Writing Class

In a cramped university lecture hall, a group of eager—or merely curious—students sit through Professor Carner’s first lesson on speculative writing. He insists that every alien description must shed the tired clichés of “three‑legged monstrosities” and “jungle‑choked Venus,” urging his class to underplay the exotic and find fresh metaphors. Eddie McDermott, a reluctant enrollee nudged by his friend Mort, watches the professor’s exacting standards with a mix of fascination and boredom.

The discussion quickly turns to the moral calculus of alien antagonists, as Carner challenges the idea of pure evil and pushes his pupils to give extraterrestrial villains relatable motives. Eddie, who prefers straightforward villainy, finds himself torn between the professor’s disciplined approach and his own instinct for simple, punchy storytelling. As the semester unfolds, the class must grapple with the tension between creative imagination and the discipline of craft, setting the stage for a lively clash of ideas.