“This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that easy, and that hard.” – Neil Gaiman
“I believe there is power in words, power in asserting our existence, our experience, our lives, through words.” – Jesmyn Ward
“The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar, is the test of their power.” – Toni Morrison

Peer 2 Peer University:

This course was designed specifically with Peer 2 Peer University in mind. P2PU is a non-profit organization that facilitates equitable learning beyond institutional walls. They have developed a new model for online and offline learning called Learning Circles which are lightly-facilitated study groups for people who want to take online courses, together, in-person. These facilitated learning circles ensure that more people have access to free online courses and the motivation to finish an online course, they might not have finished were they to take it on their own.

About This Course:

– This is an 8-week FREE online course, taught as a Learning Circle, where you will do most of the work at home and will then meet in person once a week for two hours to discuss the work you’ve done, share your work, and problem solve together as a group. 
– Registration is required, and should be done before attending the first in-person class through the P2PU website.
– This class covers a lot of the basics of writing fiction, including: genres, character creation, setting, world building, dialogue, action, description, plotting, and editing.
– Specific links, dates, and locations for the class should be provided on a handout, as this website may be used by multiple classes around the world at the same time.
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Class Discussion:

1.) Introduce yourself: Name & preferred pronouns (if any). What/who is your favorite book or author?
2.) What do you like to write OR what are you currently working on/plan to work on during the class if you have a WIP? 
3.) What influences/inspires your writing? Is it pop culture? Music? Things you see happening around you on the street? How does it influence your work? 
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Writing a Letter to Fear:

Read A Letter to Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. This is an optional exercise that can be done at home or during class if there is time.
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Group Assignments:

1.) This is just a quick exercise to help you get to know your classmates in a fun way. In groups of four choose one person to come up with two or three characters, another with a setting, another with a genre, and the last with a simplified plot. Then work together to write a paragraph or two as the start of a story. Share your work with the class.

LTWF: Beginner Course Syllabus