Students taking Forms of Creative Writing—Fiction are required to produce one complete short story. This story will be due the week before your piece is set to be workshopped. The length of each prose piece must be between 12-15 pages. This story will comprise 25% of your grade.

Various classes over the semester are dedicated to reading and critiquing your work and the work of your peers. Giving thoughtful, constructive feedback is an essential component of this course. You are required to the workshop submissions mentioned above two times. Read it the first time for meaning. On the second read, make marginal comments and then write a critique letter. This letter should be typed and between 200-500 words.

In addition to the one workshopped piece of writing, you will be assigned a series of writing exercises that must be completed by the deadline. These writing exercises should be fun, stress-free, and give you ideas for your essays as you learn technique. And since writing and reading go hand in hand, you will be required to read and analyze stories and instructional readings, and engage in discussion throughout the semester.

At the end of the semester, each student will produce a Final Writing Portfolio that demonstrates competency in the genre. The portfolio includes final revisions of the longer workshop story as well as the additional writing exercises assigned throughout the semester. The longer story should demonstrate a beginning-level knowledge of the elements necessary for the particular genre as well as a basic understanding of the workshop and revision process. Although correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting are expected, proficiency in these components does not ensure that the prose piece fulfills the requirements of the genre.

Your participation in class discussions is vital to both your grade and the success of this class. Your interaction with classmates will provide a great avenue for learning.

Readings will include work in various forms such as Journey, Visitation, Bildungsroman, Braid, Frame, List, Anaphora, Historical Fiction, Allegory, and others.

In Forms of Creative Writing—Fiction students will learn the structures and types of short stories and create their own vivid and engaging works of fiction. To sharpen writing skills and strengthen their understanding of craft, students engage in both writing practice and reading assignments.

An immersion into fiction is expected such that you will be able to demonstrate a basic understanding of the craft of various story structures through discussion and in your own writing as the semester progresses. Improvement in the quality and maturity of your literary analysis as well as your own stories and the development of your voice will prepare you for greater appreciation of prose, academic advancement, and confidence in the pursuit of your own creative process.

Course Objectives

• To correctly identify the basic forms and structures of short fiction
• To analyze works of short fiction to determine strengths and weaknesses
• To create edited, polished works of short fiction
• To demonstrate a holistic practice of the writing process involved in producing polished prose, including drafting, revising, and editing
• To be introduced to the creative writing workshop and portfolio methods

Course Outcomes

• Be familiar with the various forms of short stories, including braided stories, modular stories, epistolary stories, visitation stories, quest stories, framed stories, and various others
• Recognize and explain key features in literary fiction
• Demonstrate the ability to incorporate literary elements in students’ own prose
• Show an increase in skill, objectivity, and technical expertise in the revision process through a polished portfolio