Every story needs a basic start: a premise. Do you have a story in mind but don’t know where to begin? Are you working on a story and need refocusing? This class will help you build a solid premise, a fundamental concept that will drive your plot.

Where your story takes place impacts your characters’ goals and your story’s success. Learn how to get the most out of your novel’s setting.

Do you have a situation, or a story? Learn the difference with story structure.

Create larger-than-life qualities that will bring your characters to life.

Who are your secondary characters, and what are their main problems? We will discuss examples and outline secondary characters/plots.

A writer’s job is to show the story, not present a litany of facts. Learn how to give your readers the opportunity to come to their own conclusions, rather than tell him/her the conclusion.

Dialogue has a function yet shouldn’t be mundane. Learn how to perk up the “talk” in your story.

Without conflict, there is no story. In this class, you will learn how to raise the stakes and bring tension into your writing along with how to build a story with plenty of horsepower.

Location is an opportunity to enrich your story, and character point of view is the perspective given to readers. Learn how to strengthen both through exercises.

Open yourself to the critical appraisal of your words and thoughts through constructive input.