Shaping Longform Fiction with Claire Thomas
Explore the many creative ways you can sculpt the shape of your novel
Join award-winning author Claire Thomas for this insightful self-paced course that will help you creatively shape your longform fiction.
The novel is an endlessly pliable form. When people think about structuring longform fiction, they might assume that plot is the only way to do this – but it is not. While including an overview of traditional plot-based narratives, this course also explores the myriad ways that fiction can be shaped and organised when embarking on a new project, or refining a work-in-progress. Whether you’re new to longform fiction and keen to explore its possibilities, or a writer with material in need of further redrafting, you will discover in this course insightful guidance and practical approaches to creating and manipulating shape in your writing.
You'll learn:
- Traditional forms of structuring narrative
- Many adventurous possibilities for manipulating the shape of longform fiction
- How shapes in your own life can be used to shape a novel
- The ways in which many successful novelists have crafted their own work beyond conventional plotting
- How widely exciting and varied shape in longform fiction can be
The course is designed to take you 5-6 hours in total, and can be completed in short stages at your convenience. Scroll down to see the full course curriculum and a list of frequently asked questions.
"An inspiring course with a brilliant teacher. This has just the right balance of writing exercises, reading and video content and examples from existing texts. Claire Thomas is a smart, knowledgeable and engaging teacher. Highly recommended."
"Expertly crafted workshop, on a user-friendly platform, with a top class writer. The perfect combination of industry knowledge sharing; examples from a range of texts; and practical exercises to immerse you in the process of writing raw truth. Loved it!"
KYD Members receive a 10% discount on this course and all other KYD online courses throughout the year. Become a member here, or contact [email protected] for more information.
Want to buy a course for a friend? Purchase a gift voucher here.
Your Instructor
Claire Thomas is the author of two novels, Fugitive Blue and The Performance. Claire’s debut, Fugitive Blue, won the Dobbie Award for Women Writers and was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award.
Claire’s second novel, The Performance, has been published internationally with Hachette (ANZ), Riverhead Books (Nth America), W&N (UK), Gallimard (French), Hanser Verlag (German), Alba Editorial (Spanish) and is forthcoming in Arabic with Sefsafa Publishing House. The Performance was shortlisted in the 2022 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award.
Claire has an Honours degree in English and Art History, a MA in Creative Writing and a PhD from the University of Melbourne where she taught literary studies and creative writing for many years. She is currently working on her third novel.
Course Curriculum
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StartIntroduction (4:16)
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StartStory. Storytelling. Plot.
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StartAristotle’s Poetics
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StartExercise: Pondering Poetics
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StartThree-Act and Five-Act Structure
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StartThe Archetype: Seven Basic Plots
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StartQuestions of Conflict and Scale
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StartExercise: Desire as Conflict
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StartBeyond the Narrative Arc: Meander, Spiral, Explode
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StartTime and Space (10:08)
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StartLiteral Journeys
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StartWriting Exercise: Journey Brainstorm
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StartThe Event as Propulsion or Destination
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StartExercise: Organising Principles in Life and Art
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StartOther Forms Inside the Novel
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StartLinked Stories (1:34)
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StartThe Novel of Fragments
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StartWhereabouts
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StartExercise: Index Cards
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StartIntroduction to Oulipo
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StartGeorges Perec
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StartExercise: Oulipo ‘I remember’
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StartSummary of Multiple Methods to Manipulate Longform Fiction (4:44)