Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction II (307-B-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 6:15PM - 9:15PM
Overview of class
How do you move your story from basic to fabulous? In this advanced-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 will 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. May not be audited or taken P/N.
Schedule note: This course will meet remotely, with weekly sessions held Monday 3/31 through Monday 5/19. Instruction will be supplemented with individual story conferences, and students will then have an extended period at the end of the quarter to do a final revision of their story, due Monday, 6/9.
Registration Requirements
Prerequisite: ENGLISH 207 or 307-A or comparable courses in creative writing with permission of instructor. Students who have not completed ENGLISH 207 or 307-A 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 spring quarter has opened.
Teaching Method
Remote synchronous Zoom classes focusing on discussion and workshop. 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
Using exercises and prompts, students will draft and revise one new story of 8-15 pages. Students will read classmates' work in progress and provide feedback. Published stories, brief craft lessons, and worksheets will supplement our focus on student work. The professor will provide feedback on the developing story drafts and be available for optional individual story conferences.
Class Materials (Required)
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: ENGLISH 307-B
Add Consent: Department Consent Required