I’m teaching a multi-week workshop at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis this spring that I am SUPER looking forward to! Bonus info in this post!
Down the Rabbit Hole: Writing Speculative Fiction
All is not right in the world. This class focuses on how to translate social issues that concern you into captivating speculative fiction, broadly defined to include stories with supernatural, futuristic, magical, or otherwise “unrealistic” elements. Our stories have the power to change the world! Through readings and hands-on exercises, we’ll explore imaginative ways to write about important issues and how to prioritize story, character, and theme instead of writing thinly veiled messages that irritate readers. Exercises will help you generate ideas, focus your intentions, and improve your technical skills.
We’ll read a variety of example stories from authors like Alice Sheldon, Nnedi Okorafor, Sherman Alexie, Octavia Butler, and George Saunders. Writers of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, or anything genre defying are welcome, as are writers of literary or other fiction looking to expand their craft. The teaching artist will provide written feedback on up to 20 pages of fiction per student. Included topics: sex/gender, race, colonialism, the environment, and other topics as dictated by students in the class.
Info that goes out to registrants:
For the first session, read:
Seanan McGuire’s “Each to Each” at Lightspeed Magazine:
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/each-to-each/
Carmen Maria Machado’s “The Husband Stitch” at Granta:
https://granta.com/the-husband-stitch/
We will discuss these story’s wildly different approaches to very similar themes. We’ll also discuss what purpose the “unrealistic” elements serve and what it would take to write “realistic” stories about these same themes.
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Sound like fun? More info and sign up here!
