Class

Beyond the Linear: Re-imagining Plot

Sometimes the stories we’re telling don’t fit the container we’re trying to put them in. But what other containers are there? This isn’t just a writing problem. Relying on one story structure limits the way we view reality, and conceive of what’s possible.

By learning new narrative structures (aka plot aka what happens in what order), we'll explore new ideas for what's possible—in our writing and our world. In this workshop, students will read work from Quiara Alegría Hudes, Tommy Orange, Virginia Woolf, and other writers who use non-linear narrative structures. We will discuss the writing, and then do writing exercises centered around those narrative structures.

This class is geared towards writers who sustain a narrative over a long period of time (novelists, playwrights, longform creative nonfiction writers, memoirists, etc.), but all are welcome. If you feel both trapped and unsupported by the concept of Beginning, Middle, and End this class is for you.

This class takes place in-person, at the Loft at Open Book; we encourage participants to be fully vaccinated and masked in the interest of everyone’s safety. Please see the Loft’s website for the most up to date information about the Loft’s COVID policies.