Here’s another video, this time for the Literary Techniques for Speculative Fiction Online Class. This is my favorite so far.
Discussion and in-class writing exercises designed to introduce a number of techniques to use in your own writing such as foreshadowing, alliteration, rhythmic device, allusion, etc, and ways to test them out in short fiction as well as discussion of when and where to use them.
Want access to a lively community of writers and readers, free writing classes, co-working sessions, special speakers, weekly writing games, random pictures and MORE for as little as $2? Check out Cat’s Patreon campaign.
"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
We are preparing to move and in some ways are inadequately prepared, while in others we are more than ahead. I hadn’t unpacked a good couple of dozen boxes from the study, so those can pretty much just go straight back out (this time we’re hiring movers rather than doing it ourselves).
It’s weird prepping to move again, to hope that this time we’ll manage to achieve escape velocity. We’ve got a renter for this place, and a year’s lease on the new one, so we’ll see. Today I’ll go through cupboards, try to sort out some stuff to pitch rather than take with us, take advantage of the opportunity to declutter and cull some old and faded spices, discard dingy rags, ditch old magazines, etc.
I have tried not to overburden us in preparation, to jettison instead, but there will be some things we’ll need to pick up once there: an ironing board and iron, a table for the sewing machine, a second bath mat, more towels, etc. Instead I’ve been mostly picking up bits for a Halloween costume this year; trying to do something worthy of a SFWA president. I did also breakdown and buy the sourdough its own crock, but that was because Value Village was having 50 percent off day.
I finished one collaboration last week and am picking away at finishing up a bespoke story right now, then more on the novel, because I am so ready for that to be done. I’m also working on the updated Creating an Online Presence for Writers as well as adapting the Character Building and Editing 101 classes for the Fedora platform to go with the shiny new on-demand version of Literary techniques for Genre Writers.
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The Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers now has a certification program! I wanted students to have a way to represent the work they’ve put into the live classes when applying for jobs, workshops, and other opportunities, and so I’ve put together four categories.
How it works: If you have taken five classes in a category, you have earned a certificate. Mail me with the category or categories and the names of the classes, and I will send you the certificate as a .pdf. You have permission to display it on your website.
I’m working on something similar for the on-demand classes — look for that coming soon.
The categories are:
This list is, I believe, complete, and sorts past classes into their groups. If you took a class and cannot find it on the list, mail me. If you took my six week workshop, that counts as one credit in each category. Currently almost all classes that are coming up have links; eventually this should all be filled in.
WORLDBUILDER
Beyond Bipeds: When Aliens Look Nothing Like Us
Blood, Guts, Gore & More
Character Building Workshop
Christmas in Narnia: Creating Traditions for Fictional Cultures
Consent Is Sexy: Writing Consensual Scenes
Cross-Examining Your Character
Crypto- and Xenobiology and You: How To Build a Better, More Believable Beast, Using SCIENCE!
Cussing in Secondary Worlds
Designing Magic Systems
Dialogue and Dialect
Different Kinds of Love: Writing Relationships that Aren’t Romantic
Dunking Your Reader in the Details
Eating Your Words: How to Write About Food
Fantastic Worldbuilding
Fashion of Worldbuilding: Clothing, Technology, and Taboos
Follow the Money: Using Economics in Plotting, World-building, and Character Development
Groups, Parties, and Crews: Writing Ensembles
High-Speed Worldbuilding for Games and Fiction
Historical Research for Writers
Hooray for Evil: Fearsome Monsters and Effective Villains
How to Write Better Food
How to Write Steampunk and Weird Western
In Flagrante Delicto: Writing Effective Sex Scenes
It’s Almost Here: Writing Near-term Science Fiction
Mapping Fantasy
Masks and Mayhem: How to Write Superheroes
No More Lone Wolves: Writing Characters in Community
Reasonable Consequences: Building a Better Alternate Universe
Power and Politics in Worldbuilding: Schemes, Factions, and Culture
Prophecies, Predictions, and Prognostications: Creating Fortune-Telling Systems for Your World
To Space Opera and Beyond
Queer Is a Verb: Disrupting the Norm
The Spice Must Flow: Writing Speculative Drugs
Story Generator Workshop
Systems of Magic: How to Use Your Magic to Enrich Your Worldbuilding
