Class Description
Course Description:
Contemporary superhero movies use the framework of the “hero’s journey” (a story form going back to classical mythology) to tell stories that reflect the dreams, concerns and values of today’s audiences. But how do they do it? And how can we use the hero's journey to make our own stories more relevant, meaningful and inclusive? In this one-day workshop, we’ll watch, analyze and discuss contemporary superhero movies and discover their underlying and shared storytelling secrets. We’ll then apply those techniques to our own creative writing through a series of fun, directed writing exercises.
Whether you’re interested in writing a specific kind of genre, a realistic novel, a screenplay, or even a memoir, this class will give you the essential building blocks to transform ordinary stories into something super.
Takeaways:
By the end of class, you will have the beginning of new story as well as an outline that maps the rest of your character’s journey.
Who Should Register?
For high school writers age 13 - 18 ONLY. Writing notebooks will be available, but feel free to bring your own.
*If you are registering on behalf of your teen, add their email information in the “For a Friend or Child?” field on the right-hand side of the screen before you check out. This will send them a direct link and reminder to create their own profile with GrubStreet.
(After adding the class to your cart, click "Checkout" and click “Add” next to “For a Friend or Child?” on the right-hand side to fill in their email. This is an easy way of linking the class to your child and encourages them to create their own account.)
Parents/guardians must also complete this permission form online before the start of the class.
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.