Class Description
“Hi, my name is Lemiah, and I’ll be your guide through the fictional world of Aparnu,” said no character ever! Any writer will tell you the first few pages of a new story are essential in hooking the reader, establishing character, setting the tone, building conflict, and so much more. But writers of speculative fiction have an even greater challenge in those first pages: introducing readers to the rules of their world. What do readers need to know when? How much explanation is too much? And how can a writer create mystery without leaving readers uncertain about their world?
In this session, we’ll work together to identify the fine line between establishing a world and info dumping, discover creative strategies for integrating exposition with conflict and character, and examine how your opening scene can do double or triple duty, expressing character, world, and theme all at once. We’ll take a look at openings from published writers like N.K. Jemisin, Catherynne M Valente, Daniel Jose Older, Charlie Jane Anders, Maria Dhavana Headley, G Willow Wilson, Tananarive Due. Then we’ll work through exercises to put those skills into practice.
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.
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.