Braiding Time: Groundhog Day and Sliding Doors 2-Day Fiction Weekend Intensive with Sage Tyrtle (Zoom) starts on Saturday, March 6th, 2027
Saturday, March 6th & Sunday, March 7th, 2027
Class will meet via Zoom on Saturday & Sunday, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM ET
🌍 Class Times by Time Zone: Los Angeles (PST): 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM / Chicago (CST): 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM / New York (EST): 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM / London (GMT): 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM / Berlin (CET): 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Now Enrolling! Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.
About the Instructor
Instructor Sage Tyrtle writes stories unsettling enough for The Offing, yet NPR let them on air. Included in Best Microfiction, Moth GrandSLAM winner, and Pushcart nominee, they've taught 150+ workshops for Smokelong Quarterly and Clarion West, among others. Their work lives at the intersection of literary craft and, "Wait, did they just say that?"
Who is this class for?
This online writing workshop is for fiction writers who want to play with looping time, with parallel universes, with the paths that could have been. Whether you write literary fiction, speculative stories, or genre-bending work, you'll leave with tools to bend time in compelling ways. It is open to all levels.
What to expect:
What if you could relive a single day, changing one small choice each time? Or split your life into parallel paths and find out how both play out? Over one immersive weekend, this online fiction workshop looks at looping narratives like Groundhog Day and diverging timelines like Sliding Doors — and puts those structures directly into your hands. Use invented material or your own life as raw material, and imagine what might have been and what could still be.
Speculative fiction lets writers play their hearts out, and time braiding takes it one step further. What if you'd turned left instead of right that time? What if you'd never sent that text message? What if you had to send that text message a thousand times before the loop released you? Drawing on Sage Tyrtle's background as a Moth GrandSLAM winner and stage storyteller, this creative writing workshop treats your own life as one possible quarry for time-braided stories — though there's no requirement to use it. You're welcome to make it all up.
This is a generative weekend, not a lecture. You'll write in every session, share aloud, and leave with drafts in hand. Instructor feedback is gentle, positive, and constructive on work written and shared during the workshop, creating a low-stakes online writing class where writers at every level can take structural risks. Time braiding is fun and it produces compelling stories — you'll leave knowing how to build nonlinear narratives your readers can actually follow.
What are the writing goals?
In this course, students will craft stories where time bends, resets, or branches, and learn to use time itself to build pivotal moments with big emotional payoff. Students will structure nonlinear narratives that readers understand and enjoy, and will produce at least three drafts using different time braiding techniques. Students receive positive and gently constructive instructor feedback on all work written and shared during the two days.
COURSE OUTLINE
Day 1 — Loops: We'll examine looping narratives, using our own lives (or fiction, if preferred) as jumping-off points. Generative exercises in resetting, repeating, and escalating a single day.
Day 2 — Branches: We'll play with parallel lives — one small decision that splits the narrative in two — and shape diverging timelines into a story readers can hold in their heads.
COURSE TAKEAWAYS:
- Craft stories where time bends, resets, or branches
- Use time to build pivotal moments with big emotional payoff
- Structure nonlinear narratives that your reader understands and enjoys
- Produce at least three drafts using different time braiding techniques
- Develop a repeatable toolkit for speculative and literary fiction that plays with chronology
TESTIMONIALS:
"This was a great class. The pace and structure were excellent. Not too much info, while providing some really solid concepts that I had never heard before."
"One of the best classes I have taken. Clear, usable craft principles. What did I find most valuable? The need for an element of risk -- interior or exterior -- which is important for story impact."
"This class exceeded my expectations. A story worth telling includes risk & emotional extremes but needs balance between positive & negative emotions. Sage got these points across magnificently. Highly recommend."
"Sage is so welcoming and so gentle in her teaching. A lovely experience."
“Loved it!"
"This class exceeded my expectations! Sage was extremely knowledgeable and thoughtful and provided meaningful feedback."
"A lovely atmosphere and a great mix of learning from examples and prompt work. Thanks!”
“It was the perfect, chill way to close out the weekend, and I left with workable drafts and many ideas.”
"I loved the number and quality of the in-class prompts."
"The instructor was lovely, encouraging, ehtusiastic and the information well-chosen, and I appreciated her suggestions for exercises."
“When Sage Tyrtle talks, people don’t just listen. They hang on her every word.” – Toronto Star
“As each of us feels more comfortable, we share intimate moments from our lives. It’s different from the stand-up I tried, because, ultimately, success isn’t dependent on making people laugh.” – Now Magazine
“Thank you for giving us a night to remember. You are a true professional, gifted and talented. Thank you for inspiring us, making us think differently and pushing us to be better communicators. The feedback from all the participants was so positive.” – Wendy Kauffman, Vice President, Brown & Cohen Communications and Public Affairs
“We have received really great feedback, some people saying that this is the best session we have had at our KE retreats, so thank you so much for your engaging presentation!” – Rebecca Phillips Konigs, CAMH
PAYMENT OPTIONS:
Tuition is $180 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: Sage Tyrtle
- Begins Saturday, March 6, 2027
- Class will meet via Zoom on Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM ET
- 2 sessions: March 6 & 7, 2027
- Tuition is $180 USD.