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Creative nonfiction can take many different forms and includes the subgenres of personal essay, memoir, nature and science writing, travel and food writing, and historical and biographical narrative. Learn to master the form and elements of creative nonfiction through reading assignments, writing exercises and respectful criticism of peer writing in a workshop format. The material you cover applies to a wide array of disciplines, including the humanities, the sciences and journalism. Enrollment is limited.
Course Outline
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Course Objectives
- Read, analyze and duplicate various forms of writing considered creative nonfiction.
- Comprehend narrative strategies and techniques used in creative nonfiction, including scene, description, dialogue, point of view, character development and narrative structure and flow.
- Understand the basic tenets of nonfiction writing and reporting, including researching, interviewing, adherence to fact and accuracy.
What You Learn
- Form and elements of creative nonfiction
- Bridges and boundaries between fiction and nonfiction
- Subject matter and the subgenres of narrative nonfiction
- Narrative structure and plot
- Writing scenes
- Reporting techniques and interviewing
- Character and dialogue
- Voice, tone and point of view
- Theme
- Unity and rhythm
- Revision
- Writing life and the business of creative nonfiction
How You Learn
- In-class discussions
- Readings
- Writing exercises
- Student writing workshops
- Writing creative nonfiction essays (several short and one long)
Is This Course for Me?
This course is intended for beginning and intermediate creative nonfiction writers who have college-level reading and writing skills and who intend to build a body of work sufficient for entry to a graduate creative nonfiction writing or journalism program.