To your aspiring writer, coming up with ideas for the next great thriller or romance may seem easy; getting those stories onto paper (or a computer screen) in a way that someone else wants to read may seem nearly impossible. But every good storyteller started out that way, and the first step to learning how to tell a good -- even great -- story is to learn a few basic steps.

In this 8-week class, we'll learn to create stories that cast the reader headlong into deep worlds full of complex characters, build tension for the reader, and end with a satisfying resolution. Each week, we will cover and practice one important feature of fiction writing, with every student both providing original writing for class discussion and constructive feedback to classmates. Additionally, we will analyze the writing of successful authors and some of my previous work and other projects.

By the end of class, we will have written a complete short story! (Unfortunately, we can't actually write a novel for this class, due to time limitations.)

Whatever your young writer's level of experience, this class will provide useful information on fiction writing, along with an opportunity to practice writing and receive constructive feedback. Students will leave with new tools to use in future projects.

About the teacher: Fiction writing has been a hobby of mine since childhood, and I've had a few pieces of short fiction published in various formats, including online, newspaper and fiction anthology magazine. Additionally, I took creative writing and poetry writing in college, and have previously worked as a college essay and creative writing tutor.

Week 1: Plot. Via video presentation, students will learn that a good plot will provide questions for the reader, as well as seemingly insurmountable problems and motivation for a protagonist. As part of this presentation, I will provide a sample plot that students can use as a model. Then, students will be asked to each provide their own ideas for fictional plots. After students have posted their own plots, they will analyze and comment on other students' posts, if practical, making suggestions regarding questions, problems, and motivation.

Week 2: Building Characters. Students will be provided a sample character with a list of traits and a basic character history, and I will demonstrate how to use those traits in the sample plot I provided in week 1. Then, I will ask each student to create a similar trait and history profile for a protagonist for their week-1 plots. Students will again be asked to give constructive feedback and brainstorm together to help improve classmates' characters. Afterward, I will add suggestions for how students might deepen their characters or use character traits to strengthen plots.

Week 3: Building a world. First, students will be asked to give a brief description of their world -- their neighborhood, living situation, friends, schedules, etc. Then, as a class, we will discuss how characters in stories live in fictional worlds. I will provide a sample description of a world, and ask students to create worlds for their characters.

Week 4: Introductions. I will discuss some ways to write engaging introductions. Students will learn to start as close to the action as possible, to show the reader the most engaging and exciting content possible. We will also discuss some common pitfalls, such as beginning an introduction with a description of scenery. Students will then provide and analyze their favorite introductions by successful writers. As a class, we'll discuss ways we might use similar strategies to those of the successful authors when writing our own introductions.

Week 5: Writing Action. I will discuss effective language to describe action. Students will then use the information they created during the previous four weeks' assignments to write an action-filled introduction, using effective language and sentence structure. Students will be asked to review and give constructive criticism to their classmates.

Week 6: Writing Descriptions. I will explain how to use vivid, descriptive language to "show" things to the reader, rather than merely "telling" the reader things. Students will be asked to find an exceptional description of a person, place, or thing in a piece of fiction, and as a class we'll analyze the ways in which these descriptions "show" instead of "tell" the reader the thing described. The class will be provided an object or scene to describe. Then, divided into teams and asked to work together to write a great description of the object or scene.

Week 7: Resolution. This week, via classroom discussion, we will analyze ways to bring effective resolutions to a story, and how to end a story. We will learn to avoid common pitfalls to ending a piece of fiction, such as abrupt endings without a resolution or endings that linger on excessively after a resolution is complete. I will refer the class back to the sample plot from week 1, and ask the class to brainstorm together what would be a good resolution.

Week 8: Final project. Each student will complete a one- to two-page short story incorporating a strong introduction, appropriately deep character development, and a strong plot and world. I will then provide individual feedback for each student.