Short-Story Writing
Course
After teaching
many courses for the English Department at Western Washington University --
including composition, short-story writing, creative nonfiction, and commercial
novel-writing -- I now enjoy offering my short-story writing course through
Extended Learning at WWU. My students can set their own pace, completing the
course from their homes, and receiving personalized instruction.
The course earns 4 credits through WWU, but may
be taken noncredit.
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My course is an opportunity for you to explore
and develop your skills as a fiction reader and writer. Reading comes first, as
a writer must read. To deepen your understanding of the medium,
you’ll study short story models and analyze the elements that contribute
to a seamless and powerful piece of fiction.
You’ll practice the basic fiction-writing
skills of establishing conflict, character, setting, dialogue, point of view,
and theme. You will then develop your own creative ideas by writing two short
stories (or one longer story). Finally, with my guidance, you will refine your
stories through revision.
In this course
we will concentrate on reader-oriented fiction, which means stories that
communicate clearly and evoke the desired emotional response in your readers.
We will practice traditional narrative forms, rather than free-form
"experimental" fiction. As any athlete or musician will tell you, you must
practice the basic skills, and then practice them some more, before you’re
ready to make a transcendent leap.
A word about the infamous Writer’s Block: Writing is
challenging, hard work, but it’s also fun, and wonderfully rewarding on
many levels. So come prepared to work and enjoy! |
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WWU
Western Washington
University
EXTENDED PROGRAMS
University Extended Programs
(UEP) offers a variety of credit and non-credit educational opportunities.
Contact individual programs for information.
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