This is our catalog of courses. We will occasionally adjust the course listing to reflect the addition of new courses and the retirement of others.
Imagine, design, outline, and finish your own science fiction or fantasy short story in this how-to high-interest writing course — and grow your writing skills with a dynamic, fun adventure that makes writing engaging and exciting!
Total classes: 6
Prerequisite: HS 9-1. Suggested HS 9-2 and the HS 11-7 Short Story course.
Suggested grade level: High School and Professional/Continuing Education
Suggested credit: One-half semester Writing or English; additional resources are provided, to create a full semester’s credit.
Description
Do you want to write a science fiction or fantasy short story? Then this is the course for you! With science fiction and fantasy author Erin M. Brown, learn what makes a great short story in the high-adventure genres of science fiction and fantasy! You’ll read, analyze, and discover the magic of famous short stories, while you create your own short story with all of its essential, gripping elements — including a heart-thumping plot, memorable characters, a wild world with compelling landscape and details, and a twist that makes your reader want more. Become a writer of clear, compelling text through storytelling. Writing has never been so much fun!
Outline
Class 1: What Defines Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Stories? Famous Short Stories — and Why They’re Famous; Outlining your Short Story — What it Needs to Succeed; Beginning your Worldbuilding and Setting
Class 2: Refining Your Story’s Plot Points; The Different types of plots and how they can advance the story; Writing How-To’s; Your Voice, including mimicry, voice, and the challenge young writers face (and how to avoid the obvious problems)
Class 3: Refining Your Story’s Characters; Writing How-To’s; The Advantages of Jungian Archetypes and How to Handle Villains and Antiheroes
Class 4: Your Story’s Details: Crafting Amazing Worldbuilding and Details; How to Know the End of the Story
Class 5: Your Story’s Details: Crafting Dialogue; adding description and detail for vividness
Class 6: Your Story’s Twist: How to Make your Reader Love your Story
Materials and Homework
Course Materials: All materials are provided FREE by the instructor. Students must have the ability to turn in assignments in Microsoft Word format (either through purchasing Word or using Google Docs (free) or another format, then downloading the document into Word format before uploading it into the grading system).
Homework: Written assignments are given each week. The average weekly time estimate for homework (including both brainstorming and writing time) is one to four hours, depending on the student’s abilities and commitment.
