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How can we inspire more progress in science and technology? Industrial fiction is one way to imagine our way into that reality. This writing workshop is for anyone who wants to hone their skills in telling stories about and around technical subject matter. Join Liz Voeller and Chelsea Slaven-Davis in this engaging three-part series.
NOTE: The hosts are only selling this workshop as a bundle for all three salons. Purchase below to attend all three dates: April 10, April 17, April 24.
We are facing climate change and public health crises with increasing frequency and impact. Now more than ever, we need to inspire momentum in overcoming the challenges that come with such rapid and wide-spread change. Industrial fiction is one way to imagine our way into that reality. Where science fiction explores the new worlds possible with scientific and technological advances, industrial fiction probes new paradigms only possible with industrial progress, such as advances in new technology deployment, policies and incentives, or coordination structures. This type of storytelling communicates science and technology in a different way– by illustrating its effect on the human experience. Join us as we envision ways that storytelling can (re)become one of our common building materials.
What it is
This writing series is for anyone who wants to hone their skills in telling stories about and around technical subject matter. We’ll spend time together first learning about a subject—this series will focus on low carbon concrete and cement—and then write and review our own pieces of industrial fiction as a group. You will be encouraged to weave the subject matter into your work in whatever way you want. The series will focus on developing three crafts integral to storytelling: worldbuilding, character development, and structure.
We will concentrate our efforts on writing flash fiction (3-5 pages); this allows you to focus on a project from beginning to end and walk away with a complete story. Flash fiction instills a tight command over the crafts we’ll develop together by forcing us to write with compelling brevity… a skill critical to writing about science and technology!
What we hope you’ll gain
We hope you walk away with a new appreciation for industrial fiction, inspiration from the material and craft exercises, and the wonderful feeling of having created something new.
Pre-Reading
More details to be shared leading up to the workshop
Technical subject matter:
Low carbon concrete & cement
- Overview – Making Concrete Change (Chatham House, 2018)
- Overview, video – The Role of Concrete in Lifecycle Emissions (MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub, 2020)
- Policy – Paving the Way for Low-Carbon Concrete (Carbon 180, 2020)
- Tech & Startups – A Foundational Approach to Decarbonization (Climate Tech VC, 2021)
Crafts:
- Creative Writing (Etgar Keret)
- Statistical Abstract for My Home of Spokane, Washington (Jess Walter)
- Excerpt from Madeleine is Sleeping (Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum)
Also recommended:
- I build a world with fantasy master N.K. Jemisin (Ezra Klein podcast on Vox)
- Feed the Earth from To Hold Up the Sky (Cixin Liu)
The Details
About you:
- Experience in the subject matter is not required!
- Any writing skill level is welcome!
About your Hosts:
- Chelsea Slaven-Davis (She/Her) – Creating and holding space for communication and connection is something Chelsea has explored for the past decade as a writer, teacher, designer, and strategist. A storyteller at heart, she now engages primarily with learning and growth spaces as a director of marketing and communications.
- Liz Voeller – Liz explores new ways to imbue storytelling into the technics that can drive needed change. She is an environmental engineer by training and infrastructure-focused product director by practice, and she is now working to hone her own writing practice.
By participating we ask that you commit to:
- Participating fully in the 3-hour workshops, 3 Sundays in April
- Completing the reading in advance (pre-reading or participants’ writing) — limited to a small group
- Sending in your submissions by the deadline (Thursdays before Sunday workshop)
Series Dates: All workshops 9-12pm Pacific
- April 10
- April 17
- April 24
Interested to attend but the schedule doesn’t work for you? Let us know your interest by completing this short survey!
[Image by Vincent van Gogh, Factories at Clichy, 1887]
Workshop 1 (April 10): Workshop 1 will start with introductions, an overview on low carbon concrete and cement, and then time spent writing in response to tailored prompts.
Workshop 2 (April 17): Workshop 2 will begin with a writing lesson followed by a workshop review. In the review sessions we’ll spend about 20 minutes on each writer’s work, focusing on half of the group in Workshop 2 and half of the group in Workshop 3.
Workshop 3 (April 24): Workshop 3 will begin with a writing lesson followed by a workshop review. In the review sessions we’ll spend about 20 minutes on each writer’s work, focusing on half of the group in Workshop 2 and half of the group in Workshop 3.