| SES # | TOPICS | KEY DATES |
|---|---|---|
| What is and is not Science Fiction? | ||
| 1 | Introduction: What is speculative fiction? Various forms and subgenres. | |
| 2 | Discussion of speculative fiction: What is its function? Why is it popular? | |
| Destroying (Building) the World | ||
| 3 | Build the World to Destroy the World | |
| 4 | World Building 101 | |
| Building the World | ||
| 5 | World Building Exercises | |
| The Protagonist Destroys the World | ||
| 6 | Creating Characters Within the World | |
| 7 | Exercise: Creating Characters Within the World (Scenario Work) | |
| The Science in Science Fiction | ||
| 8 | How the Science (or Magic) is Central, but the Story is Not Always About the Science (or Magic) | |
| 9 | Exercise: Locating the Science / Magic / Speculation (Scenarios) | |
| Economics | ||
| 10 | Where worldbuilding can go wrong. Examining the economics of how worlds and societies function—and don't. | Story One due |
| 11 | Troubleshooting Societies | |
| The Future is Now, Theme and Extrapolation | ||
| 12 | Does science fiction try to predict the future, or address questions of the current day? The answer, of course, is yes. | |
| 13 | Long Form Structure | |
| Workshops | ||
| 14–23 | Workshop |
Ses 18: Story Two due Ses 21: Rewrite of Story One due |
| 24 | Contracts | Rewrite of Story Two due |
| Publishing | ||
| 25 | The way a professional writer works in the world The business of publishing: Conglomerates, agents, distributors, etc. | |
| 26 | Course evaluations, stories about publishing life in the real world, The Scotch Lecture, and cupcakes! | |
