Narrative Structure: Constructing the Scaffold

Stories are our human inheritance, but when it comes time to put pen to paper we sometimes abandon our natural storytelling instincts. Often, what’s missing is structure—you can’t decorate the house before you build out the frame. Whether it’s a 400-page fantasy epic, a chapter of your memoir, or a 15-second elevator pitch, compelling narratives have a similar foundational arc. Over the course of two sessions, we’ll explore meaningful and practical frameworks of story structure and cultivate tools for generative drafting, including innovative strategies for plotting and pacing as well as big-picture revision solutions for moving closer to a final draft.

Open to prose writers of all levels. This is a 2-week workshop with a 2-hour session each week. Please prepare for approximately 2 hours of work between sessions.

This 2-week workshop meets on Thursdays from 6-8pm at LitArts RI on the following dates:

Thurs, Sept 17
Thurs, Sept 24

About Your Teaching Artist

Courtney Denelle (she/her) is the author of It’s Not Nothing (SFWP, 2022), a novel-in-fragments drawn from her experience of homelessness and recovery. Winner of the 2021 Poets & Writers Maureen Egen Award, Courtney has been granted a Hawthornden Fellowship, as well as residencies from Hedgebrook and the Jentel Foundation. She lives in Providence, where she received her education from the public library. Find Courtney on Instagram @courtneydenelle or at courtneydenelle.com.