Fantasy, Science Fiction and More

Create your own world. The only limit is your imagination

Fantasy, Science Fiction and More is ideal for Trekkies, Lannisters, Skywalkers, Knights of the Realm, Hufflepuffs, and writers of all levels…

You will:
Learn how to create a believable world
Structure your story across multiple books
Discover how to make magic or technology realistic
Get feedback on your own story project
And much more.

“I thought Pamela was incredibly knowledgeable, and you could tell right from the start she knew what she was talking about. Her experience came through in the succinct and clear way she could describe concepts from character tropes to plot and series structure.”
– Georgia Moore, Fantasy, Science Fiction and More graduate

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Key information
Key information:
This is an online tutor-led Zoom course
This is an online tutor-led Zoom course

Starts:
To be announced

Starts:
To be announced

Duration:
5 Tuesday evenings
6.30–8.30pm (Syd/Mel time)

Duration:
5 Tuesday evenings
6.30–8.30pm (Syd/Mel time)


$495

The art of speculative fiction writing

  • Do you like fantasy, science fiction, horror and everything in between?
  • Love Game of Thrones?
  • Can’t get enough of True Blood?
  • Yearn to create the sense of wonder you had when you first read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?
  • Or maybe you prefer to soar through the stars or explore the future of the human race?

Then you’ll love this course. It’s designed to help people who already have an idea in mind, but who need to develop their world, their characters, and their story. If you don’t have a story/world in mind yet, we’d suggest honing your writing skills in one of our more general courses, like Creative Writing Stage 1, or Writing Workout (which is a great place to play with ideas).

Fantasy, Science Fiction and More will inform, encourage and inspire you to perfect your own wondrous, scary, exciting and enjoyable world.

This course is taught by Pamela Freeman, an award-winning writer for both children and adults of epic fantasy, urban fantasy and science fiction (not to mention a few ghost stories here and there). This course will bring you up to date with what’s happening in publishing “spec fic” (speculative fiction), as well as guide you through the process of developing your own alternate reality that will enthral and entertain your readers – including those all-important agents and editors!

Learn Online Live with Pamela Freeman

In this course, you will spend five evenings with author Pamela Freeman – an incredible opportunity to learn from an award-winning novelist.

With our Online Live courses, you participate online from the comfort of your own home in a live Zoom video classroom. Pamela and your classmates are right there with you in real time as you learn.

What will you learn?

Writing speculative fiction needs all the skills that any writer brings to their story – plus more. How do you:

  • structure a story over more than one book?
  • create a world which is original and believable?
  • manage the relationships between human and non-human characters?
  • make sure your system of magic or technology is workable?
  • decide if your book is YA or adult, and how to tell the difference?

Fantasy, Science Fiction and More will cover all this, and also offer you the opportunity to workshop some of your story with a group of like-minded writers and to get feedback from one of the most respected “spec fic” writers in the country. (After all, Pamela’s novel Ember and Ash won the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel).

A whole new world

You’ll discover more about your story. The course will help you to refine your story and set your next goals. You’ll also learn more about the world of speculative fiction publishing: what’s being published, by whom, and how your book fits into the genres/sub-genres/sub-sub-genres of the “spec fic” world.

It will help you design and/or refine the world of your imagination – whether that is a completely imagined world, or a modern city with a few extra elements (vampires, magic, cyborgs, ghosts, demons, angels, intelligent computers).

Pamela was a wealth of knowledge and very helpful. I enjoyed sharing my writing. I've learned a lot more about the fantasy genre. I realised that my novel is a historical fantasy genre, not a sci-fi book!

– Suzanne Bowditch

Understand the unique rules of your story

You will work through how your system of magic or technology affects the social, political and psychological environment your characters live in: how your world shapes your characters’ experiences.

You’ll learn how to explain the role of non-human characters in speculative fiction, and help you understand what function your non-human characters (if any) are playing in your story; how do you write a truly non-human entity?

The course will reveal the different kinds of structures that have been used in “spec fic”: trilogies, quartets, ongoing series, parallel story series, single book structure including multi-book arcs, and more. And you’ll get advice on your next steps, which might range from simply, “Go home and write it!” to which agent or publisher might be the most appropriate to submit to (including international publishers and agents).

Pamela says: “I love teaching this course, because speculative fiction is the most exciting area of publishing today, and there is so much that the beginner writer in speculative fiction needs to know before they submit their work to a publisher. As well, students will meet other people who care passionately about the same kind of books that they do, and that’s always fantastic. A lot of friendships and workshopping buddies to come out of this course.”

Pamela put me at ease. I enjoyed having her as a tutor. She has a wealth of knowledge about the genre and I enjoyed her jokes. I feel like I understand better what is involved in writing a spec-fiction novel and I have some tools to help me improve my writing.

– Lucia Alesiani

Enjoy exclusive access to our AWC Graduates’ Club

Want to know where all the cool kids hang out? The Graduates’ Club of course! Now, calm down – there are no cigars, leather armchairs or loud ticking grandfather clocks here. But it IS exclusive invitation only (on completion of a course) and it’s free! Meet other writers online and share successes, seek help or just get something off your chest. Many students believe this ‘legacy learning’ is one of the most valuable things about our AWC community, and who are we to argue? So if you want to receive feedback, support and a heads-up on opportunities … join the Club!

Key information
Key information:
This is an online tutor-led Zoom course
This is an online tutor-led Zoom course

Starts:
To be announced

Starts:
To be announced

Duration:
5 Tuesday evenings
6.30–8.30pm (Syd/Mel time)

Duration:
5 Tuesday evenings
6.30–8.30pm (Syd/Mel time)


$495
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