Plotting for Pantsers with Eden Robins

For writers who thrive on discovering their stories as they go, traditional outlining and plotting can feel like a slog. But what if planning didn’t have to mean stifling? We’ll discuss what makes the “pantser” discovery process so valuable and work backward to create flexible scaffolding that supports, rather than hinders, your discovery process. 

Over three sessions of this deeply collaborative class we’ll adapt and develop new plotting and planning techniques so they feel useful and creatively generative while still respecting the magic of discovery.

We will tackle each session with curiosity and exploration.

Approaches may include:  

- Journaling to uncover what you love, fear, and value most in your work  

- Collaboratively creating a revision plan for a finished draft  

- Sharing successes and challenges with past planning techniques  

- Writing on the fly to identify skill gaps and opportunities  

- Exploring less rigid approaches, like outlining finished drafts, stream-of-consciousness writing, or injecting randomness into your planning

- Short assignments to complete between class sessions.

Let’s make planning feel as exciting and creative as the stories you love to write!  

These are generative spaces; attendees will be asked to participate via chat, voice, and/or video.

This class meets online for three sessions, April 1, 8, and 15, 4:30 - 6:30 pm Pacific Time.

Come prepared with a story idea—it doesn’t need to be fleshed out, just something you haven’t started writing yet! Be ready to free-write (by hand or typing or recording audio notes – whatever your preference), journal, and complete writing exercises during class. 

About the Instructor: 

Eden Robins is the author of the novels Remember You Will Die and When Franny Stands Up and also writes short stories, personal essays, and cultural criticism at places like Slate, Catapult, USA Today, LA Review of Books, Apex Magazine, Shimmer, and others. She was an Illinois Arts Council Fellow in Literature in 2023, and for day jobs, she sold sex toys, wrote jokes for Big Pharma and an AI chatbot, and once did a stand-up comedy set to an audience who didn't boo. She lives in western Mass, has been to the bottom of the ocean, and will never go to space.

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.