Writing from the End

The events of a story or a novel or a film are all determined by the ending--at least the events in a story with a strong plot. In such stories, cause and effect are actually reversed. What happens at the end--the final wedding, the final confrontation, the final victory or defeat, the final revelation of what has all along been the case--causes all the events that lead up to it. We need to know how to plot from ending to beginning so that our stories appear to run seamlessly from beginning to end. Flash fictions with plots will be asked for, Maguffins distributed, slingshot endings and sunrise endings will be retailed, wisdom will accrue.

John Crowley is the author of thirteen novels and three collections of short fiction, including the omnibus volume Novelties & Souvenirs. His early science fiction novel Engine Summer (1977), was nominated for The American Book Award and in 1980, Little, Big won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Crowley received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature in 1992. His Aegypt Cycle of four novels took 20 years to complete. Other novels since then include The Translator, Lord Byron’s Novel: The Evening Land, and Four Freedoms. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award of the World Fantasy Convention in 2006.

Attendance is limited to 14 students on a first-come, first-served basis.

Cost is a nonrefundable fee of $130.

Alumni of Clarion West's Six-Week Workshop are eligible to request a $15 rebate at this session.

This class is currently full.