CRW 3110-0003 Fall 2024 - Okonkwo

“The fact is that anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days.” – Flannery O Connor

In this course, we will focus on the voice and hearts of our creative works: what stories are worth telling? What speaks to us and why? We will think about writing as an art separate from us and yet part of us. We will learn to read like writers, with an eye for detail and nuance. We will look at characterization—what makes a well-realized character? How do we write characters who are widely different from us with empathy and depth? We will analyze emotions and learn ways to avoid frigidity and sentimentality. We will read short stories by Leo Tolstoy, William Trevor, Yiyun Li, Jamel Brinkley, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Danielle Evans, and Ada Zhang.

And then we will write! You will workshop a short story no less than fifteen pages and no more than twenty pages. You’ll have two weeks to revise and resubmit for another round of workshop.

It will be disingenuous to say that you would’ve found your voice as a writer at the end of this course, but it is certain that you would be many steps ahead in this crazy, crazy writerly journey.