Class Description
Novelists who don’t have a handle on subtext—the mysterious energy between the words of your novel—are often accused of overwriting or underwriting and spend years in revision with little result. Learn how to tackle this beast in a way that helps to involve readers in your story as well as increase tension, foreshadowing and suspense. Through craft discussions, the examination of published work, and writing exercises, we will examine how a strong setting goes far in providing subtext, but also how subtext reveals itself in scenes of dialogue and action. By the end of the course, you will know the keys to keeping your readers on their toes and eagerly turning the pages. Bring your laptops or notebooks and a digital or printed copy of your novel-in-progress for reference.
Part of The Novel Series, which teaches students the skills and craft of writing novels. All such classes offered this term include:
- The Novel Series: Conflict for the Conflict Adverse
- The Novel Series: Dynamic Scenes & Chapters
- The Novel Series: Subtext, Setting, & Suspense
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.