• NaNo Is Coming Up! Join Us 11/4 To Kick Off Your Motivation

    We’re getting excited for NaNo and wanted to invite you to join us! I know it can sometimes be hard to find motivation or get past those blocks, but we’re here to help you keep focused and on track in your story! Register below if you’d like to join - it’s entirely free!

    Register View thread
Make My Genre Punk with Alli Martin

Research Make My Genre Punk with Alli Martin

Level
Mixed
Basic and Premium Members Prices
Premium members $40/Basic members $50

Register by February 7th and save $5, use code PUNKMARTIN2022 at checkout!
Category
  1. Characters
  2. Description/Setting
  3. Structure
  4. Genre
$5 off Early Registration Coupon-expires 1 week before class starts
PUNKMARTIN2022
Steampunk, cyberpunk, solarpunk, what's with all these punk genres? Learn what makes a genre "punk" and some key ingredients for navigating and writing various punk subgenres. Writing exercises will help develop your worldbuilding in these alternate histories and fantastic futures, and the workshop will also discuss the characters, motivations, and conflicts that drive these stories. You’ll have the opportunity to post your exercises and receive feedback from classmates and the instructor.

Weeks one and two will focus on the earmarks of all punk genres to answer the question, “what makes a story punk?”

Weeks three and four will focus on specific genres including, clockpunk, steampunk, dieselpunk, decopunk, atompunk, cyberpunk, biopunk, and solarpunk. (Examples will be given for each genre for continued study beyond the workshop.)

By the end of this workshop, writers will have an understanding of how to build a world and a story in any of these subgenres.
Syllabus
Lesson 1: Introduction
- What is genre? How do we use genre as writers?
- The Three Earmarks of Punk Subgenres

Lesson 2: Time Period Aesthetic
- The influences and inspirations of a punk aesthetic.
- How is the time period used within the genre?
- Exercise #1

Lesson 3: Technology
- Where alternate history meets sci-fi: how technology is used in punk genres.
- What other kinds of technology can be used in stories that are not specifically sci-fi?
- Exercise #2

Lesson 4: Punk Social Elements
- What really makes a story punk! A brief history on the punk movement and social elements punk genres react against.
- How the concerns of the time period and/or the impact of technology create conflict.
- Exercise #3

Lesson 5: Kinetic Motion: Clockpunk & Steampunk
- An overview of each genre covering: time period aesthetics, technology, punk social elements, themes, tropes, characters, and examples of published works and other media.
- Exercise #4: If writing clockpunk or steampunk.
- Exercise #5A: If not.

Lesson 6: Engines & Atoms: Dieselpunk, Decopunk, & Atompunk
- An overview of each genre covering: time period aesthetics, technology, punk social elements, themes, tropes, characters, and examples of published works and other media.
- Exercise #4: If writing dieselpunk, decopunk, or atompunk.
- Exercise #5B: If not.

Lesson 7: The Future Is Now: Cyberpunk, Biopunk, & Solarpunk
- An overview of each genre covering: time period aesthetics, technology, punk social elements, themes, tropes, characters, and examples of published works and other media.
- Exercise #4: If writing cyberpunk, biopunk, or solarpunk.
- Exercise #5C: If not.

Lesson 8: Wrap-Up
- Brief definitions of other subgenres labeled “punk” that don’t fit into this specific blend of earmarks.
Likes: MissBert
Author
selfwinding
Start date
Feb 14, 2022 at 9:00 AM
End date
Mar 14, 2022 at 12:50 AM
Registration end date
Feb 17, 2022 at 12:50 AM
Rating
5.00 star(s) 3 ratings

Latest reviews

Wow, I learned so much!!! I had a basic understanding of what some of the punk genres were before hand but had no idea the intricacies and foundations of each. Alli not only showed she had a deep knowledge but created the lessons in a structured and clear way that made it easy to understand and apply to my own story, helping me better understand the course material through the lens of my characters' world. Her feedback on assignments to other classmates and me was thorough and extremely helpful. What I learned in this course has already made an impact on my current novel in progress and I cannot wait to take another class from Alli!
For someone like me who had only minimal knowledge of the basics of each punk genre, this class was highly informative. While I already had a solid understanding of steampunk and cyberpunk, Alli's lessons filled in a lot of the gaps in my knowledge and pointed me in the directions I wanted to go to learn more. Her exercises were useful for worldbuilding within those genres, but could also be adapted for any project. She also engaged well with everyone posting their exercises for review with thoughtful and actionable comments. I'll refer back to the information I gained in this class in the future, and I'd gladly take more classes taught by Alli.
The handouts complete and very informative. I look forward to applying what I've learned. I can't wait to take my next class.