Taking Your Titles to the Next Level
Tarot for Writers
Where Babies Come From: Speculative Reproduction
Witches Are People Too: Writing Well-Rounded Pagans and Spellcrafters
Worldbuilding as a Banquet
Worldbuilding as a Meal
Writing about Horses
Writing Distinctive Characters
Writing Masculinity
Writing Neurodiversity
Writing Nonbinary
Writing Queer Characters from History
Writing the New Mythos
WORDWEAVER
Breaking the Rules
Description and Delivering Information
Detail and Image
Finding the Story in a Prompt
The 4th Language of of Genre Fiction
Get Weird! How to Make Your Fiction Original, Compelling, and Deeply Weird
Head Hopping and Head Hunting: Deep POV Writing
How to Write Funny
Levelling Up:Â Ten Things to Try When You Keep Hearing No
Literary Techniques for Genre Writers
Make Your Fiction Sing: Songwriting Techniques that Carry into Prose
Old Gods and New: Building a Pantheon
Poetic Tools for Prose Writers
The Power of Words: Linguistics for Genre Writers
Power Word Real Name: Upping Your Game with Names and Titles
Radio Gaga
Reading Like a Writer
Revising Your Novel
Rewriting, Revising, & Finetuning Fiction
Self-Editing: From First Splat to Professional Finish
Setting the Stakes: How to Pull the Reader (and Yourself) Through the Story
Sorry, But Your Infodump Is Showing
Sorry, But Your Scenecraft Is Sinking
Speculative Poetry
Staying in Your Lane
A Taste of Writing the Other
Two Truths and a Lie: Unreliable Narrators
Writing About Magic
Writing About Gender
Writing Second Person
STORYSMITH
21 Days to Writing Your Novel
The Algorithms of Storytelling
Anthropomorphic Adjectives: Writing Furry Fiction
Basics of Writing Memoir
Beginnings and Endings
Building Blocks of Mystery
Crimson Peaks and Menacing Mansions: Writing Gothic Horror
Crossing Over:Moving from Fanfic to Your Own Worlds
Demystifying Outlines
Diversity Plus: East Asian Storytelling Forms and Themes
Dynamic Openings
Emotional Impact: How to Punch ‘Em in the Feelz
Emotional Storytelling in Action Scenes
Epistolary Fiction: Stories in Letters
Expository Narrative
Fearless Writing: Learning Not to Hold Back
The First Draft Novel Blues
First Pages Workshop
Fixing the Broken Story
Flash Fiction Workshop
How to Subvert Cliches (and Supercharge Your Creativity)
How to Write Circles Around Others: Non-Linear Story Structures from Non-Western Traditions
Ideas Are Everywhere
The Ins and Outs of Urban Fantasy: Talking with L.L. McKinney
It’s Coming from Inside the House: Writing Domestic Dangers and Haunted Homes
Letting the I Ching Write Your Story for You
Mapping the Labyrinth: Plotting Your Novel So Stuff Happens
A Mixed Bag: Combining and Manipulating Genre Conventions
Move Along, Folks: How to Pace Your Novel
Moving from Idea to Draft
Old Stories Into New
Outlining for Pantsers
Pacing Yourself: The Strange and Sprawling Art of Writing a Long Series
Planning and Outlining Your Novel
Principles for Pantsers
Punk U: The Whys and Whats of Writing -punk Fiction
Replying to Other Stories
Scripts 101: Everything You Wanted to Know About Screenwriting but Were Afraid to Ask
Short Story Openings
Six Slippery Sins: Good Advice That Goes Astray
Stories That Change Our World: Writing Fiction with Empathy, Insight and Hope
Story Fundamentals
Story Structure for Novella Writers
Twenty Types of Terror: Exploring Horror Subgenres
Unique Concepts
Working in Other Worlds: Writing for Franchises
Working with Short Stories
Writing Bespoke Stories for Tailored Markets
Writing Fight Scenes
Writing in the Cracks
Writing Your Way Into Your Novel
WTFBBQ: Writing Experimental Fiction
Yucky Gets Yummy: How Speculative Fiction Creates Society
BOOKMONGER
All the Myriad Ways: Career Management for Indie, Traditional, and Hybrid Writers
The Art of the Book Review
Behind the Curtain: Nuts and Bolts of Small Press Publishing
Book Promotion on a Budget
The Business of Writing
Canva Basics for Writers
Crowdfunding and Kickstartering
Emotional Self Care for Creatives
The Freelancer’s Toolkit
Freelancing, Hustles, and Sidegigs: Ways to Work without Derailing Your Writing
Journaling for Creativity During Tough Times
Managing Social Media For Writers
Make Yourself More Discoverable Online: SEO Basics for Creative People
Pitches and Synopses
Planning a Book Publicity Campaign
Playing the Short Game
Plot Hacks: What the Pros Know
Plotting Your Trajectory: How to Plan an Unplannable Writing Career
Project Management for Writers
Reading Aloud Workshop
Return to Journaling for Creativity
So You Want to Put Together an Anthology?
Stay the Course: A Workshop for Inspiration and Renewed Enthusiasm
The Writers Guide to Selling Books at Conventions
GAMEMAKER
Adapting Your Novel into a Game
High-Speed Worldbuilding for Games and Fiction
Horror in Games
Intro to Game Writing
Planning Your Tabletop RPG Campaign
Worldbuilding for Games
Writing Interactive Fiction
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