ENG 1721: Introduction to Creative Writing: Bridging Poetry and Prose

Abstract

This course will examine three of the major disciplines within creative writing, and through exposure and appreciation teach the tools necessary to engage personally with each. We will work through some of the common misconceptions that new writers have, and examine the importance of intention and audience in successful audience-based writing. This course is founded on the principle motive of helping students to individualize their writing voice, and to learn the reading and revision skills necessary to produce polished creative works. That being said, I’m interested in having you write and read A LOT. The best way to learn any art form is to study that form intensely. You will also learn how to look at your own work by critically and constructively discussing the work of your peers. While aesthetic is subjective, there are tried and true ways of writing successfully which writers have been using for years. We hope to learn from the most interesting (and maybe some of the more intricate) of them. Your grades will be determined by two things: attendance and the work you turn in, which includes your poems, stories, revisions, comments on the work of your peers and other assignments. Class participation is essential and tied with attendance. At midterm and finals, you will be required to turn in a portfolio collecting your work and revisions. Monday we will discuss craft and form, read examples of successful poems or stories, and have writing exercises. Wednesday we will critically discuss our own work in a workshop. Learning Objectives: Over the course of the semester, we will work together to: -- Establish and further the fundamental writing skills gained in FYWR; -- Deepen our understanding of rhetorical flexibility, specifically in regards to readers’ expectations and writers’ responsibilities; -- Apply conventional creative writing traditions in nuanced and innovative ways that challenge the definition of what creative writing can be; -- Accrue the tools necessary to write for digital spaces: from website design skills to content; -- Improve strategies for the invention, development, expansion, and revision of specific ideas: from prompts to drafts and beyond; -- Foster self-discovery, self-reflection, and self-awareness as students reconsider and revise their own work; -- Hone editorial skills to identify and shape big-picture revisions, in regards to central theme and purpose of content, as well as sentence-level refinements and aesthetic line-edits.