ENC 3310 Kelly Spring 2021

This course is for upper-level undergraduate students interested in writing creative nonfiction. Creative nonfiction is a common, but inadequate, even misleading, term. It exists on a spectrum that stretches between researched, journalistic articles on the one hand, and lyrical personal essays on the other. The genre is "nonfiction," and as such, it tries to be true, with the recognition that truth is various, not always objective, and exists within a contract established between the writer and the reader. At the same time, the genre is "creative," and uses many of the techniques of fiction, such as scenes, dialogue, characters, setting, sensory detail, narrative, plot, story, point of view, conflict, rising tension, climax, denouement, anecdote, etc. The genre has a history, and we can learn from great writers if we learn to read as writers. The genre also has a host of formal attributes, and uses many of its techniques with almost formulaic consistency. In this course, we will explore and practice a wide range of styles within the genre of creative nonfiction. The core tenet of the course is this: writing is an ongoing process, not merely expression, and so it requires time and revision.