- Weekly Readings & Discussion Schedule -
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This time, rather than studying what's traditionally considered science and tech, we'll critically study six short stories to identify what makes them work - and how to best integrate such techniques into our own fiction. We'll study (to paraphrase my mentor, James Gunn) the science of speculative-fiction writing.
To reach these goals, participants will develop an idea, characters, world, and so forth into a new story by taking inspiration from great fiction and analyzing how and why those stories work. We'll first hold a weekend of story-development and brainstorming sessions, then draft a new story over the next several weeks. During the story-drafting period, we'll hold weekly online discussions and writing-support groups, and stay in touch to share ideas and good stuff to read and watch, and to offer support. Everyone will prepare in advance to help lead discussion about at least one of the stories. As our completion event, after a week to read and critique everyone's stories, we'll hold a weekend critique workshop to help get your story into condition for submitting. Everyone comments on every story, we analyze each story for publishability, and encourage one another to submit their work for publication - and we'll follow up afterward to see how things are going.
At the end of this workshop, you'll have a deeper understanding into what goes into making great spec-fic - and you'll have completed story that stretches your skill and talent. We'll not only perform traditional literary criticism to understand, literarily, what moves us in these works, but we'll also take a practical approach on how to apply the techniques that work so well in those stories. This workshop expands what "Science into Fiction" is all about!
My philosophy of writing workshops:
Through applying effort, drive, and passion - and mastering the fundamentals - anyone can become a published author.
We'll work to
demythologize the artistic process by studying the everyday acts anyone can
learn to do. You don't need to be touched by some angel of creativity to become an
author, though this kind of opinion still prevails among certain literary elitists as well as in primary and secondary schools, where talent is immediately visible.
You can write successful stories if you learn the tools, elements, and theory, and
put what you learn into practice by writing and revising what you write.
To accomplish this, we'll deconstruct the creative act into things we can discuss. Any complex action is only understandable if you break it down into smaller segments. During this workshop, you'll get a solid grasp of what makes engaging short stories by studying successful works and mastering the elements of speculative-fiction writing. In our discussions we'll cover a wide range of subjects including character, dialogue, idea generation, micro-writing, openings, plot, point of view, scenes, setting, structure, voice, publication strategies, and more. We'll also practice editing by critiquing each other's work, because mastering revision is the only way to improve our writing.
In addition to science fiction, we welcome fantasy, horror, magical realism, and other speculative-fiction modes. Readers have varying expectations, so we'll discuss those, as well.
I encourage participants to remain in regular contact, continue participating in our Discord channel and larger group mailing list, in future workshops and write-ins, and support one another's writing careers, even continuing to critique one another's work. Attendees have many opportunities to socialize with one another live and online, and many build life-long relationships enhanced by our social connectivity. The AdAstranaut experience is more than an eight-week, two-weekend live and online adventure - it's a community!
McKitterick's 2018 Spec-Fic Workshop cohort.
Sitting: Pat Cadigan,
Julian Richardson. Standing, left to right: Achilles Seastrom, Jean Asselin,
Mary Fluker, Kathy Kitts, Theodore Nollert, Sarah Worrel, Patricia Crumpler,
Sanna Breytberg, Ian Martinez-Cassmeyer, Chris McKitterick.
Award-winning author, educator, and Ad Astra director Chris McKitterick leads the workshop. He'll participate from when the application period opens through the end of the cycle, helping brainstorm and critique every story and giving short talks on writing. He hopes to host an expert guest, as well.
Chris has taken writing and science workshops across the country since the 1980s, and first took James Gunn's Science Fiction Writers Workshop in 1992, then served as guest instructor from 1995-2009, leading the redesigned Spec-Fic Workshop since 2010. In 2016 he founded the "Repeat Offenders" Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop (advanced workshop for returning alums), and this Ad Astra "Science into Fiction" Workshop series in 2022.
