Starts on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026

Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Wednesdays, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM EST

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

Instructor Bio

Instructor Rubén Degollado's work has appeared or has been featured in Texas Highways, Literary Hub, CRAFT, The Common, The Rumpus, Image Journal, and elsewhere. His first novel, Throw, won the Texas Institute of Letters Best Young Adult book for 2020. His debut literary novel, The Family Izquierdo, is a New York Times Book Review editor's choice and a long list title for the PEN/Faulkner and Mark Twain American Voice in Literature awards. The Texas Institute of Letters recently awarded him the Jesse H. Jones Fellowship to complete his forthcoming novel, Be My People, to be published by W.W. Norton. Rubén lives and writes along the southern border, in the Río Grande Valley of Texas.

Who is this class for?

Story Core is for fiction writers at all skill levels who want to understand how character, setting, and plot are inextricably linked to one another. Writers will put their learning into practice through generative exercises that build toward a complete story foundation. This online writing class welcomes both emerging and experienced writers, ages 18+.

What to expect:

Get down to the core of a fantastic story! In this six-session fiction writing workshop, we begin with a premise: if you change setting, plot, or character, you must change all three. In immersive fiction, setting, plot, and character are inextricably linked and work together to create stories that stay with readers.

Through a close reading of Jhumpa Lahiri's "A Temporary Matter" and discussing popular movies, participants will explore examples of the core elements of setting, plot, and character—seeing what works and what does not. Pre-writing exercises will focus on drafting complicated characters (even villains) who connect to the reader emotionally and keep them turning the page. Settings can be daunting to write, and participants will learn what is most essential in world-building and use their key learning to create a setting that feels real and vital to the story.

Participants will finish this creative writing course understanding how to outline their plots through hands-on exercises. This generative work will prime writers for creating memorable stories with believable characters navigating the worlds they inhabit, either starting a new project or continuing one. Students will receive live feedback from the instructor as they share their short pieces throughout the workshop.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will leave with a character empathy map, a full character profile, a developed setting for their story, and the beginning of a story outline (novel or short story). Students will receive live feedback from the instructor as they share their short pieces during class sessions.

Readings

Readings include: "A Temporary Matter" by Jhumpa Lahiri

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: Character vs. Caricature — Exploring the difference between flat stereotypes and fully realized characters

Week 2: Character and Characterization — Building character profiles and empathy maps to create characters with defined flaws, wants, and needs

Week 3: Setting: Building the Frame — Learning what is most essential in world-building

Week 4: Setting: Filling the Frame — Creating settings aligned or at odds with a character's wants and needs through draft layering

Week 5: Plot Structures — Understanding how plot emerges from character and setting

Week 6: Plot Structures: Draft Layering — Creating plots where characters learn that what they wanted is not what they needed

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Through character profiles and empathy maps, students will create characters with defined flaws, wants, and needs
• Through the process of draft layering, students will create settings that are aligned, or at odds with, a character's wants and needs
• Through plot outlining, writers will create plots where characters learn that what they wanted is not what they needed
• Students will complete a character empathy map and full character profile
• Students will develop a complete setting for their story
• Students will have the beginning of a story outline for a novel or short story

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: Rubén Degollado
  
• Begins Wednesday, April 22, 2026
  
• Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Wednesdays, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM EST
  
• Tuition is $445 USD.