Energize Your Fiction

Class Description

Is your writing coming across a tad…sluggish? It can be a challenge to see your sentences slacken, or your scenes become far more static than they once were. So the question is: how to revitalize your prose back to its full electric vibrancy?

In this seminar, we will apply some real-life forms of energy (potential, gravitational, elastic, kinetic, electrical, magnetic, nuclear and thermal) to discuss how you can vivify your fiction. It’s not an exact science, but considering these forms of story energy will help you re-engage with your prose and understand its ebbs and flows. In this class we will consider advice from writers like Victor LaValle, Namrata Poddar, Anne Lamott, and screenwriting guru Robert McKee, and perform exercises engineered to add potential, or tension, or movement, as we chart paths toward the sublime for your stories. You will leave class with practical strategies for how to charge your writing with that vital spark. No science degree needed for this craft metaphor.

Class Format

This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting!

Scholarship Information

Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

For more more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.