Since the 1990s, he has taught science-fiction and creative-writing workshops, seminars, masterclasses, and full-semester courses at the University of Kansas and around the world. In 2018, he was one of three finalists for the H.O.P.E. (Honor for Outstanding Progressive Educator) Teaching Award, the most prestigious teaching award given at the University of Kansas.
Chris' short work has appeared in many publications. His "Ashes of Exploding Suns, Monuments to Dust" made the Tangent Recommended Reading List and won the AnLab Reader's Award for best novelette - his first major fiction-writing honor. He regularly publishes nonfiction, and a poem or two became lyrics for songs. His debut novel, Transcendence, is in its second edition. He recently finished a couple more novels, Empire Ship and the first book of The Galactic Adventures of Jack and Stella, and has several other projects on the burners.
En route to becoming an SF scholar, writer, and educator, Chris studied astrophysics, education, classics, and psychology. He earned his BA in creative writing from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he ran two observatories and a planetarium and served as assistant instructor for physics and astronomy courses. He spent a year teaching K-12 school in the Montana Badlands, then began formal SF writing and literature studies in 1992 with James Gunn at the University of Kansas, where he earned his MA in creative writing and continued post-graduate studies ever after. He's taken For nearly a decade, he worked for gaming and tech companies in Seattle, spending summer vacations co-teaching the SF Workshop and SF Institute. In 2002, KU recruited him to teach SF and writing full-time, where he developed many offerings. He never stops learning, including at The Schrödinger Sessions quantum physics workshop and the LaunchPad Astronomy Workshop.
Chris first launched Ad Astra as a KU Center (announcement) in 2021 after having directed James Gunn's original Center for the Study of Science Fiction with Jim and Kij Johnson from 1995-2022, then expanded it into the non-profit Ad Astra Institute for Science Fiction & the Speculative Imagination in 2023. In addition to doing all things Ad Astra, he rescues wild animals, lives with many beloved critters, gardens, and watches the sky. He's also getting married to his beloved Lauren right before we begin!
Read more about Chris here (formal bio), or here (less formal), or hang out with him online: Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr | Xitter | YouTube | Christopher-McKitterick.com
We are privileged to announce that experimental particle physicist and science-fiction expert Phil Baringer joins us as Special Guest Instructor for the workshop!
Philip Baringer, PhD, has more than 35 years of teaching and research experience. He's Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy who's received numerous awards for his teaching, including the Department Undergraduate Teaching Award, the Kemper Award for Teaching Excellence, and the University Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) Excellence in Teaching Award, chosen by graduate students in Physics and Astronomy. He served as inaugural speaker for Ad Astra's Science into Fiction writing workshop series, and has since participated in the full series, including developmental and critique workshops, shareing both his scientific expertise and also a deep understanding of SF narrative. For 2023 and 2024, Phil served as Special Guest Instructor for the summer Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop and "Repeat Offenders" Workshop. For nearly 20 years, Phil has co-taught "Science, Technology, & Society: Examining the Future Through a Science-Fiction Lens" with McKitterick, taught several science-fiction Honors courses at KU, served on many graduate thesis and dissertation committees on SF writing and literature, serves on the nominations committee of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short SF, and is a ravenous SF and comics reader.
Baringer's research focuses on experimental particle physics, particularly production of the top quark. He is a member of the Compact Muon Solenoid collaboration, an international group operating an experiment at the European Organization for Nuclear Research's Large Hadron Collider. Baringer believes in the importance of communicating science to a general audience. He has also received the Steeples Award for Service to Kansans, an award that recognizes faculty members for sharing their teaching and research with the people of Kansas.
Phil will participate in most of the discussions to offer his understand of what makes great SF stories, plus he'll join us for Critique Weekend to provide a fresh perspective on your story.
Read more about Phil on his KU bio page, LinkedIn, or Google Scholar.
Application window now open - apply here!
