How Not to Let Your Story Run Away From You with Rohini Chowdhury

Science fiction, fantasy, and horror thrive on boundless imagination, but sometimes creativity can spiral out of control. An overly complex plot that resists resolution, characters who seem to commandeer the narrative, or pacing that reveals too much—or too little—at the wrong time can leave writers feeling stuck or overwhelmed.  

In this class, we’ll explore strategies for navigating challenges while staying open to the surprises that make storytelling exciting.

 Using examples from speculative fiction, we’ll cover:  

- Developing story arcs that feel organic and satisfying  

- Wrangling characters while letting them evolve naturally  

- Crafting strong, impactful endings that tie everything together  

- Balancing structure with flexibility to keep your story focused  

This session is perfect for beginning and intermediate writers looking to sharpen their skills and tame their runaway tales. By the end of the class, you’ll have tools to guide your writing process while keeping your imagination free to explore.  

Let’s turn chaos into creativity and bring your speculative stories to life!

Though this is a lecture-based class,  attendees may be asked to participate via chat, voice, and/or video.

This class meets for a ninety-minute online session on Friday, March 21, from 10 am to 11:30 am Pacific Time.

About the Instructor: 

Rohini Chowdhury is an established literary translator and the author of several children’s books. Her published writing covers a wide spectrum of literary genres including translations, novels, short fiction, comics, and non-fiction. She is published by Penguin Random House,  Scholastic, and Rupa Publications. 

Rohini writes Eaten by a Fish, a research-based newsletter on Indian literature. She also writes The Story Birds, a newsletter on stories and the art and craft of writing. 

Rohini is committed to the promotion of literacy amongst children. She used her extensive experience in the field to run online creative writing classes during the coronavirus-related school closures in the UK.  She has also participated in Microsoft’s ‘Skype in the Classroom’ online education initiative, conducting creative writing classes in more than twenty schools across the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle-east.

Born and raised in Kolkata, India, Rohini now lives and writes in London, UK.

Website

This event will be held in Zoom. By registering for this class, you agree to follow the Clarion West Code of Conduct and Zoom policies. 

Limited Free Seating: 

We offer a percentage of seats in every class to People of the Global Majority (Asian, Black, African, Latina/o/x, Middle Eastern, Indigenous, Pacific Islander, and/or have been racialized as 'ethnic minorities') for free, regardless of financial need. 

Eligible folks should complete this form to enter the lottery for free seats.  If a seat is available, we will email you 7-10 days before the class begins. For more information, see our equity and inclusion policies.

Sliding Scale Pricing:

The Supporting Tuition rate is shown for each class or workshop for folks who can pay it. Paying the Supporting Tuition rate enables us to continue to pay our staff and instructors equitably, as well as support access to classes for others who may be in a different situation. 

The Helping Hands rate is available to folks under more limited economic circumstances, no matter your background.

For more information, see our financial aid policies.

Our Refund Policy:

Clarion West will refund all class fees if the request is made 30 days before the class date. Refund requests made within 30 days of the class will be honored if we can fill the seat.

Any exceptions are subject to approval by our workshop staff.