CRW 315F  l  Introduction to Writing Fiction

Instructor:  Villagomez, F

Unique #:  35630

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  E 303C (or 603A), RHE 306, 306Q, or T C 303C (or 603A).

Description:  This introductory fiction workshop will focus on the mechanics (structure, narrative voice, dialogue, character development, etc.) within selected works.  Together, we will read and discuss fiction to improve our understanding of how it is created.  The community we build in workshop will help us improve our stories and help us grow as writers, colleagues, and literary citizens.

Requirements & Grading:  Short story 1: 30%; Short story 2: 30%; Exercises: 10%; Attendance and participation (includes responses to student work): 30%.

CRW 315P  l  Introduction to Writing Poetry

Instructor:  Hogan, G

Unique #:  35635

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  E 303C (or 603A), RHE 306, 306Q, or T C 303C (or 603A).

Description:  This is an introductory course for anyone interested in writing and editing poems.  This course seeks to give you the space to breathe as a poet, whether you are new to the art or practiced in it—and more importantly, it seeks to give you a community of other poets from which to learn.  Over the course of this semester, you will produce new poems weekly that we will go over in class together, providing edits, insights, and suggestions.  The role of this class is not to teach you how to be a poet or what kind of poet to be, but rather to expand the world of poetry to you!  You are all poets just by being here.  What matters is becoming the poet that you want to be—not what anyone else wants.  At the end of the course, you will turn in a cohesive portfolio of the poems you wrote this semester, including workshop drafts and edited drafts.

Requirements & Grading:  Attendance: 20%; Participation: 20%; Response Paper: 15%; Workshop Edits: 15%; Final Portfolio: 30%.

CRW 325F  l Fiction Writing

Instructor:  Pipkin, J

Unique #:  35645

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  One of the following: C L 315, E 303D (or 603B), (316K,) 316L, 316M, 316N, 316P, or T C 303D (or 603B).

Description:  This is an entry-level course in the writing of narrative fiction, with a focus on realism and the short story form.  The first step in developing your writing craft is to learn how to read as a writer, so substantial emphasis will be placed on reading and discussing short stories.  Classes will consist of a combination of lecture, in-class writing, discussion, and workshop participation.  Students will be required to analyze the structure and craft of the short stories assigned.  Learning how to identify the fundamental elements and narrative techniques in these stories will help you to employ these techniques in your own work.  The first half of the semester will focus on the basic technical elements of narrative fiction, such as:  structure, narration, point of view, character development, motivation, plotting, pacing, tension, setting, and dialogue.  During the second half of the semester, we will workshop student writing, with emphasis on the writing process and strategies for effective revision.  The workshop sessions will also focus on how to write useful critiques for feedback, as well as how to develop editing skills so that you can continue to grow as a writer beyond this class.  After your work is discussed in workshop, you should be prepared to use the ideas discussed in the critiques to revise and improve the original draft.  Participation in workshop is an essential part of this class, so students must come prepared to discuss the works under consideration, and also be ready to read their own work in class.

Texts:  Handouts and short-stories will be provided in class.

Requirements & Grading:  Two writing assignments: 35% each; class participation, quizzes, workshop discussion: 30%.  No final exam.  Papers are due in hard copy, in class, on the dates indicated.  Late or electronic submissions will not be accepted.  Attendance is required.

CRW 325F  l  Fiction Writing 

Instructor:  Unferth, D

Unique:  35650

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  One of the following: C L 315, E 303D (or 603B), (316K,) 316L, 316M, 316N, 316P, or T C 303D (or 603B).

Description:  Our ambition is to create a literary community where we write fiction and explore together the mechanics of its craft.  We will focus on techniques, everything from intriguing first sentences to breathless endings.  We will spend time on description, setting, dialogue, character, and conflict.  We will open the semester with short exercises, some of which we will discuss in class.  Then students will write two complete short stories for workshop.  Throughout the semester we will read stories by 20^th and 21^st century writers and focus on how these writers make use of plot, form, voice, and style.

Through story workshops, generative exercises, discussion of published work, and individual conferences, students write new work and read the work of others always with an eye toward inciting fresh ways of thinking about fiction.  Students should emerge from the class with a solid grounding in narrative.

Texts:  reading packet.

Requirements and Grading:  Short story 1: 30%; Short story 2: 30%; Exercises: 10%; Attendance and participation (includes responses to student work): 30%.