The overall schedule for our Fall 2024 "Six great stories & what makes them work" workshop, at a glance:
Most weeks we'll gather on Discord to discuss that week's assigned materials, and everyone helps lead at least one of these discussions. No one gets an "F" for not reading the assigned (or bonus) materials, of course, but use this unique opportunity to not only write and critique a story, but to get a firm understanding of what goes into making great speculative fiction.
So here's what we'll talk about while working on our stories: In the Discussion Schedule below you'll find a detailed syllabus of weekly reads and media to enrich your understanding of fiction writing and related topics - please read all of these (and write your responses and discussion prompts) to prepare for group get-togethers.
To reserve a spot for the upcoming Fall 2024 "Six great stories & what makes them work: The science of SF writing" SiF Workshop Series #4, complete this application form.
To have enough time to give proper attention to everyone's work, enrollment is limited to 10 active participants, though any number of additional participants are welcome to self-study using the syllabus and participate in online discussions of the assigned materials. If you wish to attend, develop a story, and have it critiqued by your instructor and cohort, apply early! Positions go quickly. We'll post the online signup form in the summer.
As with my residential workshops, my goal is to build a productive, supportive cohort by selecting a diversity of writers whose approaches and writing styles I feel will work well together, so please let me know a little about you and your writing philosophy and creative goals in your application form. We're likely to fill our ranks quickly, so don't delay! I accept applications on a first-come, first-considered basis - be aware the Workshop usually fills in advance. I continue a rolling series of acceptances until the roster is full or as we get late drops and additions. If you're not accepted, I'll provide suggestions about how to improve your chances of getting in during the rolling-acceptance period, or for the next SiF workshop.
If you are accepted, be prepared to discuss your ideas, characters, setting, narrative structure, and so forth during dev sessions. We can help you brainstorm a bare-bones idea, but the more you're prepared, the more you'll get out of the session. McKitterick will send dev-session guidelines in advance.
Plan to turn in your story that you wish to have critiqued by November 24 (in proper manuscript format and 8-1/2" x 11" layout) to give everyone time to read and consider it. Submit only complete stories, maximum length 6000 words (common for many publications; book chapters are difficult to critique out of context of the rest of larger work, so none of those, please - and shorter is better). McKitterick will let everyone know in advance about how and where to submit your story, and how to prepare for the experience.
Age 18 and older only, please (we plan to offer youth programs soon).
Questions? Drop us a line at spec.fic.workshop@gmail.com
Full-price cost to attend the "Science into Fiction" Speculative Fiction Writing Workshops is $500.
Several scholarships are available, so don't let cost be a barrier to applying - just let us know if you're interested in being considered for a scholarship (and how much you need) when you apply. We try to price our courses fairly, and those who can afford to pay full tuition help subsidize those who cannot. We also seek donations to offer more scholarships, so if you'd like to help someone attend our programs, consider donating!
Repeat attendees (of either the residential summer workshops, short Ad Astra workshops, or both) are eligible for an additional scholarship. To recieve this financial support, be sure to also request it in your application. By making our offerings affordable to those who might not otherwise be able to attend, we hope to increase accessiblity to all while offering a broad, diverse set of writing instruction for AdAstranauts dedicated to growing their creative skills and STEM understanding.
Please complete your registration and make all payments before you begin, unless you make special arrangements; tuition is due upon acceptance. We accept Zelle (use adastra.sf.institute@gmail.com to make a payment or scholarship donation), PayPal (which takes an additional fee), or checks; please send checks to:
Ad Astra Institute for Science Fiction & the Speculative Imagination
1809 Indiana St.
Lawrence, KS 66044
For our developmental-session and brainstorming weekend (Oct 12-13), weekly discussions (most Wednesdays), and critique weekend (Dec 7-8), we'll gather in-person and in our Discord live-video room. Finished draft of your story is due to the group by Nov 24. Everyone helps lead at least one discussion about the stories: I've found that preparing to lead a discussion is one of the best ways to really master the content, so bring lots of good questions to help guide discussion of your chosen story(ies).
