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For Monday: read Thomas Ha's "The Sort" (pp.317-335)

For Monday's class, be sure to read our first story from Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy , "The Sort." If for some reason you still don't have the book, never fear...you can find the story on-line at this site:  https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha_08_24/ As you read the story, here are a few things to look out for and consider: * Note the opening--how it drops us right into the middle of a story before we have any idea where we are. Why does this opening become important later in the story? * Watch also how he plays with which words are spoken and which words are shared telepathically. Why do you think he lets the reader in on these very private conversations? * How does the story not only develop the relationship between father and son, but hint at their troubled past without wasting time with too much backstory? * What IS the central CONFLICT of this story? What makes it so dramatic, even though not much really happens in the story itself? * How does the s...
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Writing Workshop #2 (recap)

In case you missed the workshop, or you simply wanted to see the other options again, below is the prompt that we wrote from in class. Feel free to do other Options on your own time if you think it will yield new inspiration for you! WRITING WORKSHOP #2 : Choose ONE of the following options to write about for the next 8-10 minutes (or combine two, if that works for you). As you start to write, think about how pushing this idea towards a specific genre might open up possibilities for interpreting the story. A science-fiction approach to Option #1, for example, will be very different from a horror approach (a certain secret might = a certain genre). OPTION 1: Write about a character who is struggling with something which is a  secret from everyone else—and they’re terrified to let anyone know. OPTION 2: Write a story that opens with the line, “The semester was over, and so were we.” OPTION 3: Write a story that opens with, or is focused around the line, “You look so famil...
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Writing Workshop #1 (for those who missed)

 If you missed Friday's class, I'm posting the prompt for our Writing Workshop #1 below, so you can catch up over the week. OR, if you simply want to see the picture again to jog your memory/imagination, here it is. See the post BELOW this one for the reading assignment for Monday. See you then!  WRITING WORKSHOP #1 Tell a story about this picture using ONE of the following genres: FANTASY, SCIENCE FICTION, or HORROR. Make us see a different picture by stressing the ‘metaphors’ of one of these genres—the things that make them look/feel/sound like the genre in question. How could each genre change what we see/feel in the image? How does it also change the kids and what they’re doing?
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For Monday: Best American SF/F, Forward and Introduction

For Monday's class, read the Forward by John Joseph Adams, and the brief Introduction by the guest editor (and famous author) Nnedi Okorafor. These are both pretty short and are NOT stories, but they explain two important things: * How stories are chosen for a genre publication like this one: both where the stories come from and what the criteria for choosing them are * What genre means to both writers, and especially Okorafor, who writes speculative fiction. We also get an insight into how she markets her work, and whether or not genre distinctions are all that important to her.  I won't give you any questions or quizzes over this reading, but we will talk about it in detail on Monday, and some of these ideas may factor into future writings in one way or another.  
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Welcome to the Course! Now Get Writing...

Welcome to the blog site for our Fall 2026 Creative Writing: Genre course, focusing on writing what is popularly known as "speculative fiction," which comprises genres such as science-fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and their various subgenres. The goal of this class is to allow you to experiment with different styles and approaches to writing fiction, using the lens of the fantastic and the bizarre. Don't worry if you've never done this before, or if you don't even read sci-fi or fantasy literature--you don't need to! The point of this class, as in most college classes, is to grow, experiment, and have fun while doing so.  The guilding quote for this class, borrowed from the great speculative fiction writer, Ursula K. Le Guin is:  “The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words . The [writer] says in words what cannot be said in words” (Ursula K. LeGuin, Introduction to The Left Hand of Darkness )....
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