Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop: What If?

Writing fiction is an exercise in following imagined situations peopled with imagined characters to a climax that makes sense in the world the writer has created. It is like the “if…then” statements of a logic test, the only difference being that the writer (sometimes in concert with the reader) manufactures the laws and logic of the universe within which the story takes place. The more the setting and characters diverge from our typical notions of ‘reality,’ the more possibilities emerge for stretching the bounds of what makes sense. In this way, Speculative Fiction challenges a reader’s notions of what is real, what is right, and what is proper.

In this three-part workshop, participants will learn to follow their idle thoughts and musings into the realm of story. They will become masters of the universes they create for their characters, and they will witness how their characters and situations, once imagined, will in turn challenge their creators’ notions of what is possible in fiction and in the world as we know it.

Speculative Fiction is most closely associated with the genres of science fiction and fantasy, but in this course, we will also investigate how small shifts in the presentation of everyday ‘reality’ can open up a story and free the imagination, even in more traditional forms of fiction. The workshop will include short warm up exercises, discussion, writing in response to prompts, and sharing in a supportive environment. What if…you signed up for this workshop? What might happen?

Part of TCPL's 2019 Adult Summer Reading Program theme - "A Universe of Stories"