Bonus!
This syllabus will include lots of bonus recommendations, but here you'll find some items especially for this week:
Bring your ideas for the story you'd like to write over the next several weeks, and come prepared to help develop everyone else's stories during our brainstorming weekend!
For the live developmental sessions, we'll focus on helping develop your project rather than performing traditional critiques, so it'll be more free-form than during the final critique weekend. To help everyone focus, let us know in advance if your work is pretty well underway or if you're at the "throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks" stage. Depending on how many are doing that, we'll alternate between traditional round-robin workshopping and free-form developmental sessions.
I put together this detailed set of guidelines for developmental sessions - check it out to get an idea of how to make the most of this weekend. As for brainstorming, well, you probably know what that entails, but in short: There's no bad ideas during brainstorming; the idea is to dump out as many ideas and ask as many questions as possible in order to come up with your best set of ideas and put together a story outline, character sketch, worldbuilding, and so forth.
I've been writing and collecting speculative-fiction writing resources for decades, so take advantage of those materials! Tons and tons.
We'll meet live both in-person (in Lawrence) and online via our Discord channel (enrollees will get details in advance). If you're joining us remotely, please make sure in advance that you have a good microphone and speaker setup (or headset), and that you're set up with Discord; a good camera and screen is nice, too.
Readings
We'll also do a check-in to make sure everyone is on target to finish your stories by this weekend. Ad Astra!
No discussion this week to give you extra time to finish your story (and do holiday stuff)! When you're done, send it to everyone in the workshop by November 24 (the weekend before Thanksgiving, so you're free of it before the holiday hustle), and so we have time to give it a good read and write up our critiques over the next couple weeks. Use our mailing list (or the Discord channel if you can't get that to work - or both!) to turn in your story and stay in touch as you wrap things up.
Clean up any mechanical issues (formatting, spelling, grammar, and so forth) before you submit your work, and use professional manuscript format as if you're submitting to a publisher. Here's a great example (follow it!). Here's another piece on "Manuscript Preparation" (pdf), by Vonda McIntyre. Practice looking like a pro now (plus it'll make everyone's lives easier).
When you start seeing stories, dig in right away, and be sure to refresh your thoughts before we gather on the 7th and 8th!
Now we launch our championship weekend!
Note: Our baby boy is due next week-ish (December 16), so it's possible I'll need to move our critique weekend out a week to give our critique weekend full attention if he decides to come early - I'll definitely stay in touch. Newborns have a mind of their own re: when they decide to be born.
We'll simultaneously gather in-person in Lawrence, Kansas, and via our Discord livestream channel to critique everyone's stories.
As soon as your cohort's stories begin appearing in our group, give them a read to see what the author is trying to do, then write a solid critique. Feel free to mark up typos, punctuation, and grammar issues, but for time's sake, please don't bring up those details during our live discussion.
Primarily, your goal is to identify the "Platonic ideal" of the story and then suggest ways to help the author achieve that ideal. I put together this outline of the process that I urge you to read before starting your critiques of everyone's stories:
https://adastra-sf.com/Workshop-stuff/Critiques-and-Discussions.htm
Here's another in-depth critiquing page I created for my KU writing students, which goes into greater detail - handy if you've never done workshopping before.
For these final critique sessions, we'll use the process I've found most useful over the years:
After everyone has read and critiqued your cohort's stories in advance, we'll discuss them in a round-robin format, and I'll offer my thoughts last, usually with a short talk on relevant aspects of writing.
Before we begin, I encourage the stories' authors to ask specific questions they'd like us to address, and after each set of critiques we'll hold a short open discussion. This is commonly called the "critical response" workshop process combined with traditional round-robin critiques.
I prefer this process over random discussion or lectures because writers learn at least as much from critiquing one others' stories as from hearing critiques of their own work. It also makes for a much more interactive, lively, and involving discussion for all.
