For my current students: I’ve temporarily removed the password on the private class site so you can easily access the reading assignment, Kelly Link’s “Stone Animals.” For now I am hoping that Quercus will be back up in time for our next class. If not, you can email me for the zoom link. Please let me know if you have any questions—

“The Great Escape” | Speculative Fiction Workshop

☆☆click here for the private class site☆☆

More info & enroll here!

May 5th - June 23rd

Tuesdays, 6:30-9 PM (EST)

8 sessions, online with synchronous meetings

Read and write fiction that doesn’t follow the rules of our world.

We tend to think of worldbuilding in terms of content, but worldbuilding is also a matter of style; well-chosen verbs are as central to evoking a new world as lengthy descriptions of place, history, or lore. Worldbuilding, too, is a matter of narrative structure: how much do we tell, and when? How do different stories pace out the reveal of information? Some speculative stories present clear rules, stakes, costs and consequences. Others leave the ground unsteady beneath your feet. Together we'll uncover the methods behind both "hard" and "soft" worldbuilding, the storytelling opportunities that are available—as well as the dangers that lurk—in the process. What makes these stories feel real?

Learning outcomes:

• Create elements of fantasy and science fiction, including plot, narrative and characters.

• Understand the business of fantasy and science fiction writing. 

• Have your manuscript critiqued by your instructor and peers. 

Past Classes

Hostile Worlds

The land is sick. The plants are poison. Disasters and illness roll unevenly over the populace. Animals vanish, or else bite. Ancient gods fight the new.

Together we will read and write in multiple genres--from fantasy to sci-fi and climate fiction--to examine what it is to live in a drastically changing world. Expect ecological threats, mythological beasts, dystopian cities, and bespoke planets. Expect the strange in forms dramatic and subtle. This course is both for alumni of the Speculative Workshop and for people who have never written these kinds of stories before (but want to try). The one constant is, in this class, the setting wants blood.

Creative Nonfiction

Discover how to craft your own memories or experiences into an essay or memoir chapter. We will read a variety of styles, from new journalism to genre-bending lyrical essays. This is a generative craft workshop: in-class writing exercises and immediate feedback will help inspire and hone your writing process.

Setting and Style

Let’s discuss how a story shifts from marks on the page into an alive experience, focusing on the moment we sink into its world. In this course we will read and discuss examples of settings that do more than operate as a passive background for the plot. We will analyze how setting is shaped by the point of view, and dive into the elements of style: word choice, the drawing of details, the rhythm of descriptive sentences and paragraphs. All to answer: How do you craft settings that feel real, necessary, and full? When do you describe the world, and at what length? What keeps the reader immersed in the world and what kicks them out?

Intro to Fiction

Learn the fundamentals of creative writing! This course for teens will cover the foundational elements of fiction—sentence composition, characterization, plot, and point of view—with the goal to submit an original short story to the Write Rhode Island competition. Winners of the competition receive prizes and publication!