Story Circle

by, for, and about women

Character as Plot

Class instructor Ellen Birkett Morris

Instructor: Ellen Birkett Morris

Maximum Enrollment: 15

Class Term: 08/02/2025 - 08/02/2025

Tuition/Fees

SCN Member: $33

Non-Member: $38

Class synopsis

“Character is plot, plot is character.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald This class will discuss how to develop plot organically in a way that springs from character. Once a roadmap is developed, we will discuss how to maximize the dramatic potential of each scene to create a fulfilling narrative.

Class description

I will offer examples from classic literature and my own work to discuss how creating authentic characters can offer a clear roadmap to plot and creating challenges that will test the characters you built in compelling ways that drive the narrative.

Class goals

Create well rounded characters, develop plot points that are unique to their characters, fulfill reader expectations in relationship to plot, create a satisfying, organic narrative.

Class communication method

I plan to do a single session lecture with Q and A and can send students quotes used later for their use. The Zoom meeting will be on Saturday, August 2 from 11 am - 1 pm Central Time.

Class time commitment

2 hours

Class brief resume

TEACHING
“Writing the Unknowable,” Soul Bone Literary Conference, 2024.
“Creating a Narrative Roadmap,” Louisville Book Festival, 2024.
“Character in Fiction,” Virginia G. Piper Center ASU, 2023.

BOOK PUBLICATIONS
Beware the Tall Grass, CSU Press, March, 2024.
Winner of the Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence.
Finalist, IAN Book of the Year Awards.
Abide, Seven Kitchens Press,

Instructor bio

Ellen Birkett Morris is the author of Beware the Tall Grass: A Novel, selected by Lan Samantha Chang for the Donald L. Jordan Award for Literary Excellence. She is also the author of Lost Girls: Short Stories, winner of the Pencraft Award, and of Abide, and Surrender, poetry chapbooks. Her fiction has appeared in Shenandoah, Antioch Review, Saturday Evening Post, and South Carolina Review, among other journals. Morris is a recipient of an Al Smith Fellowship for her fiction from the Kentucky Arts Council, and grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and the Elizabeth George Foundation. Her essays have appeared in The Keepthings, Newsweek, Next Avenue, AARP’s The Ethel, Oh Reader magazine, and on National Public Radio. Find her at ellenbirkettmorris.com. Morris resides in Louisville, Kentucky.