Fiction Deep Dive Class: Character, Setting, Plot, Momentum, and Point of View
City College of San Francisco
Through City Extension
In this introduction to the fundamentals of short story writing, students try on a number of different styles, with an eye for developing their unique voices. Over the course of five weeks (ten one and a half hour sessions,) students engage in writing exercises to find the right voice and narrative distance for the short story they want to tell, devise and revise that story, read the work of published authors who make formal choices from which they can learn, and participate in a workshop of their writing.
Each week we will dive deep into a single element of craft, reading one to two short stories by professional writers that engage with that element in unique ways, and doing in-workshop writing exercises focused on elements such as character, setting, plot, momentum, dialogue, & point of view. The final workshop session will be devoted to workshopping our stories in a supportive environment.
Materials list:
Writing implements, bandwidth
Workshops are taught online through Zoom and Canvas. Students will need a computer or smart phone with webcam and microphone, internet and web streaming capacity, and the Zoom application installed to their device. A device to capture images (digital camera, smart phone, or tablet, etc.) is helpful, but not required.