Genre Fiction Writing: Dragons, Aliens, Ghosts-So What?

Every Wednesday in March starting:
Mar 05, 2025, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Iowa City, 1019 E Washington St, Iowa City, IA 52240, USA
About the event

Do you have an idea for a sweeping fantasy but don’t know where to start? Or an idea for a tense, spine tingling horror but don’t know how to create that suspense on the page? In this class, we’ll approach genre writing by starting with the most important element: a compelling protagonist. Too often, the intricate magic system or impressive scary monster is where all our writing efforts go, but a story is only interesting if the reader is invested in who it is happening to. Questions we’ll consider: Why is your protagonist the right lead for this story? What does your protagonist have to lose? What does the antagonist make the protagonist face about themselves? Generative writing prompts will be used to help us figure out who our characters are, what they want, and why it matters if they succeed (or fail!) We will then develop our fantastical/sci-fi/horror worlds around our protagonist and their internal struggles. By the end of this course, you will have a general structure for your genre novel, an outline for your protagonist’s character arc, and several workshopped scenes. No experience necessary! Writers of any level are welcome.

INSTRUCTOR: Tatiana Schlote-Bonne is the author of the YA horror novel, Such Lovely Skin, and the forthcoming adult horror novel, The Mean Ones (September 2025). She has an MFA from The Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa. When she’s not writing, she’s either gaming, lifting heavy weights, or teaching people how to lift heavy weights. https://www.tatiana-schlote-bonne.com