Poets & Writers

This generative, lecture-based writing course explores how the essential elements of craft—voice, point of view, character, plot, setting, and theme—work together to build compelling fiction. Through guided writing prompts, short lectures, selected readings, and reflective discussion, participants will produce new material while developing a deeper awareness of how these elements interact to shape story.

Rather than isolating technique, the course emphasizes how voice informs setting, how character drives plot, and how theme emerges through conflict and revision. The sequence of prompts is designed to reveal these connections progressively—but the order in which these craft elements are explored is not a formula or commandment. Writers may begin with setting, conflict, or voice; what matters is learning to recognize the relationships between elements and how those relationships generate narrative energy.