Online Writing Classes: Rambo Academy
Art by Kometan
One thing that the current climate of online meet-ups has given me is the chance to engage in online learning. That, combined with the time and financial means to do so. I’ve taken a slew of online writing classes through 2020/2021 via Rambo Academy. I’ve learned a lot in the classes, and have met some interesting people! Below is a list of the classes I’ve taken so far, and beneath that is a few snippets of things I’ve written as part of exercises in classes. If any of these classes look interesting, I strongly encourage you check out the Rambo Academy website as many of them are offered on a recurring basis!
2020
How to Write Steampunk & Weird Western with Cat Rambo
Beginnings and Endings with Cat Rambo
Description and Delivering Information with Cat Rambo
Principles for Pantsers with Cat Rambo
Introduction to Game Writing with Monica Valentinelli
Writing Interactive Fiction with Kate Heartfield
Hooray For Evil: Fearsome Monsters And Effective Villains with Evan J. Peterson
Flash Fiction with Evan J. Peterson
Fantastic Worldbuilding with Fran Wilde
Story Fundamentals with Cat Rambo
Horror in Games with Monica Valentinelli
Crimson Peaks and Gothic Mansions (writing gothic fiction) with Catherine Lundoff
In Flagrante Delicto (writing sex scenes) with Catherine Lundoff
Setting the Stakes Workshop with Tobias Buckell
It’s Coming From Inside The House: Writing Domestic Dangers And Haunted Homes with Evan J. Peterson
Writing your RPG with Monica Valentinelli
Christmas In Narnia: Creating Traditions For Fictional Cultures with Evan J. Peterson
Emotional Impact: How to Punch ‘Em in the Feelz with José Pablo Iriarte
2021
Plot Hacks: What the Pros Know with Evan J. Peterson
Building Blocks of Mystery Writing with Rebecca Demarest
High-Speed Worldbuilding For Fiction And Games with James L. Sutter
Different Kinds of Love: Writing Relationships that Aren’t Romantic with Cat Rambo
Speculative Reproduction Workshop with Evan J. Peterson
Systems of Magic: How to Use Your Magic to Enrich Your Worldbuilding with Cat Rambo
Witches Are People Too: Writing Well-Rounded Pagans and Spellcrafters with Evan J. Peterson
Project Management for Writers with Jennifer Brozek
Tarot for Writers Workshop with Monica Valentinelli
Building a Better Alternate Universe with Seanan McGuire
Beyond Bipeds: When Aliens Look Nothing Like Us with Evan J. Peterson
Designing Magic Systems with James Sutter
Sorry, But Your Infodump is Showing with Henry Lien
Sorry, But Your Scenecraft is Sinking with Henry Lien
Demystifying Outlines with Margaret Dunlap
Twenty Kinds of Terror with Cat Rambo
Canva for Writers with Cat Rambo
2022
How to Write Circles Around Others: Non-Linear Story Structures from Non-Western Traditions with Henry Lien
From Domestic Dangers:
“This again?” he shouts, and his fist strikes my surface, cracks spider webbing out at the point of impact. Small shards of me go with him as he pulls back in pain, embedded in his knuckles. Trails of red trickle down my face, a gaping wound where pieces start to fall away to the floor. Seven years of bad luck I wish upon him, as is my right. I see no reason to withhold my ire as he kneels down to pick up a long piece of my glass from the floor, brandishing it as a weapon as the woman rushes forward, her voice filled with nothing but concern for him. Shock fills her face, reflecting in the fragments left of me in the frame as he thrusts the sharp shard into her. Blood trails from her mouth, lining up perfectly, our faces the same now. And when he looks back at my broken surface, he sees it too, how broken we all are.
From Rituals and Holidays:
Every day is the same, wake up, check the readings from the star, make sure the shield is set to the right frequency so we aren’t going to be fried today. Can’t miss a day on that. Some things you can let go a little while but that? Not a chance. Wake up, get the printouts, check the calculations, update the settings. You gotta do it before you can even take a piss. Ignore your screaming bladder and save the lives of everyone on board. And then, then you can have some nanogruel. Assuming you did the weekly maintenance on that and refilled the tank.