MasterClass: Salman Rushdie Teaches Storytelling and Writing - Season 1
Season 1
Episodes
Meet Your Instructor
Salman introduces himself and shares his hopes to teach you the shortcuts and lessons he's learned through decades of writing.
Determine How to Tell Your Story
Salman explains his philosophy: A big story should drive your writing. Learn the essential questions he asks himself about a new story before sitting down to write.
Flesh Out Your Story's Structure
Build the framework of your story through a well-planned plot with Salman's techniques to help you avoid setbacks.
Opening Lines With Power
Salman discusses the unique value of opening sentences and shares successful examples from literature as well as his own work.
Drawing From Storytelling Traditions
Explore influential forms of traditional storytelling, including the "Frame Story" represented in Arabian Nights, global mythology, and India's rich history of oral storytelling.
Conceiving Characters
Salman discusses the "write what you know" dictum in relation to character and encourages you to embrace characters whose realities differ from your own.
Bringing Characters to Life
Think of your characters as real, dynamic people and work to understand the internal motivations that drive them.
Revealing Character
Learn the elements that help you reveal more about your characters than adjectives alone can.
Setting as a Character
Learn how to approach place with the same depth and description as you would for any of your characters.
Your Unmistakably Unique Worldview
Examine your personal perspective, values, and experience to understand one of your strongest assets as a writer: your unmistakably unique worldview.
Observing the World
Salman shares practical tips for observing sights and soundscapes to gather material for rich descriptions.
Developing Your Narrative Style
Salman teaches techniques to translate your personal voice into your own unique style of prose.
Building a Surrealist Story
Salman encourages you to take advantage of surrealism as a device and "let the carpet fly."
Researching the Novel
Go beyond the internet when conducting research for fiction. Salman shares ideas for where and how to look.
All Writing Is Rewriting
Discover Salman's approaches to rewriting and learn how his work habits have changed over time.
Editing and Feedback: The Confidence to Share
Get practical advice for working with an editor and discover the power of working past your inhibitions to receive feedback from an objective person.
Develop Your Relationship With Writing
Salman discusses his approach to finding motivation, the value of experimentation, and his tips for working through writer's block.
Salman's Global Canon
Salman makes the case for a new global canon and discusses works of fiction that have inspired him personally.
Seven Useful Tips for Writers
Take away seven practical tips for becoming a stronger writer.
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