Advanced Reading and Writing Fiction I (307-A-62)
Instructors
Sheila P Donohue
Sheila P. Donohue received her M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she was the Randall Jarrell Fellow and served as poetry editor and production manager for The Greensboro Review. She was a Wallace Stegner Writing Fellow at Stanford University, subsequently teaching there for several years as the Jones Lecturer in Poetry. She was a Wallace Stegner Writing Fellow at Stanford University, and subsequently taught there for several years as a Jones Lecturer. Her poetry, fiction, and essays have been published in journals including the Michigan Quarterly Review, The Seneca Review, and Poetry magazine. Most recently, the first chapter of her novel Curious Monster won second place in The Masters Review novel excerpt contest, which can be read at https://mastersreview.com/novel-excerpt-contest-2nd-place-curious-monster-by-s-p-donohue/. She teaches fiction in the undergraduate major and has thrice been elected to the SAG Faculty Honor Roll for her teaching.
Meeting Info
Online: Mon 6:30PM - 8:30PM
Overview of class
So you've finished a messy first draft of a new story: now what? How do you move your story from basic to fabulous? In this intermediate-level class, we'll focus on taking a first-draft story through a multi-stage revision process, increasing the story's richness, urgency, and texture. Using prompts and other strategies, you'll quickly draft and workshop a new story You'll then use expansion and layering techniques to deepen and further develop character, plot, and style, taking your story through a full, considered revision that will be workshopped a second time by the whole class. Reading and analyzing the structures and strategies of published stories will supplement your writing and our discussions.
Schedule note: This course will meet remotely, with weekly remote synchronous sessions and at-home/asynchronous reading and writing.
Registration Requirements
Prerequisite: ENGLISH 207 or comparable courses in creative writing with permission of instructor. Students who have not completed ENGLISH 207 should obtain instructor's consent and confirmation of appropriate writing experience. Please send an email to the professor with your writing background to request a permission number once registration for winter quarter has opened.
May not be audited or taken P/N.
Teaching Method
Teaching Method: Remote. Five or Six synchronous Zoom classes spread over the quarter, focusing on discussion and workshop, will supplement your independent, at-home writing and reading work. Students will continue to engage with each other throughout the quarter using the Canvas class site. Canvas and Zoom support are available for students through SPS if you are new to the platforms. You will need a reliable internet connection and a quiet place from which to join the Zoom classes.
Evaluation Method
Assignments: Using exercises and prompts, students will draft and revise one new story of 8-15 pages and provide feedback to classmates on their stories. Published stories, brief craft lessons, and worksheets will supplement our focus on student work, with student responses posted to the Canvas class discussion board.
Class Materials (Required)
Texts: Story pdfs and writings about craft will be available for download on the Canvas class site.
Class Attributes
Synchronous:Class meets remotely at scheduled time
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Pre-Requisite: Students must have taken & passed English 207 to enroll.
Add Consent: Instructor Consent Required