Class

Elements of Fiction: Put the STORY in Your Story for Ages 15 to 18

Welcome back to Summer Youth at Open Book! Join us for a week of writing and all day creativity!

Let’s face it: Writing can be a frustrating—and frustratingly mysterious—process. What makes one story soar and another flop? Why do some characters leap off the page and into our hearts, while others simply lie there, bored and boring? In short, how do we take the basic elements of fiction—character, plot, setting, theme—and turn them into a living, breathing STORY? In this class, we’ll examine several different kinds of stories—everything from fairy tales to modern literary fiction—in an attempt to answer the question: Just what is a story, anyway? Through discussions and in-class writing exercises, we’ll look at the big questions that drive every story—Who are these characters? What do they want?—but we’ll also look at the smaller, more technical aspects of fiction, like point-of-view, voice, and time. (Note: This class is designed for serious writers who are already working on a short story or novel. Students will have 20 pages of their own work critiqued by the instructor during a one-on-one conference.)