When: November 8 – 17 , 2024
Where: Online — Available everywhere and at your own pace
Price: $75
Scholarships Are Available!
Building immersive worlds for speculative novels, games, and other narratives can feel overwhelmingly complex. It doesn’t have to be! Especially if you have tools to dig deep into the foundations of your world or setting. In this workshop, we’ll use short writing exercises and group discussions to delve into aspects of your world that writers often overlook, but have major impact on the story. The tools presented will help you be more creative before you start a new, narrative-rich project or will add depth to your setting during your revision process.
This asynchronous course is for all science fiction and fantasy writers, whether gardener or architect, at any skill level. The materials are applicable for any type of speculative world (not just those that include cultural portrayals different to your own!), at any point during your writing or revising processes.
Special Offer: Sign up for all four of our asynchronous workshops by October 23rd and get $75 off the total price — aka one workshop free! Click Here to Snag This Deal
Who Should Take This Class?
Writers of speculative fiction across all genres — Literary, YA, Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Children’s Books, Romance — from all backgrounds and any skill level.
Course Format and Time Commitment
This class is asynchronous, meaning you can access materials when your schedule permits. Writing exercises will be sent out via a private email list. Students will have access to a private forum where they can take part in discussions if desired. During the course there will be opportunities to join live group write-ins or discussions with the instructors over Zoom. Schedule to be announced based on instructor and student availability. You can take this workshop from anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection.
Accessibility and Technical Requirements
The class will utilize Discord for text-based discussion. See Discord’s accessibility page. For the optional live sessions, Zoom meetings software is compatible with standard screen readers and has several other accessibility features that make it possible for writers who are Blind or vision impaired to participate. Live, auto-generated closed captions will be available for those who need them.
If you have questions about potential needs, or if there are any other ways we can make a class accessible for you, please contact us before registering and we’ll answer within 24 hours.
Full and Partial Scholarship Opportunities
We have full and partial Vonda N. McIntyre Sentient Squid Scholarships available for this class. If you do not have the financial means to pay for all or part of the registration cost for this class, we encourage you to apply. We have a broad definition of financial need that ranges from writers who do not have the money at all to writers who have the funds but can’t afford to use them for a writing class.
Wherever you exist on the financial needs spectrum, don’t self reject! (Still not sure whether you should apply? Read this.)
Our scholarships are available to any writer regardless of background or identity. We set aside a portion of scholarships specifically for students who identify under the POC, BIPOC, or BAME umbrellas as well as for Palestinian writers/writers of Palestinian heritage.
If you can afford to pay for part but not all of the registration fee, please apply for a partial scholarship. Under this financial aid plan you can let us know the amount you can afford. If you cannot afford to pay at all, please apply for a full scholarship.
To apply, please fill out this form by 11:59PM Pacific November 1. You’ll be asked to provide:
- A brief (300 or fewer words) statement of financial need
- A brief (500 or fewer words) description of a work or works in progress that you hope the workshop will help you write.
- If you identify as POC, BIPOC, BAME, or Palestinian, you may indicate that if you wish.
Deadline: 11:59PM Pacific November 1. We will notify all applicants of their standing the weekend before class begins. If you have any questions, please use our contact form to ask!
Refund Policy
If you find that you need to drop the workshop, you may do so by requesting a refund via Humanitix up to 7 days before the class start date. Beyond this date, you will not get a refund, however you may have that credit applied toward a future course.
Special Offer: Take All 4 Workshops, Get One Free!
Click Here by October 23rd to register and get $75 off the total price — aka one workshop free! Click Here to Snag This Deal
Register Below
If you have a promo or discount code, please choose your registration option first, click Enter Details, then add it to the Discount Code field on the next screen. If the whole box below gives you trouble, click here to register on our Humanitix page.