BEGINNINGS. What are we writing about? What are We REALLY writing about and who are we writing for? What is the difference between tone and voice or between structure and plot? And how do you get started, or where do you start, then how do you keep your reader moving to page two?

CHARACTERS: How do we write about living beings? What is a character? Is it a person, an animal, or can it be something else, like a virus? Are you a character in your own story? What tools—interviews, archives, experience, etc.—can we employ to animate our characters?

MIDDLES: We get to the meat of the work and talk about place. Are there places that are key to your narrative or argument, mood, or context? Is the place a character? What is a scene, and where does it happen? How does place configure into the larger thing you have come here to say?

THINGS: How do you bring entities beyond the living into your narrative—from processes like erosion or an element like copper? How do you express technical information within a narrative, and make it compelling to readers? How can you write about abstract concepts so they are accessible and interesting to more than just experts in the field?

ENDINGS: How do you know when to end your story? Today we talk about endings, and what comes after them—including guest talks from publishers, editors, & agents.

There will be plenty of assigned readings and at-home and in-class writing exercises, as well as visits from guest speakers, non-required online or in-person literary events, and small group discussions about each other’s work or specialized topics.