SESSION 2: Writing Workshop with Alex Gonzalez: Horror 101

This is the second session of a four-part writing workshop. The first session was on May 11, 2023.

This workshop will meet on the following Thursdays: May 4, 11, 18, 25 from 7-9 PM ET. Over those 4 weeks, participants will read a number of stories from various subgenres with the intent to identify tools and techniques used by the author. Implementing lessons and notes from class, students will workshop one story they’re passionate about over the duration of the course. At the end you’re going to have a story you’re proud of, but also you will have had a little tapas of what horror can be. Welcome to the fold!!

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Week Two: Setting, Secondary Characters, and the Talking about the Monster
We’ll workshop our pieces. Then we’ll go over the role of setting, the importance of characters for your protagonist to interact with, and how information can build suspense about the monster.

Readings after Class: "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood, "Bulldozer" by Laird Barron

Write: The second draft of your story!

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Alex Gonzalez is a WGA screenwriter, author, and instructor. He teaches fiction writing at various platforms and teaches MFA level screenwriting at Long Island University. He is one of the creators of PoC satire site Flexx Magazine, horror-zine youarenotalone, and has been published in various magazines and anthologies, with his novel Land Shark debuting in 2020. He has been a consultant on novels, treatments, and screenplays. His feature script Negative Space is currently in development with Extra A Productions (The Giant, Little Woods) and his second novel is on submission through FinePrint Lit.