How To Fiction: Craft Essentials with Kirsten Tranter

This course, How To Fiction: Craft Essentials with Kirsten Tranter, will take place online.

The magic of fiction is generated by an alchemy of art and craft mechanics. This reading and writing-intensive course takes a deep dive into five essential elements of craft: character, conflict, and plot; narrative voice and point of view; dialogue; setting and sensory imagery; and ‘show, don’t tell”. We will discuss how these things work, and how they work together.

In this class, we will demystify these aspects of writing and look in-depth at examples of authors who master them to spectacular effect across genres of literary fiction, science fiction, crime fiction, and the classics. Participants will develop insight into these key ingredients of creative writing, generating writing in each class designed to practice and refine specific skills in each area.

This course combines close reading with practical exercises, distilling Kirsten Tranter’s experience teaching advanced creative writing around the world. If you are just getting started as a writer, this class will generate ideas and help you master the tools to create compelling characters and stories; if you have a work in progress, this course will sharpen your existing skills, offer a deeper engagement with your characters, settings, and invite you to reflect on how you can most effectively tell the story you want to tell.