Several years ago I taught several fantasy/sci-fi creative writing classes at ASSETS Middle School in Honolulu.  Now that I’m back in NJ,  I’ve decided to begin offering the writing workshops at a few NJ public libraries starting this spring.

There were two classes I really loved to teach.  The first was a broad literature review based upon the Hero’s Journey narrative structure that Joseph Campbell used to demonstrate the common themes in human mythology.   We read/watched selections of everything from The Hobbit to Princess Mononoke.  (We also read some actual mythology.)  Students then used their understanding of the story structure to write their own hero’s journey, and we all had a lot of fun using our imaginations.

The second was a more focused analysis of a single book, Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End.  This is a sci-fi classic that addresses a variety of questions about who we are as human beings by describing our encounter with an alien race.  It is a popular book for English classes.  We finished the class with a viewing of the movie Contact, an adaptation of Carl Sagan’s novel that describes a different kind of encounter with alien life.

In order to provide a place to advertise these classes, I’ve begun working on a website for the Center for the Speculative Arts, which will eventually provide a place for registration and class listings.  Right now I’ve only got a mockup in place.

http://www.centerforthespeculativearts.org/cftsa.html

I’ll post again when the class offerings and dates are solid and I look forward to some great writing workshops!