Plot 1: Mechanics is an Intensive, meaning it happens in a short time span (1 day in NYC, or 2 days on Zoom, or 3 weeks Online). It’s open to writers of any level. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
If you feel you’re solid with the basics of plot, you may go straight to Plot 2. If you’re in doubt about this, start with Plot 1; it will be valuable even if some of it is review.
Plot is the art of drawing them in, then delivering a sequence of events that grows progressively more interesting and culminates with a killer ending. A good plot is what most readers and audiences crave…and what most writers fear.
Whether you’re working on fiction, nonfiction, or a script, we’ll show you how to craft a plot that keeps them rapt from beginning to middle to end.
Plot 1 teaches the basic mechanics of plotting, the things you can’t get far without, such as: desire driving the story, the beginning/middle/end structure, cause and effect, how characters determine which way the plot goes.
Plot 2 teaches the crafty machinations required for expert plotting: the techniques for twisting and turning, intriguing and dazzling, and, most of all, keeping people hooked until the breathtaking finish.
Note:
- This is a cross-genre course, applicable to any kind of writing that contains storytelling, including nonfiction.
- If you feel you’re solid with the basics of plot, you may go straight to Plot 2. If you’re in doubt about this, start with Plot 1; it will be valuable even if some of it is review.
This course gives an overview of the central mechanics of plotting, in any genre. Course components:
- Lectures
- Writing exercises
Syllabus
- Week 1
- The Search for Treasure: Plot introduced. Types of Plot—simple, complex, character-driven, plot-driven. Premise. Desire—goal, deeper desire, external obstacles, internal obstacles.
- Week 2
- Structure and Steps: Structure for simple and complex plots. Dividing a story into sections. Positive and negative swings. Cause and effect.
- Week 3
- Adding Depth: Character choice and change. Theme. Subplots. Plot strands. Point of view.
- Each week students are provided with case studies of great stories, as well as notes on the working out of a from-scratch plot.
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
About
- The Online classes bring students from all over the globe to Gotham—New York City’s most famous writing school.
- The Online classes happen asynchronously—not in “real time.” You can participate in class any time, day or night, but the classes advance week-by-week, and certain things should be accomplished within that week-long session.
- You can take an Online writing class from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. The majority of our Online students are located in the U.S. but we also draw students from practically every country in the world.
- Tech support will be available.
- Aside from the convenience of time and location, you have a record of everything that transpires in class, which you can print out and keep for future reference. (The material is text and image, not video.)
