ENG 6939 Spring 2020 Winegardner

This seminar is focused on getting your novel up and running, on making its first 100 or so pages strong enough that the book moves solidly beyond the realm of file-drawer novel. If you are farther along, that's fine, too; I'll meet one-on-one with each student to create a custom-built plan that's in the best interest of the book. You'll run about 20,000-30,000 words worth of work through class workshops, ideally in three or four workshop slots (exactly how much you turn in to the class, and in what-sized chunks, will also be tailored specifically to you). Nothing will come before the workshop unless the whole class has read the entire novel up to that point. If, by the end of the term, your novel is working reasonably well, you may pursue course credit for it (as a DIS or via dissertation/thesis hours) for the summer and fall of 2020. This course is not just a fiction workshop that focuses on novels instead of stories; it's a chance to hyperfocus on the craft of novel writing and follow in the footsteps of a long line of writers whose debut novels took shape in this seminar.