At the heart of every great story, we find a set of core elements – character, dialogue, plot, setting, and more. In this course, students walk through these elements, as well as the basic skills needed for them. Students also learn how to write in the first and third person, the most commonly written voices, and will compose a script, short story, or novel chapter. To enroll in this class, student must have a general understanding of basic writing skills, including proper use of grammar & mechanics and paragraph writing.

Do you have an idea that you would love to get on paper? Have you always wanted to complete a written project? Would you like to convert that novel-writing prowess into compact form? You have come to the right place. In this course, students discover one of the best forms for storytelling and write a complete piece of their own. With weekly guidance, students experience the complete story-writing process, from choosing characters to editing a second draft. Prerequisite: Intro to Creative Writing or equivalent writing experience.

While we can’t promise that your characters will literally leap off of the page, this course will get them as close as possible. Learn the skills of brainstorming a unique character through everything from character “interviews” to personality types, then develop your already-existing characters with backstories, engaging voices, plot-moving motivations, and more. Prerequisite: Intro to Creative Writing or equivalent writing experience.

Create a world of your own in eight weeks! We’ll explore the unique details of your fictional setting, from everyday life to scenery, and include special focuses for genre words. After discovering the details, we’ll cover how to weave your worldbuilding into your plots, and how to create storylines tailor-made for your setting. Prerequisite: Intro to Creative Writing or equivalent writing experience.

Dialogue carries a strong impact on a reader, and yet it is often not a focus of the aspiring writer. An uninspired discussion is jarring in a story, but a realistic character voice will build believability while advancing the plot. In Mastering Dialogue, we will explore these important skills, create voices for a variety of genres, and more. Prerequisite: Creating Living Characters.

Your story relies on one main thing: its protagonist. In this in-depth character workshop, we’ll discover what makes a strong hero and craft our own protagonists while exploring literature, history, and our previous works. As the course is focused on the student’s character creation, highly individualized feedback and advice will be provided weekly along with the weekly grades. Prerequisite: Creating Living Characters.

Strong conflict can’t exist without a strong antagonist. Throughout this character workshop, we’ll discover how to create just that: a powerful yet relatable antagonist. As we craft our own antagonists, we’ll not only build characters, but we’ll explore literature, history, and our previous works. As the course is focused on the student’s character creation, highly individualized feedback and advice will be provided weekly along with the weekly grades. Prerequisite: Creating Living Characters.

If you’ve ever been to a library, you’ve seen a sample of the plethora of genres used in creative writing. Science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, young adult—there seems to be an infinite number! This course will provide an introduction to nine of the most common fictional genres, with an eye towards expanding the student’s writing repertoire and helping him or her locate favorite genres to write. Recommended for writers with more advanced creative experience.

Aspiring novelists, welcome! In The Novel, we’ll discover what makes a strong novel, develop striking characters, learn how to structure a whole book, and discuss important topics like beating burnout and editing successfully. Whether you’ve written a dozen novels or want to begin your first, this class was designed for you. Recommended for writers with more advanced creative experience.