Class Description
You have an idea for a world, a fantasy creature, or a made-up language - now what do you do with it? In this class, we will use exercises, readings, and in-class workshops to learn more about how to write effective science fiction and fantasy stories. Using published work as a resource, we will go over world-building, symbolism, subgenres, and drawing inspiration from the real world in order to write speculative stories. You can work on either two short stories or the beginning of a novel in the sci-fi or fantasy genres, with a chance to workshop it in class. You will also complete several exercises which can be turned into longer stories, and learn about the hero's journey and other symbolic structures to help you continue plotting a novel after the class is finished. This class is relevant both for writers who are new to these genres, as well as fans of the genres who want to produce more work.
Did you know that we have scholarships available for all GrubStreet classes? To apply, click the "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button in the top right corner of this page. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your scholarship application and await our Scholarship Committee's decision before registering for the class. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
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.