On April 17 I ran a three-hour workshop on science fiction worldbuilding for the Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop. It was my first time teaching a class of any kind, so I think I learned as much as I hope my students did.
The students were great. All ten of them were engaged, intelligent, and seemed to have no trouble keeping up. They all participated, asked useful questions, and grasped the concepts quickly. Better still, they appeared to be having fun.
The online format worked well enough, but doing class discussion via Zoom did slow everything down considerably. Questions take longer, polling the class takes longer, and typing on the online "whiteboard" screen is much less satisfying than actually writing on a board in front of a group of people. I really want to do this in person when I do the class again.
The three-hour time slot seems about right. Longer would just wear everyone out. If I can streamline the presentation I can fit more material into three hours and keep the class engaged.
My outline was a little over-complicated. I began with what I had planned to be a brief lecture on why and how to do worldbuilding, but it ran a little long. After that we began a collaborative exercise, in which I walked the class through creating an alien world. Their choices drove what kind of a world we built, and I tried to show how story choices set requirements for the planet's physical parameters. I think I could trim down the introductory lecture and introduce more of the physical science aspects as they come up in discussion.
One thing which I will change is the option of designing the world from the bottom up (Hal Clement style) versus top-down. That choice just added a time-consuming step. In future workshops I think I'll simply start with the story concept and show how that informs all the worldbuilding decisions.
Another feature I would love to add would be to collaborate with an artist. This would be best for a live workshop, where my colleague could be sketching away on an easel or whiteboard while the class proceeds. People — even writers — are visual animals, and seeing what we're imagining would be a huge benefit. I need to find someone who can draw aliens and otherworldly environments quickly, and is willing to do it for a three-hour stretch. (Any volunteers? Contact me privately if you're in western Massachusetts and are willing to do it. You will get paid.)
Overall I was very happy with the turnout — a full class of ten people, all excellent participants. If there's enough demand I'd be happy to do this twice a year or even quarterly. As soon as I can set up another session I'll announce it here on my 'blog, and of course on the PVWW Web page.
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