Description
What does a story do, and how does it work? In this workshop, we take an in-depth look at the shape of a narrative, understanding the role of both plot and structure as the hidden design of any work of fiction. We’ll look at breaking down a story to its simplest components, then scaling it up, from short story to novel and back again.
We’ll examine:
- Paragraphs as the smallest building blocks of fiction: action, dialogue, description
- The Rule of Three
- The who, what, why, where and how of fiction
- The difference between short, novelette, novella and novel and how it affects the writing of each
- Characters and their goals
- Names and their significance
- The role of the narrator
- Writing the perfect shape short story
- Time and its relation to narrative
You’ll leave this workshop with a concrete understanding of structure and plot to employ in your short stories, novelettes, novellas, and novels. Plus, you’ll have new tools in your kit for addressing problems with structure and plot in your work, including Lavie’s own checklist he uses, himself.
DATE: January 31, 2026 – Saturday
TIME: 1PM ET | 12PM CT | 11AM MT | 10AM PT | 18:00 UTC
RUNTIME: Approximately 90 minutes
About Your Instructor
Lavie Tidhar is author of numerous novels such as Osama, A Man Lies Dreaming, Central Station, Neom, and Maror. His awards include the World Fantasy and British Fantasy Awards, theJohn W. Campbell Award, the Neukom Prize and the Jerwood Prize, and he has been shortlisted for the Clarke Award and the Philip K. Dick Award. A prolific author of short stories, he has published more than two hundred, everywhere from Tor.com (where he created the popular Judge Dee series of vampire mysteries) to Analog, Asimov’s, Clarkesworld and Apex. As editor, he created the five-volume Apex Book of World SF series and edited the three volumes of The Best of World SF. Currently an honorary visiting professor and writer in residence at the American International University in London, he has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses on fantasy fiction and creative writing.
