8-Week: Backstory—What’s Next

In this eight-week class we’ll put the story back in backstory: creating events in the past that feel as relevant and suspenseful as real-time action, and which fit seamlessly into the worlds we’re building. Through readings, discussion, and generative exercise we’ll make backstory the site of real transformation, an integrated whole. We’ll cover the importance of writing in scenes, how to explain a motive without apology, techniques to avoid common traps: How early is too early to flash back? How often is too often? How do we make sure readers have ground beneath their feet before we lift them up and wheel them through the past.