Fiction Writing

Fiction is a wonderful conjuring act. With only words and the reader’s imagination, a work of fiction can sail across the world in pursuit of a whale, or time-travel to another dimension, or zero in on a few minutes in line at the local bank, enveloping the reader in a made-up story that feels real.

To pull off this feat requires a balance of craftsmanship, daring, and insight into human nature. Here you will learn the time-tested elements of fiction craft and how to market your work.

Whether you seek to write short stories or novels, mainstream or literary, comic or tragic, we’ll show you how to spin your thoughts into believable and spellbinding tales.

Notes

Fiction I encompasses short stories and novels. After Level I, students have a choice of Fiction II/III (focusing on short stories), or Novel II/III (focusing on novels).

If you are working on “genre” fiction, you may take either a Fiction/Novel course or one of our genre courses: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Romance, Mystery.

If you are working on a YA novel, you may take a Fiction/Novel or “genre” course, or you may take a Children’s Book course, where the full spectrum of children’s books will be covered.

Article from: https://www.writingclasses.com/classes/description/fiction-writing

When Ben Wrightman, a young teacher, begins dating pretty businesswoman Lindsey Meeks, the two don't seem to have a lot of the same interests, but they fall in love, regardless. Their romance goes well until baseball season begins, and Lindsey soon realizes that Ben is completely obsessed with the Boston Red Sox. Though she tries to understand Ben's passionate team loyalty, eventually it threatens to end their otherwise happy relationship.

A cybersecurity expert becomes a whistleblower after uncovering secrets about aliens, putting him on the run from a corporation. Meanwhile, a meteorologist experiencing strange phenomena joins forces with him to prove there's life beyond our understanding.

After overhearing a shocking secret, precocious orphan Lyra Belacqua trades her carefree existence roaming the halls of Jordan College for an otherworldly adventure in the far North, unaware that it's part of her destiny.

Ingredients:

Dumpling Dough:

1 ½ cups (200g) dumpling or bread flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup water, room temperature
Pork Filling:
8 ounces (½ pound) ground pork
2 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and finely minced, about ½ cup
3 large cloves garlic, grated
3 scallions, thinly sliced, about 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 bunch Chinese chives, finely sliced, about ⅓ cup (garlic chives)
1 ounce ginger, grated, about 1 tablespoon
1 ½ tablespoons Shaoxing wine (sub mirin, dry sherry)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 egg
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Black Vinegar Dipping Sauce:

3 cloves
1 star anise
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 cinnamon sticks
½ cup black vinegar
½ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preparation:

Make the dumpling dough: Place flour and salt in a medium bowl and stir with chopsticks. Slowly add in almost all the water as you stir with chopsticks, but don’t use the entire cup at first. As you mix, a shaggy dough mixture will start to form. If the dough isn’t coming together, add the remainder of the water and continue to mix. Use your hands to knead the dough either in the bowl or on a clean work surface for 7-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 20-25 minutes. Knead the dough for another 5 minutes then cover with a slightly damp kitchen towel. Let rest for another hour.

While the dough rests, make the filling: In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix with chopsticks or your hands. Stir everything together until just combined, and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Make the dipping sauce: Gently toast the spices in a small, dry skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer spices to a small saucepan with the vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and allow to cool.

Once the dough has rested and is soft to the touch, divide into 4 pieces and roll those pieces out into a long log about 1” thick. Cut each log into ½-inch pieces, each piece should weigh between 11-13 grams and as uniform in size as possible. Roll each piece into a ball and store, sprinkled with flour so they don’t stick, underneath a damp kitchen towel. Working one at a time, flatten the ball into a small round disk with the palm of your hand. Use a small rolling pin or 1-inch thick wooden dowel with one hand and hold the disc in the other hand. Working in small movements, start to flatten the dough with the pin, rolling up from the bottom, and turning about ⅛ rotation each time you roll, so the disc begins to flatten into a wrapper. Continue this process, adding more flour as needed so nothing sticks, until the dough has turned into about a 3 ½-inch circle.

The dough should be very thin but not so thin that the filling will rip through, with the edges being thinner than the middle of the circle. Place the wrapper on a floured surface and cover with a damp towel. Repeat this process until all the dough is used.