CRW 325F  l Fiction Writing

Instructor:  Brown, C

Unique #: 35640

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  One of the following: C L 315, E 303D (or 603B), (316K,) 316L, 316M, 316N, 316P, or T C 303D (or 603B).

Description:  In this introductory course, we’ll get familiar with some fundamental techniques of writing fiction, and develop skills that every writer needs: reading like a writer, building community, and writing regularly.  Together, we’ll read stories and novel excerpts from a writer’s perspective, seeking to uncover the narrative mechanics that make each piece “work” and learn how to harness them to power our own stories.  We’ll get comfortable with the writing process by gathering for weekly guided drafting sessions, with the aim of producing 5 pages that you’ll submit for workshop.  We’ll think critically about what it means to be a good workshop citizen and learn how to give and receive feedback that is both productive and generous.  In later sessions we’ll focus on revision, trying out some practical approaches to strengthening that first draft.  You’ll have the opportunity to workshop a final 10 pages at the end of term.  Along the way, we’ll explore what it means to be a writer in the world: we’ll practice establishing a creative community and build an inventory of resources for new writers that can help guide your next steps long after the semester is done.

Texts:  We’ll read selections from authors such as Phillip Pullman, Alejandro Puyana, N. K. Jemisin, Hans Christian Andersen, Helen Oyeyemi, Aristotle, Hilary Mantel, Douglas Stuart, Jonathan Escoffery, Mat Johnson, Joan Silber, Alexander Chee, Angela Carter, Eimear McBride, and C. Pam Zhang.

Requirements & Grading:  Draft 1 (5 pp.): 20%; Final draft (10 pp.): 20%; In-class participation: 20%; Online participation: 20%; Presentation: 10%; Community building: 10%.

CRW 325P  l  Poetry Writing

Instructor:  Colgate, R

Unique #: 35659

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  One of the following: C L 315, E 303D (or 603B), (316K,) 316L, 316M, 316N, 316P, or T C 303D (or 603B).

Description:  This is a class about writing poetry.  In order to figure out exactly what "writing poetry" looks like, we will be reading poetry and related craft essays, completing short exercises and responses, and discussing each other's work in a formal workshop setting.  Readings will draw from both historical and contemporary poetry; exercises will provide low-stakes opportunities to explore poetic techniques.  By the end of the semester, our notions of what poetry can be will have been both expanded and clarified, blown open and made more precise.  Each student will come out of the class with a final portfolio of 7-10 well-revised poems.

Texts:  Reading packet.

Requirements & Grading:  Poem Drafts: 20%; Poem Revisions: 20%; Final Portfolio: 20%; Attendance: 10%; Participation, Engagement, and Responses: 30%.

CRW 330  l  Literature for Writers

Instructor:  Berry, B

Unique #:  35669

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  One of the following: CRW 325 (or E 325), 325F (or E 325F), 325M, 325P (or E 325P).

Description:  “Literature for Writers” is a fledgling course, though new courses are frequently the perfect opportunity in which to create unique and vibrant writing.  CRW 330, originally created for graduate creative writers, is only in its second semester at the undergraduate level, so we are all getting in on the ground floor of what I plan to be a memorable course.  The class will introduce to creative writers literary readings that inspire, motivate, and encourage the best from one’s own work.  Sportswriter Red Smith famously quipped “Writing’s easy.  You just sit down at the typewriter and open a vein.”  But focused assignments and professional advice on what to write and how to do so can make the job easier, ideally resulting in solid, memorable results.  Thoughtful direction, motivation, and imaginative prompts that seek imaginative responses are tools of the trade that I will use to encourage the best writing from my students, forging a strong foundation for the future of your craft, what I like to call the writing life.

We will look with a careful eye at several successful writers whose prose offers highly “teachable” literature.  We will focus on such strategies as point of view, voice, place, atmosphere, author imitation, character names and development, and of course plot.  We will neither study nor be writing sci-fi, fantasy (gothic or otherwise), or YA (as in Young Adult).

Texts:  We will most likely be using a textbook by the aptly named Francine Prose, Reading for Writers: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them.  (I might also be using various writing examples and suggestions from Janet Burroway’s Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft, but this text will not be required.)  We will also be reading Australian writer Kate Jennings’ novel Snake, a unique novel in its plot and telling, probably like nothing you have ever read.  We will read from master stylist Ernest Hemingway’s first story collection, In Our Time, published when Hemingway was 27.  We will also be reading a memoir, which is what I am working on in my own writing at present, so I won’t have a final choice in that important category until nearer the beginning of our course.  I will post required course texts on Canvas when they are available.

