Creative Writing

Week 1: Introduction to Creative Writing

Week 1 is devoted to introducing the course, its requirements, and the technology to navigate it. It also will serve as a meet and greet for students and their instructor, and students will begin to explore writing, reading, and discussion practices that underpin the rest of the course.

Weeks 2-6: Elements of Creative Writing

Weeks two through six focus on a week-by-week exploration of different elements and techniques of creative writing: setting, character, plot, perspective, and style. During each week, students will write extensively, producing between 600 and 1000 words of creative writing as they practice each element of their craft. Students will also engage in peer review and revision as they build their portfolio of work. During this period, students will continue to read weekly short stories as exemplars of the techniques they are studying.

Weeks 7-9: Short Stories

In the second unit, students will bring their study of individual elements together as they work to write three short stories. The first will be a collaborative piece that they construct with a small group. The second and third will be individual short stories; students will engage in all parts of the writing process from brainstorming, to outlining, to peer review, to revision.

Weeks 10 & 11: Drama

In this section of the class, students will read and write a dramatic scene and a 10-minute play. During these two weeks students will continue to provide feedback to their peers and will also revise several pieces of writing to include in their portfolio.

Weeks 12 & 13: Poetry

During this brie but intensive study of poetry and various poetic forms, students will read and write a variety of poems, including free verse poems, a poem based on an extended metaphor or simile, a translation of a poem, a sonnet, and a “cross-out” poem. They will continue to revise and refine their work through peer review and revision.

Weeks 14 & 15: Wrapping Up

In the final weeks of the course, students will reimagine one of their short stories into another medium, will take a proctored, timed, post-assessment, and will curate and compile their final portfolio of writing. The course will conclude by sharing final projects for comment and saying goodbye to each other in a final discussion.