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Berkeley Global
Explore the craft of longer fiction and how to meet its creative challenges. Each session includes a lecture on craft, supported by discussion of assigned readings and exercises to unlock the potential of your ideas. Learn how to develop characters, language, voice, pace, tone, theme and setting, and participate in a group critique of student work. Enrollment is limited.
Prerequisites:
We recommend you have some previous creative writing experience and an idea for a novel.
Course Outline
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Course Objectives
- Gain a brief historical and structural overview of the novel.
- Produce an outline and four chapters of a novel.
- Develop the discipline of regular writing.
- Understand the importance of revision and develop the ability to revise based on feedback on your work.
- Develop critical skills for giving feedback to others so they can then apply it to their own work.
- Gain a strong sense of future direction for your writing.
What You Learn
- Finding your writing time and place
- Developing your novel's outline
- Defining your genre, novel's purpose, characters and their roles
- Setting, voice and point of view
- Plot and scenes
- Novel openings
- Building conflict, suspense and surprises
- Character arc and raising the stakes
- Climax and the final crisis
- Revising your draft
- Publication of your novel, including the marketplace, how to research potential agents or publishers for your novel and how to write a query letter targeted to a specific agent or publisher
How You Learn
- Reading assignments
- Lectures/modules
- Online classroom discussions
- Writing exercises
- Novel submissions (outline, first drafts and revision)
- Student critiques
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Sections
Fall enrollment opens on June 20!
Thank you for your interest in this course!
We're excited that you have chosen us as your education provider.
Once a section for this class is available, we will email you with enrollment information.
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This course applies to the following programs:
Interdisciplinary Writing Program
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Individualized Study Plan
- Effective Writing in the Workplace
- Writing for Social Media
- Grammar, Mechanics and Usage for Editors
- Journalism Workshop
- Science Writing
- Writing the Feature Story
- Introduction to Public Relations Writing
- Writing and Editing Internship Program
- Editorial Workshop I: Introduction to Copyediting
- Writing Skills Workshop
- Writing Creative Nonfiction
- Creative Nonfiction Workshop
- Developing the Memoir
- Developing the Memoir II
- The Craft of Reading
- The Craft of Writing
- Exploring Creative Writing
- Introduction to Writing Fiction
- Intermediate Fiction Writing
- Advanced Fiction Writing
- Developing the Novel
- Screenwriting: The Art of Visual Storytelling
- Poetry Workshop
- Poets Studied and in Conversation
- American Fiction
- Great Novels You Always Meant to Read
- Mystery Fiction
- Shakespeare
- Editorial Workshop II: Intermediate Copyediting
- Advanced Editorial Workshop
- Indexing: Theory and Application
- Technical Communication I
- Technical Communication II
- Technical Communication III: Information Design
Certificate Program in Writing
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Required Courses
Electives (Literature)
- American Fiction
- Contemporary Voices: Speaking From the Margins
- Fact or Fiction: Reading and Writing the Personal Essay
- Great Novels You Always Meant to Read
- Great Writers Steal: How the Work of Other Writers Can Inform and Inspire You
- The Handmaid’s Tale: Writing Dystopia, the Female Gothic and Social Commentary
- Mystery Fiction
- Re-envisioning the Past Through Historical Fiction
- Shakespeare
- Short-Story Masterpieces
- Meet the Writer: Guided Study and Discussion With Fiction Writers
- Ursa Minor Production Class
Electives (Writing Workshop)
- Exploring Creative Writing
- Introduction to Writing Fiction
- Intermediate Fiction Writing
- Advanced Fiction Writing
- Writing Genre Fiction: Science Fiction, Mystery, Romance and More
- Mystery Writing
- Developing the Novel
- Screenwriting: The Art of Visual Storytelling
- Screenwriting Workshop
- Writing and Appreciating Poetry
- Poetry Workshop
- Poets Studied and in Conversation
- Writing Creative Nonfiction
- Creative Nonfiction Workshop
- Developing the Memoir
- Developing the Memoir II
- Journalism Workshop
- Science Writing
- Writing the Feature Story
- Writing and Editing Internship Program
Courses of Related Interest
Notes
Departmental contact: extension-letters@berkeley.edu | (510) 643-8916Instructional Types
- Live Online
- Live Online courses provide an interactive learning experience with scheduled synchronous online sessions held via Zoom video conferencing (Pacific Time). Learn more about the Live Online format.
- Online, Start Anytime
- Continuous enrollment course begins when you enroll. You have a minimum of 90 days and a maximum of 180 days to complete the course.
- Online, Fixed Date
- Enroll in this course by its start date and complete it by its specified end date. There are no live sessions, but plenty of opportunities to collaborate with your classmates and instructor.
- Classroom
- Take classes in-person at one of our buildings or partner locations.
English Language Proficiency Requirements
All of our courses are taught in English. If English is not your first language, please use the following test scores as guides in order to be successful:
- TOEFL: 90
- IELTS Academic Format: 7
- DAAD: C1
- TEM-4 or TEM-8: Level 70
- Duolingo: 115
Note: You do not need to submit test scores.