Class Description
If you dig dystopian fiction, find yourself fiercely fond of fantasy and sci-fi or hanker for some horror and supernatural stories, you will love our Fantasy Fiction Camp (for teens only!). During this special week-long creative writing class, we will focus on all sorts of fantastical literature. From apocalyptica to sword and sorcery to weird fiction, we will learn how to create worlds and characters beyond our imaginations. We will focus on important elements of the craft of writing (plot, character, structure, etc) while also considering all-important issues of genre like: Does my vampire really have to sparkle? What about fanfiction? And WHO is your favorite Doctor? There will be prompts and readings designed to stretch your writing muscles and challenge you, writing and revising time in class, outdoor activities (and maybe a fieldtrip) to inspire new stories, and workshop. Students are welcome to also bring works-in-progress with them as we will also discuss how to incorporate fantasy elements into existing work. By the end of the week, you'll have your toolbox full of ideas, beginnings, and some drafts to keep you going all fall. We will discuss the submission process/publication opportunities for teens, and end the week with a reading. Adventurous students who have an open mind and an eye towards exploring new literary worlds are welcome! Some authors we will be discussing are:
- Neil Gaiman
- George R.R. Martin
- Margo Lanagan
- Angela Carter
- Ray Bradbury
- Kelly Link
- Karen Russell
- Karen Joy Fowler
And many more! You must be 13-18 years to register.
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.