Composition Portal (List View)

This Writer's Workshop will be for practicing the art of writing flash fiction, works that are of 500 or fewer words in length. This is a marvelous place for a new writer to begin as the size is not overwhelming. It is also a marvelous place for a seasoned writer to practice the craft of scene creation and characterization under severe creative restriction. We will read examples of flash fiction, and provide feedback for one another on original pieces that we shall write over the length of the course. For this we will use the Collaborative Feedback Method that we use in all Space creative writing courses, a method which emphasizes kindness and curiosity while still providing rigorous and useful feedback to the writer. [show less]

What makes a good story? How can we make our characters feel like real people? Using a combination of recorded lectures, in-class discussion and exercises, you will find out how to employ Aristotle’s precepts on character, theme and emotional catharsis to enrich your creative practice. You will also discover how Aristotle’s teleological understanding of causality can help you discover the final design of your creative work. This module will be a must for fiction authors, screenwriters and directors, RPG game masters, or anyone who wants to weave a dynamic tale! The module will follow an 8-lesson structure as follows: • Lecture 1: Introduction to the Poetics • Workshop 1: Your Narrative's Purpose • Lecture 2: Character and Theme • Workshop 2: Discovering Your Character and Theme • Lecture 3: Structure • Workshop 3: Unfolding Your Story's Structure • Lecture 4: Catharsis • Workshop 4: Sticking the Landing [show less]

Have you wanted to write a story but didn't know how to get words onto a blank page? Once the words were there, did you wonder how to find out if those words affected your reader the way you meant them to? In this SPACE module, we will look at where ideas for stories come from. We will take our ideas from our thoughts to the page. Then we will learn, in a supportive community using the Collaborative Feedback method, how to ask for and receive the feedback our stories need to thrive. Note: For more information about the Collaborative Feedback Method in SPACE, please check out our video here. [show less]

It turns out that writing dialogue can be tricky. A writer has to accomplish a lot through the way in which a character speaks, and how that speech is described. How do people talk to one another? Do they orate? Do they exchange fast and witty quips? Do they lecture one another to impart tons of needed exposition material? Does what they say and how they say it tell us anything about who they are? In this class we will experiment with different ways to write dialogue and incorporate it into a story. We'll explore how details of character diction can change how a reader understands the text of what a character says. We'll do exercises designed to practice achieving particular goals Finally, students will apply what we're working on to their own writing and will receive feedback using our Collaborative Feedback method. We're going to do a fair bit of writing, some in class, more outside of class as (optional) homework. By the end of the class a student should expect to be able to decide how a character should sound and then write dialogue that meets that goal. [show less]

We will meet to discuss strategies for revising a piece of writing, including finding your own vision for your story, big-picture developmental editing, and crafting scenes. Writers are encouraged to apply revision strategies between sessions and discuss their work during class if they want to share. Writers will also have the opportunity to explore different editing strategies to help them shape their story into their own vision. Note: For more information about the Collaborative Feedback Method in SPACE, please check out our video here. [show less]

C.S. Lewis is one of the most prolific and influential writers of the 20th century. And yet, in his early career as an Oxford don, he viewed himself as a failed poet. Moreover, his most canonical and transformational writing happened during the most stress-filled periods of his life. This short course allows students to peek into the writing life of C.S. Lewis. Our goal is to see through the lines of printed text by visiting the letters and archival remains of Lewis in a virtual setting. Most of C.S. Lewis's papers remain undigitized and unpublished, available only locally at archives in North America and England. As Professor Brenton Dickieson has visited these archives, he is able to invite students to appreciate C.S. Lewis's writing life by looking at the way that he consciously and unconsciously built his literary career. This course is for writers who are developing their own habits and literary life-prints, as well as folks who are curious about C.S. Lewis's life beyond the biographies and bestselling books. We are not doing text close readings, but looking at the “paratextual” information available to us: writing drafts, letters, diary entries, manuscripts and typescripts, title, and the like. Week 1: Lewis: Pen, Ink, Paper • C.S. Lewis’s Single-jointed Self-Conception as a Writer • What Lewis Says about his Writing Habits • Legendary Bonfires, Stuffed Dolls, and American Suckers: A Story of Lewis’s Papers and Manuscripts • The Screwtape MS. Story: Part 1 Week 2: Leaves, Bombs, Stains • The Screwtape MS. Story: Part 2 • “Villainous Handwriting”: Charlie Starr’s Lewis Handwriting and Rough Draft vs. Fair Draft • Reconsidering the Lindskoog Affair with Manuscript Evidence of “The Dark Tower” Week 3: Joy, Theft, Death • “The Quest of Bleheris”: Lewis’s Teenage Novel Week 4: • Is it True that Lewis Wrote in a Single Draft? • A Grief Observed • Tumbling Through the Wardrobe: The Discovery of Narnia • Arthurian Torso • A New Sketch of Lewis’s Writing Process(es) Note: This course includes a significant amount of visual material on the screen. Please contact the SPACE team if you have visual accessibility requirements and we will do everything we can to accommodate. [show less]