Using a tablespoon or chopsticks, scoop the filling into one dumpling and fold the wrapper in half over the filling to make a half circle. Use floured fingers to pinch the middle of the half circle together, then start by crimping the front half of the wrapper towards the middle, repeating 2-3 more times until you get to the end of the half circle. Repeat this with the remaining unsealed half, until the entire dumpling is tightly sealed in a neat, crimped package. Place on a lightly floured plate or tray and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Repeat until all the filling is used.

To cook: Set a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan and fill the pan with dumplings, giving them about ½-inch of space in between. Pour about ⅓ cup of water into the pan and cover with a lid. Let steam until all the water has evaporated, about 5-7 minutes. Remove the lid and cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, about 1-2 more minutes. Remove the dumplings from the pan and set on their sides (as you don’t want to let the crispy bottoms get soggy). Serve immediately, or continue cooking another batch of dumplings. Uncooked dumplings can be frozen raw for up to 2 months. Cook from frozen in the same manner, but add ½ cup water and steam for 8-10 minutes.

To serve, divide dumplings among plates and pour the dipping sauce into individual bowls. Top dumplings with scallions and cilantro.

Tip:

Alternatively, you can make the dough in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Use the same process but only knead for 5-7 minutes the first time (rather than 7-10). Use a pasta roller rather than rolling out the individual pieces by dividing the rested dough in half, coating generously with flour and rolling each dough half gradually down to the 6 thinness setting on the pasta roller, then cutting out the individual wrappers with a 3 ½-inch ring cutter.

Veligandu Island is a little island off the coast of India that has become a popular tourist destination. It’s known for its white sand beaches, clear blue waters, and lush greenery. Visitors can also enjoy many activities such as snorkeling or scuba diving, kayaking, and hiking through the forested areas of the island. The island has been uninhabited for centuries and only became populated again in 1970 when it was discovered by an oil exploration team. The island was bought by a resort developer in 1972 and opened as a resort in 1973. Today it is accessed by boat from Chennai or Cochin airports.

James is 17 and is pretty sure he is a psychopath. Alyssa, also 17, is the cool and moody new girl at school. The pair make a connection and she persuades him to embark on a darkly comedic road trip in search of her real father.

A rich woman and a calculating insurance agent plot to kill her unsuspecting husband after he signs a double indemnity policy. Against a backdrop of distinctly Californian settings, the partners in crime plan the perfect murder to collect the insurance, which pays double if the death is accidental.

Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Riley's guiding emotions— Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness—live in Headquarters, the control centre inside Riley's mind, where they help advise her through everyday life and tries to keep things positive, but the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.

Johnny Smith is a schoolteacher with his whole life ahead of him but, after leaving his fiancee's home one night, is involved in a car crash which leaves him in a coma for 5 years. When he wakes, he discovers he has an ability to see into the past, present and future life of anyone with whom he comes into physical contact.

Two mutants, Rogue and Wolverine, come to a private academy for their kind whose resident superhero team, the X-Men, must oppose a terrorist organization with similar powers.

Luca and his best friend Alberto experience an unforgettable summer on the Italian Riviera. But all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface.

Alongside her twin sister Jocelyne, she has represented the United States in international competitions, earning multiple medals, including gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Beyond her athletic prowess, Lamoureux is a vocal advocate for women in sports, using her platform to promote gender equality and inspire the next generation of athletes.

Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other. Emboldened by her success, she decides to give hopelessly klutzy new student Tai a makeover. When Tai becomes more popular than she is, Cher realizes that her disapproving ex-stepbrother was right about how misguided she was -- and falls for him.

The ASUS ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless Gaming Keyboard offers a space-saving 96% layout with all essential keys. Its hot-swappable switches include pre-lubed NX Snow linear and ROG NX Storm clicky switches for enhanced stability and acoustics. The Tri-mode connection supports Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz with ROG SpeedNova wireless tech, or wired USB. Featuring sound-dampening foam and switch pads, it ensures a quiet typing experience. With pre-lubed stabilizers, premium PBT keycaps, and UV-coated ABS keycaps, it delivers smooth keystrokes and durability. Additional highlights include pre-programmed hotkeys, intuitive controls, a unique ROG-themed space bar with RGB LEDs, and ergonomic design with adjustable tilt positions and a detachable wrist rest.