Requirements & Grading:  There will be weekly writing briefs, written responses to both the readings and my own writing assignment concoctions (which I try to make challenging, fun, and rewarding).  One piece of writing will be initiated early and revised through the semester.  Specifics will be outlined on the course syllabus, presently a work in progress.

CRW 340F  l  Short Story Workshop

Instructor:  Pipkin, J

Unique #:  35670

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  CRW 325F (or E 325F), or 325M.

Description:  This is an intermediate course in fiction writing, designed for students who have already taken Fiction Writing (325F or 325M) and have a serious interest in writing fiction.  Since the class is primarily a workshop, we will discuss student work for the majority of the semester.  The workshops are intended to improve writing skills as well as reading and critiquing skills, so all students are expected to actively participate in the workshop discussions.  All work must be original, written for this class and not for another class taken earlier or concurrently.

Texts:  This course will follow the workshop format, but we will also read some published stories for discussion of craft.  Additional stories and handouts will be provided in class or posted on Canvas.

Requirements & Grading:  You are required to write two short stories (each 8-15 pages) that will be discussed in a workshop setting and later revised.  For all student work discussed in class, you will be responsible for writing detailed critiques (1-2 pages).

Grading:  1st story 30%; 2nd story 30%; in-class participation 20%; written critiques 20%.  Attendance is mandatory.  More than three absences will negatively affect the final grade.

CRW 340F  l  Short Story Workshop

Instructor:  LaSalle, P

Unique #:  35675

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  CRW 325F (or E 325F), or 325M.

Description:  This is an intermediate fiction-writing course.

The student will be responsible for two complete short stories, 10-15 pages each.

Student work will be examined in class with workshop discussion, and the student will meet with the instructor in conference to discuss projects and progress.

There will also be discussion of some larger ideas concerning theory and technique of fiction writing, reading from an anthology of short stories, and a project involving reading and reporting on literary magazines.

Requirements & Grading:  The grade will be a matter, essentially, of the quality of the written work (90%); in-class quizzes and class participation will also be figured in (10%).

This is a writing course with no final exam.

CRW 355F  l  Advanced Fiction Workshop

Instructor:  Cásares, O

Unique #:  35685

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  CRW 340F (or E 341).

Description:  This is the final fiction workshop available to students earning their Creative Writing Certificate.  Students will write two original short stories for our workshops or individual conferences, and then revise one of these stories.  Original, in this case, means work produced exclusively for this course and not previously discussed in another class.  Along with the workshop stories, students will read and discuss published work assigned by the professor.

Class Policies:  Students will submit hardcopies of their stories on two due dates.  Stories need to be double-spaced and page-numbered.  One of your two stories may be revised substantially and resubmitted.

Each story needs to be at least 8 pages and no longer than 20 pages in length.  Since the focus of this course is literary fiction, your work, regardless of the subject matter, will need to have fully developed characters and be more than simply plot driven.

WORKSHOP: To prepare for our workshop, students will write a one-page critique, double-spaced, for every story we discuss.  Please email me and the student whose work we’re discussing a PDF of your critique.  Critiques need to arrive in my inbox before class to receive credit for the assignment.  No exceptions.  You are responsible for these critiques even if you are absent from class.  These critiques will make up a significant part of your final grade.

ATTENDANCE: You may miss only two classes without it negatively affecting your final grade.  Arriving late for more than four classes will also lower your grade.  Students are required to be present for their own workshop.  Attending every class and contributing to our discussion will help your grade.

GRADING: Your final grade will be based on your 2 short stories and revision, critiques, and participation in class.

2 STORIES/REVISION: 60%; CRITIQUES: 20%; and CLASS PARTICIPATION: 20%.

CRW 355F  l  Advanced Fiction Workshop

Instructor:  La Salle, P

Unique #:  35700

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  CRW 340F (or E 341).

Description:  This is a course for advanced students in fiction writing; the student will write a total of 30-40 pages of original fiction during the semester.

There will be two dates on which work is due, and on each the student will turn in either a complete short story or an installment from a longer work; if the student is working on a longer project (a novella, for instance), approval must be given by the instructor ahead of time.

Student work will be examined in class with workshop discussion, and the student will meet with the instructor in individual conferences to discuss projects and progress.

There will also be discussion of some larger ideas concerning theory and technique of fiction writing, reading from an anthology of short stories, and a project involving reading and reporting on literary magazines.

