Delivering information, particularly through description, is one of the hardest tools for a writer to refine. Too much information and a reader drowns or feels overburdened; too little and they are lost and unable to connect with the story. How do you convey what the reader needs to know without confusing, alienating, or boring them? How do you subtly introduce clues and foreshadowing without being obvious? How do you create a world that comes alive for your reader and makes them want to keep reading?
In a combination of lecture, writing exercises, and examples, this class will show you how to convey what your reader needs to know without calling attention to the act. You'll learn how to make the most of descriptive moments: how to use them to advance the plot, provide props for later use, deliver insight into character and relationships, and more.
A teacher for over three decades at institutions including the Johns Hopkins University, Clarion West, and Indiana University, Cat Rambo is engaging, personable, and supportive, providing insight, encouragement, and inspiration to students who want to pursue writing and publishing speculative fiction.
Her credentials include a MA in writing from the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, where she studied with John Barth and the Clarion West Writers Workshop and the Clarion West workshop, where she studied with Octavia Butler, L. Timmel DuChamp, Andy Duncan, Gordon van Gelder, Michael Swanwick, and Connie Willis. She has been nominated for the Compton Crook Award for First Novel, as well as Endeavour, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards and is the former editor of Fantasy Magazine. Her own work includes over 200 short stories, several novels, a cookbook, a guidebook to Baltimore, and Creating an Online Presence for Writers. She is the current President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
Some testimonials from past students:
If you have questions, drop me a line at catrambo@gmail.com!
