Writing Workshops

Contemporary World-Building with Molly Horan (July 2025)

$345

4 sessions

Out of stock

Once a week Wednesdays, 11:00 am EDT - 1:00 pm EDT July 23 to August 13, 2025

Online via Zoom

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World-building is an essential building block of any story, not just fantastical ones. While it can be daunting to face the blank page when you’re building a world unlike our own, it can be even more challenging to sort out what elements are needed to support your narrative when the world you’re trying to capture is right outside your door or within your hometown.

In this class, we’ll go through exercises meant to illuminate what information your reader needs to picture the world of your story and how your characters move through it. We’ll also integrate world-building into action scenes and moments of character development to avoid overly expositional world-building moments.

Course Outline:

  • Week One: Overview of Contemporary World-Building
    • What makes the real world come alive on the page?
  • Week Two: Analyzing Contemporary World Building In Existing Fiction
    • What can we learn from contemporary fiction writers about how to create a rich, lived-in world?
  • Week Three: Generative Writing and Discussion
    • Putting the lessons from weeks one and two into practice through in-class prompts, sharing, and discussion.
  • Week Four: Where Do You Go from Here?
    • The practicalities of writing fiction

Level: Introductory

This course will be held online via Zoom.

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Led by

  • headshot2] - Molly Horan

    Molly Horan

    Molly Horan

    Molly Horan is the author of Epically Earnest and Thanks for Listening, both published by HarperCollins. She currently teaches at NYU and SVA, and has previously taught creative writing at Fordham. She has her MFA in creative writing from The New School and is currently pursuing her PhD in creative writing from Bath Spa University.

About this series

Writing Workshops

We strive to make our classes the most inviting and rewarding available, offering an intimate environment to study with award-winning, world-class writers. Each class is specially designed by the instructor, so whether you’re a fledgling writer or an MFA graduate polishing your novel, you’ll find a perfect fit here.

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