Requirements & Grading:  90 percent on writing; 10 per cent on in-class participation and quizzes.

The grade will be a matter, essentially, of the quality of the written work.  This is a writing course with no final exam.

CRW 355F  l  Advanced Fiction Workshop

Instructor:  Unferth, D

Unique #:  35695

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  CRW 340F (or E 341).

Description:  This is an advanced course in fiction writing for students working toward the creative writing certificate.  Students will write two original stories of 12-25 pages each and one revision.  They will also write extensive comments (1-2 pages) on their classmates’ stories.  We will read published stories with an eye to study craft.  All work must be original, written for this class, not for another class taken earlier or concurrently.

Policies:  You may miss two classes without penalty.  After that your grade will begin to drop.  

Readings:  Published stories will be uploaded onto Canvas or handed out in class.

Requirements & Grading:  First story 25%; second story 25%; revision 10%; comments on classmates’ work 25%; participation and attendance 15%.

CRW 355F  l  Advanced Fiction Workshop

Instructor:  Harvey, J (aka Edward Carey)

Unique #:  35690

Semester:  Fall 2019

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  CRW 340F (or E 341).

Description:  We will discuss, criticize, and write short fiction.  Students will read each other’s work with rigor and generosity. Students will write three original stories for class.

Class Policies:  Stories will be submitted via e-mail to your fellow students the morning your story is due.  Make sure your work is double-spaced and page-numbered.

Stories should be at least 8 pages and no longer than 25.  No novel excerpts, please.  All work must be original—both your own work, and written for this class.  Please do not recycle work written for other courses.

Please do not write stories with characters invented by other authors.  And, of course, do not submit work written by other people, even substantially rewritten.  For the purposes of this class, I also ask that you do not allow other people to edit your work.  For additional information on Academic Integrity, see http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acadint.php.

A workshop class is a community, if you do not show up to discuss your colleagues work, there’s no reason for them to read yours with any attention.  Much of what you will learn about fiction will be from each other—you will see how actual readers interpret and respond to your work.  If you miss the day of your own workshop you may receive an F for the assignment.

You may miss two classes without it affecting the final grade in your class.  You will fail the class after four absences.  Perfect attendance will improve your grade.  Please let me know ahead of time if you know you will miss a class for any reason.

Please be on time to class.  More than four late arrivals will affect your final grade.

Laptops are not allowed to be open and on during class.  Please bring in hard copies of all notes you may need to consult.

All work must be original—that is both your own work, and written for this class.  Please do not recycle work written for other courses.  Do not submit work written by other people, even substantially rewritten.  That includes characters and scenarios: please, no fan fiction or alternate versions of other people’s published work.  If you have any questions, please talk to me.  For additional information on Academic Integrity, see http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acadint.php.

FOR WORKSHOP:  you are required to read the other students’ work and to type at least two paragraphs of respectful critical response.  Please bring in two copies of your critiques, one for the author, and one for me in hard copy.  If I don’t have a hard copy of your student critiques, they will be marked as missing.  You are responsible for critiques even if you are absent for the workshop.

GRADING:  Your final grade will be based on both your written work in the class, and also your participation.  You will receive letter grades on written assignments.

EXTRA CREDIT:  You may earn extra credit by attending readings by authors on campus or at local bookstores and writing a one-page response.  If you are unsure of whether a writer qualifies or not, please ask me.

The breakdown of grading follows:  FIRST STORY, 20%; SECOND STORY: 20%; THIRD STORY: 20%; REVISION: 10%; WRITTEN COMMENTS ON OTHER STUDENTS’ WORK: 15%; CLASS PARTICIPATION: 15%.

CRW 355P  l  Advanced Poetry Workshop

Instructor:  Bennett, C

Unique #:  35705

Semester:  Fall 2021

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  CRW 340P (or E 341L).

Description:  In this course you will continue to develop and reflect on your own distinctive writing practice within a community of fellow poets.  As we focus primarily on workshop discussion of student poems, we will also explore poetry and poetics in the context of shared readings in contemporary poetry, occasional writing exercises, and individual notebook reflections that identify, gather, and test out potential material for poems and examine the contours of a life in poetry. 

Requirements & Grading:  Requirements include one poem per week, sometimes in response to assigned exercises (15%); a poet’s notebook (15%); mandatory, regular attendance and active participation in class workshops and discussions, including written feedback on peers’ poems (30%); and a final portfolio of selected, revised poems accompanied by a statement of poetics (40%).