Introduction To Creative Writing

Ernest Hemingway once wrote a six word memoir:  “Baby shoes for sale.  Never used.”  In that tiny narrative, the reader can find incredible pathos, details, and a vivid image.  It’s no wonder he was “the master” of modern fiction.  We may not be able to match him, but we can try . 

Required Texts

Burroway, Janet. Writing Fiction . New York : Harper Collins Publishers, 6 th ed., 2003.ISBN: 03210-9423-9.  

Foster, Thomas.  How To Read Literature Like a Professor.   New York:  Harper.  2008.

Stern, Jerome.  Making Shapely Fiction.  New York:  Norton & Co.  1991.

In this course you will be asked to a daily creative piece for workshopping.   We will workshop as a group, reading our texts aloud and then commenting constructively on your peers’ work.

As a beginning writer, you should read voraciously.  Read everything you can get your hands on; write as much as possible.   

Writing Assignments

All assignments should be typed & doublespaced.  Use MLA format, Times New Roman, 12 Pt. font and clearly printed pages.  No colored ink or splotchy text.  Poems can have different spacing, but should be legible.

Since you are responsible for redoing any assignment lost in transit, it is advisable to keep multiple copies of all papers submitted.  Save constantly!

Class Blog

We will have a creative writing class blog.  The blog will include creative pieces as well as the prompt for the week.  All class members are required to post at least ONE assignment on the blog.  It’s better to share them ALL, every week.  More details on this will be forthcoming.    We’ll discuss this in class.

Reading Assignments: 
Weeks 1-2:  Writing Fiction

Weeks 3-4: How To Read Literature Like a Professor.

Weeks 5- end:  Making Shapely Fiction. You will be assigned a “shape” to write based on the chapters in this book.

Every week we will write our own work, and by the end of the semester, we will choose a text from each class member to bind as the class chapbook.  This will be published online & in real, bound print. 

Syllabus created with some help from Michael Arvey’s online syllabus.  See his online version for some very useful advice on the “terms” of literature:  https://culearn.colorado.edu/webct/RelativeResourceManager/1700035002/Public%20Files/course%20preview%20-%20engl%201191.htm