Culturally Expansive Approaches to Plot and Story Structure

U.S. fiction and nonfiction writers have been trained to follow “universal” rules of story structure: The Aristotelian plot arc. Three-Act Structure. The Hero’s Journey. In recent years, diverse voices in prose writing and craft have called for expanding these norms. In this class for prose writers of all levels, we'll deconstruct both western and non-western story structures and storytelling conventions to better understand how our own work might draw from, and fit into, a literal world of stories. We’ll read stories and watch short films as examples, and experiment with both generative writing and restructuring. Bring an informal outline of a piece you’re working on (either short story, essay, or book), or I’ll provide you with sample outlines of other authors’ work to use for the exercises if you don’t have anything handy.