You’ll have Doctor Who for homework!!!
Here’s what I’m offering at Bellevue College in the Spring (Registration probably begins in March):
Geek Fiction Writing
This course analyzes popular sci-fi, fantasy, superhero and dystopian screen favorites to discover what makes them tick. Then we use these tools of excellent storytelling in our own original fiction. This is a step beyond fanfic, as you’ll create characters and worlds that are wholly your own. Fandoms might include Middle Earth, Doctor Who, Spider-Man and The Hunger Games. High School students welcome.
Capacity: 15
Times: 6:00PM – 8:00PM Room: North Campus, TBA
Dates: 04/15/2014 – 06/03/2014 Tuition: Fee 169.00
Days of Week: 8 Sessions T
Teenage Novelist: Creating Fiction Using Ingredients You Already Have in Your Own Brain
Is your cat really an alien collecting information to beam back to his ship? Are you actually famous, but you’re living in disguise so you can defeat the enemy before she destroys the planet? You may be a writer. Take heart, you are not alone! Some people even get paid to do this. In this workshop, we’ll use hands-on exercises to capture stories before they get away. You’ll learn basic storytelling techniques, finding ways to gather plot ideas, create unique and believable characters, and find hidden details that will bring your scenes to life. You’ll create scenes based on what you’ve learned and (if you like) share your work.
Capacity: 15
Times: 10:00AM – 2:00PM Room: North Campus, TBA
Dates: 04/19/2014 – 04/19/2014 Tuition: Fee 59.00
Days of Week: 1 Sessions S
Teenage Novelist: Talking To Your Characters
Marvin Whickpucket refuses to behave. When you want him to defeat the evil Onchnu, he won’t. Instead, he sits on the couch, surfs cable and eats potato skins. “This is boring!” you tell him. “Why are you acting this way?” “I miss Ilandra,” he says. “We had a fight. She said we were through.” “Why didn’t you TELL me?” you say, incredulous. Marvin shrugs. “You never asked.” Learn how to deepen your story by listening to your characters. Each class allows for hands-on exercises based on your work-in-progress and time for group critique.
Capacity: 15
Times: 10:00AM – 2:00PM Room: North Campus, TBA
Dates: 05/17/2014 – 05/17/2014 Tuition: Fee 59.00
Days of Week: 1 Sessions S
Teenage Novelist: Plotting and Scheming
Marvin Whickpucket and Ilandra have been eating waffles and jumping through space-time portals for 12 chapters, but nothing seems to be happening. The evil warlord Onchnu is breathing dire threats, but you don’t know whether the Kleeg attack should happen in chapter 13 or should have been back in chapter 4. This course focuses on the structuring of the novel – often the most challenging part of novel-writing. Discover the three words that drive your entire story. Find out how to avoid mid-novel sag and how to keep your reader turning pages all the way to the end. This class will focus on completing an outline of your novel, and a synopsis – “the story of the story.”
Capacity: 15
Times: 10:00AM – 2:00PM Room: North Campus, TBA
Dates: 06/07/2014 – 06/07/2014 Tuition: Fee 59.00
Days of Week: 1 Sessions S
Poetry In Character
Have you ever thought Spiderman might be bored with his job? Or that Gretel may have lost Hansel in the woods and still be searching? In this class, taught by poet and novelist Katherine Grace Bond, we’ll take characters from literature and pop culture and write poems from the characters’ perspective. We’ll discover a wealth of character poems from a variety of poets. And we’ll create our own characters for poems. These could even be the beginning of a novel-in-verse.
Capacity: 15
Times: 6:00PM – 8:00PM Room: North Campus, TBA
Dates: 04/17/2014 – 06/05/2014 Tuition: Fee 169.00
Days of Week: 8 Sessions Th