The Muppet Lord of the Rings adaptation developed at Sunshine Moot 2025 was a runaway success, generating millions at the box office and garnering accolades from critics and fans alike. Big Name Studios was so impressed by Signum Studio’s creativity and short production schedule, that they’ve asked us to do it again! There’s a catch though- the Signum Studios Creative Team must generate a new adaptation as soon as possible in order to build on the success of the first movie. “We’re so excited about the possibility of even more opportunities to explore Muppet and LoTR mashups!” Addison Bigbucks, president of Big Name Studios said in a recent interview. “We can’t wait to see what the Signum Studios Creative Team will come up with next!” In this SPACE course, the Creative Team will lead interactive discussions and breakout sessions to discuss human and Muppet casting choices, art direction, and narrative themes. Knowledge of the following Jim Henson productions will be useful but not required: The Muppet Show (1976-1981), : The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), : Muppet Treasure Island (1996), and the : Muppet Movie (2011). No homework outside of class is required, but ongoing discussions on Signum’s Discord channel will be enthusiastically encouraged. Can the Creative Team at Signum Studios achieve the same success as their Sunshine Moot predecessors? What decisions will appeal to both the die-hard Tolkien fans, Muppet aficionados, and the casual movie-going public? Don’t worry, the Creative Team will have help including a guest lecture from Maggie Parke, Director of Signum Studios, two producers who will keep us on budget and on time, and several Bigwig Studio Executives who will offer advice on creating the next blockbuster hit. [show less]

An in depth discussion and exploration of the various musical settings of Tolkien's poetry. Students are encouraged to write their own melodies for poems for discussion, as we listen through and discuss various other versions. We will discuss each poem and its surrounding prose, as it pertains to musical adaptation, before digging into the arrangements that have been recorded of the poem, and student's own contributions. [show less]

What makes a poem sing, or whisper, or chant, or curse—that is, make memorable speech? How do you craft that echo when one sound calls another to the surface—stress to stress, line to line? Sometimes the smallest beat, breath, or break can turn a poem’s ordinary sense into what Seamus Heaney called “the music of what happens.” Through the pulse of stress, or the line that ends at rest or breaks in tension, poetry, as James Longenbach writes in The Art of the Poetic Line, “is the sound of language organized in lines.” The poetic line and its sonics are inextricably linked—to each other and to the other elements of the poem with which they are bound up. In this workshop, we’ll tune our ears to poetry’s music through a weekly craft focus, generative prompts, and a supportive workshop. We’ll read short excerpts from Robert Pinsky (The Sound of Poetry), James Longenbach (The Art of the Poetic Line), and Denise Levertov (“On the Function of the Line”). Together we’ll explore sonic patterns that stir and surprise; we’ll write poems that make sense through the senses. This course is for poets at all stages who want to deepen their craft in community. You’ll leave with new drafts, sharper ears, and a keener attention to the key quality that singles poetry out from prose: its complex of lines. [show less]

Language is never more concise and powerful than in the Art of Poetry. Sadly, this art is not consistently taught, nor even consistently admired, having become tainted with the mindset that it is archaic, useless, or unintelligible. Those who seek to learn to write or enjoy this art, are frequently rebuffed by conflicting definitions and daunting rules and rhyme schemes. In this module, students would be introduced to reading and writing basic poetry techniques and examples, learning how to “color” outside the lines with their own words, and to discover the unique power of concise language, empowering them to set out on their own individual poetry journey. (This course will utilize the Collaborative Feedback Method to better support all poetic explorers!) [show less]

Have you ever wanted to understand why a painting grabs your attention or what an artist might be trying to say? The Art of Seeing is a friendly module designed for anyone who feels they don't "know enough" about art. In this module, we'll explore key concepts in art that will provide a powerful toolkit to unlock the world of art. You'll learn how to "read" a painting by looking at color, line, and composition. We'll decode hidden symbols, explore different materials, and dive into fascinating genres from portraits to landscapes. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to look at many different artworks from different styles and time periods and engage with the works. Most importantly, you'll discover that the goal isn't to find the one "right" answer; it's to have your own personal and meaningful connection with art. This module is for everyone who wants to engage with art. No previous knowledge is required. The module is as follows: Session 1: What is Art? Session 2: The Artist's Toolkit: The Formal Elements Session 3: The "How": Materials, Techniques, and Meaning Session 4: Putting It All Together: “Reading” a Work of Art Session 5: Applying Your Toolkit: The Human Form Session 6: The World in a Frame: Landscapes & Still Lifes Session 7: Looking Beyond the Canvas Session 8: Your Journey as an Art Appreciator [show less]

In this module we will explore the musical storytelling of works related to the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. This discussion-based course is not targeted to musicians, and no prior musical knowledge or skill set is required. Rather, the course seeks to discuss how music can tell stories, and how music interacts with text, poetry, and adaptation. A familiarity with the work of Professor Tolkien is very helpful. This course will study three types of musical adaptation: music inspired by Tolkien’s writing, work that has taken Tolkien’s poetry and put it to music, and music written for adaptations of Tolkien’s work. Each of these types of composition comes with their own unique storytelling approaches and outcomes. Session 1: Johan de Meij, "Symphony No. 1: The Lord of the Rings" Session 2: Martin Romberg, "Symphonic Poem, Telperion and Laurelin" Session 3: Paul Corfield Godfrey: “The Tolkien Cycle” Session 4: John Sangster, "The Hobbit Suite" Session 5: The Tolkien Ensemble, "An Evening in Rivendell" Session 6: Donald Swann: “The Road Goes Ever On, a Song Cycle” Session 7: Howard Shore, "The Fellowship of the Ring" Session 8: Bear McCreary, "The Rings of Power, Season One" [show less]