Your Problems Are Your Solutions: Generative Revision Through Plot with Christopher M. Hood

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As fiction writers, we all love the flow, when the words race along and we are carried by the momentum. Inevitably, however, come moments when rocks interrupt the current, when we realize that there is a problem with our narrative, a hole in our plot. Perhaps the characters aren’t acting like themselves, perhaps we unconsciously steered into calmer, less interesting waters out of fear of the unknown.

In this workshop, participants will share drafts of stories or novel excerpts, particularly concentrating on moments where they feel that something has gone awry in the plotting. Together, we will consider the possibilities, leaning always toward the conviction that problems are actually opportunities for our narrative to find a truer and more compelling course.

Course Outline

• Session I: In our opening class, we will consider several perspectives on revision and plot development.
• Sessions II–VIII: In the classes following, we will focus primarily on workshop. Each participant will share work at least twice over the eight weeks. As this is a revision-focused class, people should come to the group with stories or novel-excerpts already in hand, but we will also be open to the possibilities that come with new work. More than anything else, our focus will be on meeting one another wherever we are, trying to find excitement, energy, and pleasure in the act of generative revision.