{VIRTUAL} Writing the Mythic Dark: A Gothic Storytelling Workshop

PLEASE READ: VIRTUAL ZOOM CLASSES OPERATE AS LIVE CLASSES ONLY, WE DO NOT RECORD TO PROTECT THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF OUR TEACHERS. This class is not an in-person class, it is a live, online only offering. Your zoom link will be attached to your ticket. Please also check your junk, spam and promotions folders in your email for your ticket. Email learn@ritualcravt.com with any questions. Classes are in MDT time zone. Class fees are non transferable, we stick to the student agreements agreed upon during registration. Registration closes one hour prior to class beginning.

Many of us are drawn irrevocably to the Gothic, a tradition that combines both beauty and terror. For some of us who love to read and watch stories in this genre, we feel called to create our own visions of beautiful darkness. To bring these tales to the surface, we will ground ourselves in the origins and prominent voices of Gothic literature before diving into the bones of the Gothic story, examining the most evocative locations and atmospheres, the symbolic objects laden with the weight of memory, and the monsters whose wounded pasts affect the way they reveal themselves in the present.

Inspired by the work of Guillermo del Toro in films like The Devil’s Backbone and Crimson Peak, we will learn how to create a story where the setting lives and breathes, the objects speak, and the monsters both terrify and provoke empathy. We will also cover elements of craft—point of view, tense, color palette, and the storytelling philosophy of Edgar Allan Poe—that will help you craft the architecture of your tale. You’ll leave class with a copy of The Cabinet of Curiosities, which includes the frameworks, key references, and prompts that you can return to after our time concludes.

YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Susan Redington Bobby, the founder of Professor of Words, LLC, is an online teacher, a freelance editor, a writing mentor, and a tutor. Her specialty is being able to read people on a deeper level through their writing, and she has recently completed a certificate course on integrative somatic trauma therapy.  She is a retired professor of English with expertise in fairy tales, adolescent literature, goddess archetypes, magical realism, creative writing, and film studies. She is the author of Beyond His Dark Materials, the editor of Fairy Tales Reimagined, and co-editor of The Artemis Archetype in Popular Culture. The Series Editor of Tales from Fiddler’s Green, she also occasionally publishes creative fiction. She is currently studying the Bardic Course in Druidry from OBOD. She maintains Mellie’s Grove, a certified NWF backyard wildlife habitat that is home to a rescued and small stabilized cat family and all manner of wildlife.