Writing About a Different Time with Kathleen Alcalá *Cancelled*

This class is for those curious about stretching the possibilities of language in order to captivate the reader and propel them into another world.

Today, we might consider a dead phone battery a small tragedy. But in 14th century France, a tragedy was when you were kidnapped and sold into slavery or serfdom. In the future, a tragedy might be when your telepathic connection to your animal companion, who monitors your stuttering heart, fails. But don’t just imagine the situation. Ask yourself what language was used at that time that you can selectively use to further the description. What language will be invented to encompass the situations that will arise? We already see ourselves shedding language from 20 years ago to make room for the new words and situations in which we now engage.

By showing what the world of the character looks, sounds, and feels like, we can take the reader to the interior spaces occupied by our characters and provide a “whole body” experience of the past and the future. The first part of the class will concentrate on the past; the second part, after a break, on the future. There will be discussions and exercises.

If you're working with draft material, this class should give you some direction for constructing dialogue, action, and motivation.

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