University of Texas at Arlington (ENGL 3375 and 1375)
University of Kansas (ENGL 209)
Labette Community College (ENGL 200)
Course Description
This course is an introduction to creative writing, with an emphasis on fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Throughout the semester, we’ll look at a range of works by contemporary artists, and we’ll examine how different writers handle basic writing choices, in terms of both craft and the creative process. You will also—as part of a community of writers—submit your own original work and respond to the work of your classmates. The goal, ultimately, will be to develop your skills as a writer and as a critical reader, and in doing so, to gain a deeper appreciation for writing, contemporary literature, and the role that these elements play in our lives.
We will practice the art of reading and writing poetry, creative non-fiction, and fiction critically as well as creatively. In doing so, the goal will be to set up the type of support system that comes from working within a creative writing community.
Learning Objectives
- To encourage students to see that literary studies matter and to foster enjoyment of literature
- To help students recognize the importance of craft and how it applies to their own work
- To develop students’ ability to read critically, including their own work
- To develop students’ skills of writing and expression, particularly with respect to analysis of literary texts
How I Teach
In my creative writing courses, we explore how and why fiction (or poetry or creative non-fiction) works—and why it matters. That probably seems like a pretty straightforward concept, but I hope that by looking at a variety of stories, by seeing what published writers have to say about their own works, and by attempting to craft their own pieces, students come to understand the intricacies involved in developing an engaging piece of literary fiction. Tim O’Brien has described the inner-workings of fiction as the “woven wow,” which is difficult to untangle, but in this class, we try to do just that—just enough so that we can get a feel for how stories are created.
The course includes a mix of workshop and discussion of published stories, so students submit their own stories for feedback. Workshopping, however, is merely one aspect of the course. We also look at various types of work and think about how writers approach their craft. Of course, students also provide feedback, and the development of their own “critical eye” is the backbone of the course. Finally, we also discuss the foundational elements of fiction, such as characters, setting, plot, and so on. Students are typically well-acquainted with these terms, but in this class, I hope to complicate them a little bit. To that end, we read pieces to see how and why these elements work and how students might apply those lessons to their own writing.
I don’t want the class to sound too clinical, however. Ultimately, when students are finished with this course, I hope they are better readers of their own writing, able and willing to dissect their own work. I hope they are also able to appreciate craft in a slightly different way than before we began. I tell students on the first day: “You have stories to write, or you wouldn’t be in here.” The major goal of this course, then, is to help them develop those stories and to understand how and why the process of fiction writing is important.
Joshua Canipe 