Your core story has nothing to do with your chosen genre or the fictional landscapes you love. It has everything to do with the themes, conflicts and emotions that compel you. Discovering your core story will empower you because you will realize you can take it anywhere. Join us and reach your core.

Characters are the lifeblood of any work of fiction, but only in speculative fiction are they not always human. This workshop will explore what it takes to develop complex, interesting characters within a speculative context. How can a character from another world still be relatable to readers? How does the world they come from tie into character creation? What makes an alien truly alien? In this workshop, we'll explore all these questions and more through discussion, examples, and imaginative writing…

In recent years, fanfiction--that is, unofficial stories about the characters and worlds from popular media--has exploded into the mainstream. More and more professional writers are now coming out as fanfic writers too, many published novels have their origins as fanfiction works, and some have even argued that certain literary classics, such as Paradise Lost, are really fanfiction at heart. The boom in popularity reveals what fiction writers have known for a long time: fanfiction is an immense source of inspiration…

“I can always think of great situations, but how do I turn them into a story?” We all have a collection of ideas and even notes toward a story that somehow never come to fruition. We recognize compelling moments when we see them: a homeless person treated callously by a passerby; a child lost on a crowded street and reaching out to the wrong stranger; a spaceship landing in a suburban neighborhood which can only be seen by one family.…

Doctors, nurses, health, or hospice workers--as well as many other professionals and caregivers--are always called to heightened service in their line of work, especially in the current climate of global pandemic. Because so much of what we are asked to deal with is out of the bounds of human control, the challenge to be authentic is intense. Serving others involves not only great physical labor, but also emotional and intellectual labor. At the end of the day, after we have…

In this interactive seminar, we'll start by writing your grammar and punctuation questions on the whiteboard, and then explore them together using simple exercises, examples, and tips. In the last half of our session, we'll take a look at samples from your own writing and find ways to make your prose shine more brightly, unencumbered by common grammar and punctuation errors--or misconceptions--that blur the meaning of your story. (Who, whom) do you think should take this workshop? During a dinner…

Whether your characters are sunjamming the solar wind or sleeping for centuries between the stars, how you present their spacecraft lends authenticity to your fictional world. In this Writers Knowledge seminar, we will explore the real-life physics of interstellar travel—-the hazards, the distances, and some of the solutions proposed to overcome them. We will survey a wide variety of starship designs proposed for extrasolar missions, from nuclear-pulse and beamed-energy propulsion to fusion ramjets, quantum thrusters and interstellar sails. We will…

Explore calligraphy, the art of elegant handwriting. Students will be introduced to italic letterforms using square-nibbed felt tip pens as writing tools. This seminar will provide a foundation for developing your own personal style of italic handwriting. A materials list and suggested places to purchase materials will be provided by the teacher.

“It is my business to know what other people do not know.” (Sherlock Holmes) Tales of crime, detectives, and mysteries often take central stage in our stories. In this Research for Writers Seminar led by a noted police officer, you’ll be able to better understand and write your own characters and plotlines, whether you are writing crime stories, mysteries, or detective stories, or simply need a better understanding of sleuthing and detective work to make a character or storyline ring…

Mandalas have been used throughout history as a tool for self-reflection, creativity, connection, meditation and self-exploration. In this class we will learn to set intentions, play with design and color, we will learn how to be expressive and tap into our own sub-conscious for peace and grounding. It can assist the writer before ever putting pen to page! Come and spend a few hours learning the art of the Mandala with the Zentangle process (a mindful drawing technique). You will…