CRW 3110-0006

Fiction writing provides an opportunity to create the spaces, voices, and narratives we want to explore and to foster elements of our imaginations that feel distant, submerged, or wild. Our examination of the fiction we read―both published and student work―will bring us into community with each other as artists and critics, encouraging us to interrogate what we thought was true about our writing, ourselves, and the world. There are no rules in fiction, but we will learn terms and tools (such as narrative arc, negative space, dialogue, etc.) to help dissect what we’re reading and expand what we’re writing. We will give significant attention to elements of craft: how a writer constructs a story and which techniques they use to shape the reader’s experience. For the first part of the semester, we will learn and practice using some foundations of fiction. The other portion we will spend workshopping student work. The classwork is designed to enrich our capacity to discuss creative work, offer experience in a writing workshop setting, and explore how to activate our own instincts.