Our foundation level courses are designed to provide just that … a foundation for writing Speculative Fiction. They will provide instruction on essential, fundamental skills in an e-learning environment that you can experience at your own pace as well as interaction with others in your course to help polish your skills.
All level 100 courses are are six-weeks long however they include one year of access to the secure website and forums.
Foundation Curriculum (100 Level):
Week 1: The Quest for Fire — Seizing the Creative Spark
- We begin with an exploration of Speculative Fiction in its many forms. Emphasis is on techniques for how and where one can search for and discover that ‘spark’ of an idea on which a Speculative Story is founded.
Week 2: Epic Story is Structure
- We take the epic journey of Joseph Cambells monomyth as it relates to Speculative Fiction … and the structural foundations on which story is classically formed.
Week 3: Eight Archetype Characters
- This week we take a look at basic characters … the building blocks of a complete story.
Week 4: Forging the World
- You say you have a universe where your story takes place? You say it doesn’t feel quite right? Well, help is on the way! Techniques and tools designed to help you whip your strange universe into shape and get it properly supporting your story.
Week 5: How are my Englush?
- We address the the art and practice of communicating your vision to the reader — the business of writing. The basic craft disciplines of spelling, grammar are touched on as well as the fundamental issues regarding the business of publishing such as contracts, agents, publishers, accounting, marketing and the changing face of publishing in the new media age.
Week 6: Evolutionary Publishing
- We finish our foundation work in Speculative Fiction by addressing the most important part … the creative partnership between the writer and the reader and why your writing matters.
Bonus: Why We Write
- Tracy Hickman’s speech about the impact of writing on the reader.
101: Foundations Seminar
An introduction to the writing craft of Speculative Fiction with an emphasis on Fantasy and Science-Fiction. This is a six-week course created by Tracy and Laura Hickman and includes a six-month subscription to the seminar secure website from the start date of your seminar course. Subscription to this course includes online video coursework presentation by the instructors, access to the general Scribe’s Forge writer forums and the downloaded course workbook.
Course Tuition: $459.00 US
Prerequisite: None
Availability: Enrollment Now Open / Seminars may be joined at any time.
Foundations Seminar Enrollment |
Special Offers Only: Not required. |
 |
What is the deadline for entry and signing up for the course?
At this time, only the Course 100: Quest for Fire — Seminar Sampler is available. This is the sample our our eLearning course which you purchase right now. It is entirely self contained and self directed.
We anticipat the full Course 101 to be available this fall as we are spending our summer polishing and programing the course. We’ll let you know as soon as that is ready for your participation.
Will this be the same for the 200 and 300 level courses??
We are largely concentrating on getting the level 100 courses up and running for the time being. We are anticipating the level 200 courses in the spring of 2011 and the level 300 course by the fall.
Hey Tracy, love this idea: 102: Web Like the Dickens. Is this a new addition to the classes being offered? I don’t remember this being on the schedule last time I looked.
Any word on the time the 100 class will be up and running full time???
Thanks Brother!!
I am confused about the course description and the pricing structure. Is the 100 Foundation a separate course? If so, what is the price and when is it offered? If it a general description of the 101 and 102, how do those elements fit into the schedules of the individual five-week courses?
You state in the description for 102 that the 101 videos and training materials are included, but does that include the instructional five-week course for the 101, or is one expected to do it independently prior to the start of the 102 five-week course? If I were to take the 101, and then decide to continue, what would I have to pay for the 102? I would not require the 101 materials again, so purchasing the 101/102 course at $459 seems redundant.
I find the opportunity intriguing, but would like to know a bit more. Thank you for your time.
Ah, I see your point and will be revising the course descriptions to be more accurate.
The 101 and 102 course are both considered to be Level 100 courses. The difference between the 101 and the 102 courses is that those taking the 102 course will, in addition to the 101 coursework, also have their own, separate forum for peer-review of pitches, outlines and sample writings, direct response to questions from Laura and I as well as our personal review of your pitches, outline and sample chapters. Essentially, with the 102 course your get our personal and direct attention and review of your work; with the 101 course you only have access to the course itself and instructor responses are limited.
The 101 and 102 courses run concurrently. The 101 course includes a six months access subscription to the website and forums (thus the videos will remain available to the course participants as well as the general forums for that period of time as well as any updates on the forum’s main blog). The 102 course includes a 12-month access to the secure website AND the unique forum for the 102 participants – thus allowing them a full year of workshop experience with people whom they have come to know in the course.
Hi Tracy and Laura!
Tracy, I talked with you at LTUE. How long does the code work for? I am a poor college student and I can’t afford to do it at this time but I am definately interested.
Thank you,
Molly
The code from the bookmark promotion should work through the end of the year, Molly.
The 101 course can be joined at any time … the 102 course only occurs three times in a year: currently slated for this year in March, June and September.
I will be joining the net available workshop (102) after April 29th, when my daughter will become a “Mrs.” ! I can’t wait to pull these stories and voices out of my head and organize them into structured, sensible pieces of paper. I look forward to the day that I can put them on the shelf to collect dust rather than create distractions in my mind.