English 100F-2 - Spring, 2016

Creative Writing: Fiction

Class Information

Instructor: Liontas, Annie
Time: M 12:10-3:00
Location: 248 Voorhies

Description

Raymond Carver urges, “Tell everything on yourself.” In this class, students will engage in rigorous, truthful storytelling shaped by evolving understandings of craft. Students will explore essential elements of fiction by writing and revising new fiction, as well as reading from varied published works. In addition to contemporary voices—such as Etgar Keret, George Saunders, Rebecca Curtis, James Baldwin, Kirstin Valdez Quade, Justin Torres, ZZ Packer, and Alice Munro—we will consider great Russian classics. Discussion topics include character development, voice, dialogue, scene vs. summary, tension, and structure. Students will develop a greater critical vocabulary towards literary citizenship, enabling them to critique one another’s writing, as well as helping them to apply a more objective eye to their own creative work.

Workshops are both whole group and small group, and an editing workshop towards the end of the quarter will allow students to integrate essential revision practices. Students are asked to lead discussions on readings, as well as write a craft paper that critically considers a technique or approach relevant to their own work. There will be readings assigned throughout the quarter, as well as writing exercises meant to address blind spots.