Creative Writing: English 218
This course techniques and strategies for writing poems, personal essays, and short stories. We learn (somewhat) what makes good writing good, what makes your own writing better, what makes for a successful beginning, an interesting middle, an emotional ending, etc. Students learn to critique others’ writings in order to help them improve, and learn to accept constructive criticism to help themselves improve. And students will learn to read carefully, finding inspiration and examples (good and bad). As a result of all this, students will begin to find their own writing voice and gain confidence as a writer.
We make a focused study of three genres of creative writing: fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, with a mini unit on drama as time permits. Students write in each of these genres and have the opportunity to study a number of contemporary examples from each. However, a course like this can never hope to be exhaustive. Our goal is to begin a conversation about why creative writing matters, what it can accomplish, and the best practices a writer can use to develop his or her skills.
We make a focused study of three genres of creative writing: fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, with a mini unit on drama as time permits. Students write in each of these genres and have the opportunity to study a number of contemporary examples from each. However, a course like this can never hope to be exhaustive. Our goal is to begin a conversation about why creative writing matters, what it can accomplish, and the best practices a writer can use to develop his or her skills.