Elements of Story: The Energy
with Vicki Phillips
Next session: November 8th, 2026
What gives energy to a story, drives the main character, motivates their opponent, and engages readers? Having desire, taking steps to fulfill it, being thwarted, facing the decision to fold or to persist.
Typically craft talk names this element “conflict.” Ursula K. LeGuin says, “Conflict is one kind of behavior. There are others, equally important in any human life, such as relating, finding, losing, bearing, discovering, parting, changing. Change is the universal aspect of all these sources of story. Story is something moving, something happening, something or somebody changing.”
This workshop will invite writers to explore the diversity of behaviors, including conflict, identify the specific challenge their story relates, so that the best shape of the story will emerge.
- This class runs: Sunday Nov 8, 3-5 PM
- Open to: All Genders, Ages 18+
Elements of Story is a series of three new classes focusing on key elements of story telling: Scene, Characterization, and Energy. Take. one, two, or all three! Each class can stand alone and all are suitable for writers of fiction, memoir, or creative non-fiction.
PRICING POLICY: We use a three-tier pricing structure based on your financial circumstance. During registration, please select the tier that feels most true to your current financial ability. Learn more here.