Sign up below to apply for the Ad Astra Center for Science Fiction & the Speculative Imagination's first speculative-fiction writing cycle! Award-winning spec-fic author, educator, and Ad Astra Center director Chris McKitterick leads the workshops. For our first workshop cycle, experimental particle physicist, Physics professor, and spec-fic fan Phil Baringer - our first Ad Astra Presents speaker - joins us to offer expert advice!
Application answers (below) will be kept strictly confidential among Ad Astra staff only. If you're having difficulty with this form (or need to discuss a fee reduction), please send your application to Chris McKitterick at
cmckit.sf@gmail.com with the subject line "
AdAstranaut Workshop application."
____
We begin with an idea and story-development workshop on the weekend of September 17-18, AdAstranaut write groups each week, and culminate with a story-critique session on the weekend of October 15-16. We begin at noon (US Central time) and - depending on how many participants enroll - workshop for up to five hours each day (ending by 5:00pm on Saturday and Sunday). In-person workshop sessions will take place in the Ad Astra Center's library with a wall of windows overlooking the University of Kansas' beautiful Potter Lake and the green center of campus. Weekend and evening parking is usually free beside our building. Write groups will take place there as well as in downtown coffee shops. (All activities will also run simultaneously on online as needed.)
Developmental sessions are designed to help writers brainstorm and develop ideas and fictional worlds, deepen characters and their relationships, map out story structure, and address other elements so they can have a complete story in four weeks. Participants are encouraged but not required to turn in a finished story for the critique session - that is, you can apply to only get developmental feedback for something that might take you longer to write
For critique sessions, we'll use the process I've found most useful over the years: Everyone reads and critiques everyone else's stories, and then we discuss them in a round-robin format, and I'll offer my thoughts last, usually with a short talk on some relevant aspect of writing. I prefer this over random discussion or lectures because writers learn as much from critiquing others' stories as from hearing critiques of their own. It also makes for a much more interactive, lively, and involving discussion for all.
Participants in both workshops are invited to participate in regular Ad Astra Center write groups (in person and online) with their cohort and other writers, for support, to encourage accountability, and to provide a productive atmosphere to get writing done.
I've designed this workshop cycle to empower participants through the full process of inspiration through idea through drafting through finished story in just six weeks - to give you a taste of working like a professional author, and to help folks get writing done!
To have enough time to give proper attention to everyone's work, enrollment is limited to 10 active participants. Age 18 and older only, please (we plan to offer youth programs soon!).
If you are accepted into the critique workshop, plan to turn in your story by October 10 to give everyone time to read and consider it. For the critique sessions, submit only complete stories, max length 6000 words, a common max length for many publications. (Book chapters are difficult to critique out of context of the rest of larger work, so none of those, please.)
McKitterick will send all enrolled participants complete workshop guidelines and process well in advance of both sessions.
We'll use the Ad Astra Center's #AdAstranaut Discord channel for those who would like to participate online.
Participants needn't work on stories that specifically use (for this cycle) particle physics - all ideas and spec-fic subgenres are welcome! - but try to take full advantage of the talk and other materials we'll share with participants for inspiration and to get the most from our physics expert's feedback. Thinking about how your universe is structured will help with worldbuilding for any genre!
____
At the Ad Astra Center, we believe that earning a creative education should not depend on financial privilege, so we offer a sliding-scale fee structure to enable everyone to participate. If you wish to help support others to enroll, please consider donating to our scholarship fund. (KU and the Ad Astra Center are not-for-profit organizations.)
Many of the most promising writers don't enjoy the same privileges as others - we strive to level the playing field so everyone
regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, income, nationality or
immigrant status, physical ability status, race, religion, sex, sexual
orientation, or marital, parental, and veteran status has
equal opportunity for admission to our educational programs, and equal
access to our activities. We work to be a safe space for those who come to our events
and educational programs. can enjoy the same opportunity to become a professional speculative-fiction writer! (See our full diversity statement here.)
If attending the workshops and write-groups in-person, please provide proof of vaccination. If you're feeling unwell, please be courteous and join us online instead.
Here are the current CDC recommendations for those exposed to the virus or recovering from it. If in doubt: Stay home or stay masked. If we're smart, we can beat this pandemic (and future ones).
If you're having difficulty with this form (or need to discuss a fee reduction), please send your application to Chris McKitterick at
cmckit.sf@gmail.com with the subject line "
AdAstranaut Workshop application."
