Writing the Land as a Character with Rebecca Brams

Place is a powerful–yet often underutilized–tool that writers can harness. In this session, we’ll discuss how integrating nature can deepen and enhance our writing. We’ll examine how elements of the natural world function in a variety of ways on the page, from making a setting more distinctive to influencing plot and tone, even becoming compelling characters in their own right. We will examine passages from various writers and analyze how they use the natural world in their writing, their techniques, and what these achieve. We’ll do short writing exercises in response to prompts to bring these concepts into our own writing. We’ll also discuss how considering the natural world an integral part of your storytelling can help you get “unstuck” when your writing stops flowing. This session is applicable to writers of all genres.

Class meets online via Zoom. A link to join the session will be sent within 24 hours of the start time.

Class meets, Saturday, March 8, 1 – 2:30 pm Central Time

Class size: Minimum 5. Maximum 15.

Member discount: Members of Write On receive a 10% discount on all classes and workshops. To become a member, please click here. To receive the discount, members must log in to the website using their unique password and enter member10 in the promotion code box. The code is case sensitive.

Teaching Artist: Rebecca Brams was a writer-in-residence at Write On in October 2024. She has a B.A. in Anthropology from Stanford University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from St. Mary’s College of California. She won a Fulbright Fellowship which allowed her to live in Peru for a year researching and writing her historical novel-in-progress. Rebecca’s short fiction and creative nonfiction have been published in The Stonecoast Review, MUTHA, Dark Matter: Women Witnessing, Carve, and Literary Mama. She grew up in the Mojave Desert and now lives in Berkeley, California, traditional territory of the Lisjan Ohlone, with her husband, two sons, and a little fluffy white dog. She can be found online at www.rebeccabrams.com.