusively to people of a single gender. Termed pansexual by some, bisexual by others (the “B” in LGBTQ), these sexual identities are among the most stigmatized and misunderstood, and are often represented by cliches and inaccurate stereotypes.
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Get yourself ready to write a bunch of words in one month with writing exercises that will help you get to know your characters and world before you dive into them in earnest. Register for Writing the Other’s NaNo Prep Daily and get an exercise every day in October.
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Gearing up for NaNoWriMo 2023? Before you put words to page, get to know your main character/s better in this Preptober workshop with authors Nisi Shawl and K. Tempest Bradford.
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In this workshop, authors Nisi Shawl and K. Tempest Bradford will guide you through short writing exercises that will help you dive into aspects of your world that writers often overlook, but that impact your story and characters in major ways.
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