Class Description
Every novel begins with a question—a question you, the writer, want to explore, and a question you are going to lay out for the reader to become quickly invested in. But that’s not enough. In order to create a plot, you need to know much more than that. Who are your characters? What do they want? Will they get it? What external and internal obstacles are keeping them from immediate success? In this 90-minute session, we’ll consider several elements of narrative, including the W and other story shapes; the three-act cadence; and models found in musical form. And we’ll look at ways to escalate stakes and tension from the material that will serve as your novel’s very beginning. Through in-class writing and discussion, you’ll work on loosely sketching out the major plot points in your novel, and you’ll leave the session with a framework from which to begin.
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 detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.