Introduction to Writing Speculative Fiction w/ Ashley Blooms

Every genre—from literary realism to high fantasy—must build a world that invites the reader to explore. But for writers of speculative fiction, who often bend or outright break the rules of our shared reality, world-building poses unique challenges. This class will look at the basics of building a world through character, setting, and language. We’ll consider the expectations of various genres, how they impact a writer’s goals, and how we can meet or subvert these expectations in our stories. Students will utilize close readings, group discussions, craft worksheets, and writing assignments to explore how worlds are built in horror, science fiction, fantasy, fabulism, and more. All this will culminate in a final speculative manuscript that will be marked by the instructor.

Whether you’re a writer who has never written genre and are curious to try or you’re an emerging genre writer who’d like to brush up on the fundamentals, this class is designed to generate new ideas and blur our definition of what genre means.

This three week class is completely asynchronous so you can work on it on your own time.

Course Begins May 3rd and ends May 21st

For more information, visit the course page here.