10/11/2026
Have you ever finished a draft and felt something was missing, but couldn't quite name it?
Every story you've ever loved stands on the same four cornerstones: plot, character, setting, and theme. Once you learn to see them, you start spotting them everywhere, and your own writing starts to come alive.
That's the heart of The Cornerstones of Story, a six-week online workshop with novelist and SFCWI Teaching Artist Fellow Ben Adams.
Over six Thursday evenings, you'll try fun writing exercises and examine stories by Justin Torres, George Saunders, Carmen Maria Machado, Venita Blackburn, Peter Kispert, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, and others. By the end, you'll understand what makes a character complex, a plot satisfying, and a setting feel real, and how authors weave theme through every page.
Ben is the author of three critically acclaimed novels, including the Pushcart Prize-nominated "Relativity." He's also the cofounder of Two Staple Press and Editor in Chief of Destapled Literary Magazine, so he knows good stories from both sides of the desk.
Maybe you're putting pen to paper for the first time. Maybe you've been writing for years and need to recharge your creative batteries. Either way, there's a seat for you here.
📅 Thursdays, Oct 15 – Nov 19, 2026
6:30 – 8:30 PM PT | Online
Instructor: Ben Adams
Spots are limited. Register here https://sfwriting.institute/course/the-cornerstones-of-story/, or DM us with any questions. đź’›
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