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 familiar. Have we met before?”

OPTION 4: Write about someone who saved the world, but the wrong person got the credit.

OPTION 5: Write about the last person who knows how to perform a certain skill, or has a certain ability.

Comments

Examples of Cover Letters and Manuscript Format (for Story #1)

SAMPLE COVER LETER Dear Connor, Jessika, Kara, or Other Editor, (you can find the editors' names on the website) Please accept my story science-fiction story, "The Real Mona Lisa," for consideration in a future issue of Chatterbox Literary. The story is 6,051 words and has not been submitted elsewhere or published previously. (always give the genre, title, word count, and if you're sending it to other publications at the same time). I am a professor of English at a small university in Oklahoma, where I teach classes in writing (mostly to people who hate writing), British literature, and the Humanities. My stories have most recently appeared in After Dinner Conversation, Allegory, and The Lorelei Signal. (if you don't have any publications, you can just leave this blank, or add more of your bio--something colorful and interesting without being too cute) Thank you, Joshua Grasso SAMPLE MANUSCRIPT FORMAT Joshua Grasso ...

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.

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 )....

ENG 3733: CW Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror

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