We'll also analyze each story for publishability, and I encourage writers to submit their work for publication. You've just worked through the full idea-to-finished-draft process like a pro, so take the next step like a pro!
If you're joining us remotely, please make sure in advance that you have a good microphone and speaker setup, and a good camera and screen is nice, too.
You can't please all of the readers all of the time; you can't please even some of the readers all of the time, but you really ought to try to please at least some of the readers some of the time.
- Stephen King.
For our discussions and to grow your grasp of what makes great spec-fic, you'll find a whole bunch of reading and viewing materials in the weekly syllabus as well as a whole bunch more recommendations below - what you'll find in the weekly schedule is what we'll talk about in our ongoing Discord channel discussions, so be sure to check those out and write up responses. We'll study six great spec-fic stories, including:
The recommended works is for taking an even-deeper dive - not required, but great inspiration for writing. If you read or watch these items, by all means bring these to the discussions and share your thoughts with the rest of the participants.
Have more recommended reading, listening, and viewing suggestions to add? Let me know and I'll try to get them in here ASAP!
(Check back soon for additions to these reading lists! Creative-writing materials to come, as well, to discuss writing techniques, rules, and so forth.)
Here's a whole lot more great reads and media to enrich your understanding of great spec-fic. You'll find additional items in the weekly syllabus in the Bonus! sections. Lots of creative-writing materials available from the Ad Astra Speculative Fiction Writing Resources page.
Articles
Short fiction
Novels and books
Movies and shows
Multimedia
Relevant tags on McKitterick's curated Tumblr blog:
Prior to each discussion session, write a short (I've found 300 words or so is plenty, about one page) response. These notes are an important way to read critically, retain what you've learned, and help engage with the topics, and you'll likely find yourself writing story ideas during this process. I've heard from former students that they find these very useful for future reference - several use them for classes they teach! - so hang on to them.
If you're discussion leader for the week, bring at least a dozen discussion prompts - questions and observations - about technique, style, elements of story done especially well, and so forth. What makes this story work so well for you? Why does it move your heart, expand your understanding of the human condition, offer the sense of wonder? What can we learn from this story and apply to our own writing?
These are brief but thoughtful responses to all of the assigned materials for the week:
Don't just provide a narrative summary (though studying plot and narrative structure is useful). Strive for insightful, critical, and thoughtful reflections on all the works, including how we can learn artistically from them. Articulate how the various storytelling media affect the pieces under consideration - artistically, narratively, visually, in the social context, and so on - and how the affect your understanding of the genre of speculative fiction and the various media forms, and what you can learn from great spec-fic to improve your writing.
Exercise your critical-reading, -listening, and -viewing skills when writing these responses; that is, don't just read the fiction, watch the shows, or otherwise interact with the content simply for pleasure - and don't just accept everything that scholars and critics have written about them as canon. We want to hear how you synthesize new ideas from the materials and your own experiences. The best way to do a good job here is to take notes as you're reading or watching or listening, then expand upon those notes for the papers.
Regarding format: Many people use bullets for discussion points, bold the titles of the works you're discussing, or use the titles as headings. Some people write responses that resemble essays, citing the works in tandem, while others merely respond to each individually. However you prefer to handle it is fine - you're not being graded and no one needs to see these! - but what's most important is that you've thought through all the works for each discussion and how they inform your understanding of spec-fic and how to write great stuff - and of course the human condition.
Tip: Include at least a couple of questions to pose to the class or points to stimulate discussion. I suggest having these handy - especially your questions - to help formulate ideas during discussion.
Starting October 9, we'll hold
weekly live and asychronous discussions of the
assigned reading and viewing materials, as well as other things folks check out (see the list of recommended stuff).
We'll hold our discussions in Discord (and in-person if enough locals want to gather), and I'm sure we'll continue our discussions
asychronously in our Discord channel. We'll discuss both topical nonfiction and
fiction and writing-related
topics.
