Creative Writing (CWRG1-UC)

In this course, which is required for students planning a creative writing concentration and open to all who are interested, students explore the nature and significance of creative processes. Guest writers present their work and discuss the ways in which that work comes into being. Guests include writers in all genres and artists who use writing in socially significant ways. Students participate in a variety of exercises designed to develop voice, illuminate process, and create familiarity with a variety of formal possibilities. The final product of the course is a portfolio.

Students are introduced to the basic elements of prose fiction and nonfiction. This includes the development of narrative, the effect of point of view, the creation of convincing dialogue or effective use of quotation, and the control of tone and theme. The course is conducted as a studio, placing emphasis on writing in and out of class. Students comment on one another's work. In addition students read contemporary and classic prose, particularly short stories and essays.

In this course students experiment with fundamental components of poetry and become acquainted with both "received" and "organic" forms. Students also read extensively to develop familiarity with the major strains of the American poetic idiom. This course requires students to read extensively, write in and out of class, and comment constructively on one another's work.

This course introduces writing for theater and more experimental performance modes. The class is structured as a studio in which students write in and out of class and provide constructive criticism of classmates’ work. By the end of the semester, students write either a complete play or performance text. The course concludes with a public reading or performance. Students also read and analyze selected plays and scripts by noted authors.

Focus on Technique is a course that permits students to delve into a single area of literary craft in a concentrated period of time. Each time the course is offered, the focus will be different. Examples of techniques are: Point of View, Prosody. Dialogue, or Line Breaks.

This seminar is required for Creative Writing students, and it is open to students in the Literature concentration. In this course students explore the problem of literary inspiration and influence. They begin to understand their own work in terms of the forces (literary and other) that have shaped it.

Students explore the history and theory of attitudes towards artistic production in the literary and visual arts and learn how to create their own projects. They develop the use of various improvisational strategies to generate and revise literary and visual texts.

This workshop focuses on developing the craft of fiction writing with the aim of cultivating individuality of voice, style, and theme. Students are expected to read and write intensively and extensively.

This workshop focuses on developing the craft of poetry writing with the aim of cultivating individuality of voice, style, and theme. Students are expected to read and write extensively.

Students are guided from the development of a concept to the completion of either a narrative or a non-narrative screenplay. Discussion of technique is supplemented by analysis of original screenplays and by screening of films illustrating such features of cinematic writing as structure, conflict, and resolution. The course covers both writing for film and writing for television. Some attention is given to book and play adaptations.

This workshop introduces students in both the humanities and social sciences to new forms of essay writing. Students explore travel writing, cultural and political argumentation, the memoir, satire, autobiography, historical sketches, or other forms that grow from student interest. Students write extensively, and read and analyze the works of representative essayists.

This course focuses on understanding children’s books as distinct from books for adults, on the art and craft of writing for children, and how writing for children fits into the publishing business. In this workshop class, students gain an understanding of children’s literature as a literary genre as they develop and revise their own work. By the end of the semester, each student will have completed at least one picture-book manuscript or several chapters of a novel for middle-grade or young-adult readers.

This course provides the opportunity for intensive study of specific topics in creative writing. It focuses on a different issue each time the course is offered. The course schedule for each semester indicates the particular topic of study.