Headlights All the Way: Navigating the Murky Middle

You’ve written an excellent opening for your story, introduced some characters, incited some incidents, and are ready to launch into the meaty parts of your plot – but then you hit a roadblock. Now what? The second act of fiction stories (often called the “murky middle”) tends to be where most writers stall on their projects. In this course, we’ll take writer’s block head-on and practice some strategies to push through the more challenging sections of our drafts. Using outlines, collaborative brainstorming, generative prompts, and more, students will leave the course better equipped to write through that murky middle.

This course is geared toward fiction writers of any level (both short fiction and novels, in any genre) who have hit a roadblock in the middle of their manuscript.

Class Format

This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting!

Scholarship Information

Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

For more more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.