Everyone leads at least one discussion. Your instructor will help direct these discussions to ensure we're all considering how these ideas will affect our writing and our world. Leaders: Please have your response notes handy and discussion questions, and for best discussion everyone please also bring at least a few questions that come up for you that help prompt further discussion (or how you disagree, and so forth) and help everyone get thinking more deeply about the topics.
I love group discussions like this, because working together we can transcend the level of thought any one person is capable of, becoming a sort of super-mind without any assistance from AI. As Theodore Sturgeon put it, More Than Human.
Be civil: These are discussions about technique and ideas, not arguments! Civility and respect for the opinions of others are vital for a free exchange of ideas. You might not agree with everything I or others say in weekly discussions or during critique or dev sessions, but I expect respectful behavior and interaction all times. When you disagree with someone, make a distinction between criticizing an idea and criticizing the person. Similarly, try to remember that discussions can become heated, so if someone seems to be attacking you, keep in mind they take issue with your idea, not who you are, and respond appropriately. Expressions or actions that disparage a person's age, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation - or their marital, parental, or veteran status - are contrary to the mission of this course and will not be tolerated. And of course please try not to dominate the conversation while encouraging more-shy participants to join in. If we all strive to be decent human beings, we'll get the most out of this course!
Everyone enjoys equal access to our offerings, and we actively encourage students and scholars from diverse backgrounds to study. We especially encourage people from historically under-represented groups to apply for our courses and scholarships. Many of our other courses are available to be taken in hybrid format (if space is available) to help enable those who might not be able to attend in person to participate, and we happily make accommodations to enable everyone to enjoy the fullest experience. We also make accomodations for those who cannot attend in person.
At Ad Astra, we also believe that earning a creative education should not depend on financial privilege, so we offer several scholarships to enable everyone to participate. If you wish to help support others to enroll, please consider donating to our scholarship fund (the Ad Astra Institute is a not-for-profit organization). Many of the most promising writers don't enjoy the same privilege as those who do, so we strive to level the playing field so everyone regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, income, nationality or immigrant status, physical ability status, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or marital, parental, and veteran status has equal opportunity to participate in our educational programs, and equal access to our activities. We want everyone to enjoy the same opportunity to become a professional speculative-fiction writer! We work to be a safe space for those who come to our events and educational programs.
Click here to read our thoughts on diversity and inclusivity and our commitment to equity.
The Academic Achievement and Access Center (AAAC) coordinates accommodations and services for eligible KU students. If you have a disability for which you wish to request accommodation and have not contacted the AAAC, please do so as soon as possible. Their office is located in 22 Strong Hall; their phone number is (785)864-4064 (V/TTY). Also please contact us privately about your needs when working with us.
"Science into Fiction" Spec-Fic Writing Workshops:
Series 1: "The Higgs Boson in This Particular Universe"
Series 2: "Creativity and the Brain"
Series 3: "Writing in (and about) the Age of Artificial Intelligence"
Fall 2024 Series 4: "Six great stories and what makes them work: The science of SF writing"
Chris McKitterick's Spec-Fic Writing Workshop & Repeat Offenders Workshop
Kij Johnson & Barbara Webb's SF&F Novel Writing Workshops and Masterclasses
Speculative-fiction writing resources
We believe strongly in the free sharing of information, so you'll find a lot of content - including course syllabi and many materials from our classes - on this and related sites and social networks as educational outreach. Feel free to use this content for independent study, or to adapt it for your own educational and nonprofit purposes; just please credit us and link back to this website. We'd also love to hear from you if you used our materials!
This site is associated with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA), AboutSF, and other organizations, and its contents are copyright 1992-present Christopher McKitterick except where noted, and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License: Feel free to use and adapt for non-profit purposes, with attribution. For publication or profit purposes, please contact McKitterick or other creators as noted.
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updated 9/24/2024