Teaching at the Off Campus Writers’ Workshop on Character-Driven Plots

I had an amazing class today teaching at the Off Campus Writers’ Workshop! This 80-year-old writing workshop is the oldest of its kind in the U.S. It was started by the spouses (I’m guessing, women) of Northwestern University writing professors because they were not allowed to attend writing classes or events at the university.

The class was on my favorite MFA taboo writer word: “plot.” We talked about how a good plot is animated by character, and how writers can create tension and drive in a story by listening to their characters talk about all their many problems. It’s been a while since I’ve given a craft talk rather than a purely generative writing class, and it was fun to look at to the engineering and practical how-to strategies of writing character-driven plots, meaning: plots that are infused by a characters’ drives, motivations, desires, and fears.

It was a well-attended, lovely, engaged group of writers who are clearly committed to their craft.

If you’re interested in hosting me for this talk at your library or writing group, please feel free to drop me a line.