Advanced Fiction Writing

W401 — Spring 2019

Instructor
Brando Skyhorse
Days and Times
11:15a - 12:30p TR
Course Description

Revision is considered the final stage of writing but what is it, exactly? What does the process entail? What constitutes a revision? How do other writers revise? And what are the rules writers can follow to make revision a cornerstone of their writing process? Revision, simply, is not correction. Revision is not changing "red" to "crimson" or running your spell checker. Revision is a change in your point-of-view. This class's goal is to help you learn how to change your point-of-view.

In advanced fiction, the bulk of our course will be focused on revision of the student's work over the course of a semester. In the first two weeks each student will write the first draft of a short story. Your piece will get workshopped. The workshop will give you a blueprint for revision which will include writing a significant amount of new material. You'll submit that revised story again for a second workshop. You'll get ideas for your third and final revision due at semester's end.

This is an upper division writing course. This class has three core components: reading, writing/revision, and discussion. Students will write weekly in-class free-writing prompts, and submit three 7-to-10 page pieces, two of which will be significant revisions of work already submitted in class. A final portfolio collecting the student's entire written output will be due at semester's end.