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Plot 2: Machinations
Plot 2: Machinations is an Intensive, meaning it happens in a short time span (1 day in NYC, or 2 days on Zoom, or 3 weeks Online). The course includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s open to writers of any level. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
If you feel you’re solid with the basics of plot, you may go straight to Plot 2. If you’re in doubt about this, start with Plot 1; it will be valuable even if some of it is review.
Plot is the art of drawing them in, then delivering a sequence of events that grows progressively more interesting and culminates with a killer ending. A good plot is what most readers and audiences crave…and what most writers fear.
Whether you’re working on something true or completely made-up, short or long, we’ll show you how to craft a plot that keeps them rapt from beginning to middle to end.
Plot 1 teaches the basic mechanics of plotting, the things you can’t get far without, such as: desire driving the story, the beginning/middle/end structure, cause and effect, how characters determine which way the plot goes.
Plot 2 teaches the crafty machinations required for expert plotting: the techniques for twisting and turning, intriguing and dazzling, and, most of all, keeping people hooked until the breathtaking finish.
It’s exactly what you need to get unstuck.
Eva Sullivan
teacher
Notes
This is a cross-genre course, applicable to any kind of writing that contains storytelling, including nonfiction.
Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
3-Week
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Online
Anytime, week-long sessions
Tuition: $175
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One-on-One
Tuition: $495
Syllabus
This course gives an overview of the insider tricks of great plotting, in any genre. Course components:
Lectures
Writing exercises
Week 1
Time and Tricks: Time—compression and expansion. Flashbacks and framing devices. Suspense. Surprise.
Week 2
Deviations: When to deviate from the plot norms. Multiple protagonists—team, romance, opposing, witness, ensemble. Intriguing structures—organizing principle, unique shapes, unconventional subplots, nonlinear time. Anti-plot.
Week 3
A Well-Made Thing: Process—brainstorming and outlining. Logic. Pacing. Climax.
Each week students are provided with case studies of great stories, as well as notes on the working out of a from-scratch plot.
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
