Begins Tuesday, February 2, 2027

Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Tuesdays, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET

Note: If you can't attend live, this class will be recorded.

🌍 Class Times by Time Zone: Los Angeles (PST): 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM / Chicago (CST): 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM / New York (EST): 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM / London (GMT): 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM / Berlin (CET): 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Now Enrolling! Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.

Instructor Arielle Burgdorf is a UK-based writer and literary translator from French. They are the author of the novel Prétend (End of the Line Press, 2024) and the UK edition Jeanne (Moist Books, 2025). Their fiction, reviews, and translations have been published in Lambda Literary, Electric Literature, Worms Magazine, Amsterdam Review, Full Stop, and elsewhere.

Who is this class for?

This online fiction writing workshop is for short story and novel writers who want to strengthen the romantic elements of their work. The class focuses on crafting genuine, nuanced relationships between characters that deepen a story's overall theme and tone. It is designed for writers adding romantic content to literary fiction rather than those writing romance as a genre, and it is open to all levels.

What to expect:

Love and desire are among the most common human experiences, and among the most difficult to put into words. How do we write romantic relationships that feel real when so many depictions are rooted in fairytales and Hollywood fantasy? How does a fiction writer get at the strange, messy, unglamorous parts of love instead of reaching for the same tired clichés? This generative six-week online writing workshop takes those questions seriously and treats them as craft problems with craft solutions.

Instructor Arielle Burgdorf approaches romance and love not simply as pieces of a larger story, but as a way into your characters' heads and an engine for your plot. Happily ever after is a wonderful thing, but the difficult and complicated aspects of love make for a more compelling and relatable read. Through weekly Zoom sessions, assigned readings, and guided writing exercises, the class will explore how to translate a character's emotions into language, how to build relationships that ring true for the reader, and how to find the right ending for a love story. Along the way you will work through friendship, sex, unrequited love, and lost love — the beautiful parts and the painful ones.

Each session includes dedicated time for students to workshop their writing if they wish, with thorough live feedback from the instructor and from fellow writers. You will read and discuss excerpts from contemporary novels that handle love with unusual honesty, then apply those revision strategies and craft techniques directly to your own fiction. Expect to leave each class with new pages and a clearer sense of what love looks like on the page when it is written well.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will generate at least 1-2 pages of new writing per class, building toward roughly 6-12 pages of new fiction over the six weeks. That work can extend a novel or story in progress or begin something entirely new. Students will receive live verbal feedback from the instructor when sharing their work, along with structured peer feedback from the group, and will practice editing and revising their romantic scenes for clarity, depth, and impact.

Readings

Readings may include excerpts from: Memorial by Bryan Washington, Love Me Tender by Constance Debré, Nova Scotia House by Charlie Porter, Trumpet by Jackie Kay, and Break-Up: The End of a Love Story by Catherine Texier.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: Introduction — What Is Love?
Week 2: Falling in Love
Week 3: Building a Relationship
Week 4: Let's Talk About Sex
Week 5: Loss in Love & Literary Breakups
Week 6: Endings & New Beginnings

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Identify what elements of love in fiction appeal to you and learn how to incorporate those into your own work
  
• Practice analyzing readings in order to break down the craft elements at work
  
• Learn how to write authentic emotion and love in fiction that will move your reader
  
• Understand how to add conflict in romantic relationships that will keep your plot moving
  
• Practice editing and revising your romantic scenes for clarity, depth, and impact
  
• Dedicated time to share work as a group, give and receive constructive feedback, and build community with fellow fiction writers

TESTIMONIALS:

"Arielle ensured that they created a relationship with the students in class, taking time to remember names, anecdotes, and details about all of us. It really encouraged me to participate and get to know my classmates. They are an amazing instructor and I wish we had more time together!"
— Former Student

"Arielle Burgdorf was one of the best instructors I have had so far at UCSC."
— Former Student

"Arielle's section was honestly one of the best I've had. They were extremely kind and created an environment which made me feel comfortable enough to participate in even though I tend to have a difficult time speaking in public. Arielle makes sure that all students understand the subjects discussed in lecture before moving on to the next subject, and their instruction was clear and creative as they often utilized activities relating to poetry. I really appreciate that they would send out weekly emails regarding the assignments due as it kept me on track and addressed concerns that I had at times."
— Former Student

"Arielle was great, I really enjoyed the writing exercises that we did, they were very creative."
— Former Student

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $445 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Arielle Burgdorf
  
• Begins Tuesday, February 2, 2027
  
• Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Tuesdays, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET
  
• Tuition is $445 USD.