CRW 325  l Writing Climate Fiction (Cli-Fi)

Instructor:  Pipkin, J

Unique #: 34110

Semester:  Fall 2020

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 writing fiction about climate change and its environmental effects, with a focus on the short story form.  Although it may seem like a recent literary trend, Climate Fiction, (sometimes referred to as “Cli-Fi”) has actually been around for a long time.  For generations, writers have been writing about detrimental changes in the environment and in the climate brought about by human activity.  This class will look at the tradition of climate fiction to identify recurring themes and issues, as well as stylistic and structural conventions characteristic of the genre.  We will also discuss strategies for writing fiction that engages with climate and environmental issues in a way that avoids didacticism and foregrounds storytelling in order to make a persuasive argument.  We will also identify clichés in recent climate fiction (such as the tendency to treat climate stories solely within the confines of an apocalyptic or Armageddon narrative), and instead we will explore techniques for representing the realistic consequences of climate change in daily life.

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.  You 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 class will focus on the fundamentals of narrative structure, point of view, character development, plotting, pacing, tension, setting, dialogue and revision.  Emphasis will be placed on making use of workshop feedback.  Class will consist of lectures, in-class writing, discussion, and workshop participation.  You should be prepared to read and discuss your work in class.  The main goal of the workshop sessions is to help you 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 improve the original draft.  Participation in workshop is an essential part of this class, so you must come prepared to discuss the works under consideration.

Texts:    Loosed Upon the World: The Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction, ed. by John Joseph Adams; additional 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:  34130

Semester:  Fall 2020

Cross-lists:  n/a

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

Description:  Our ambition is to create a literary community where we write fiction and explore together its beauty, importance, and 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, and revise one. 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%; Revision: 10%; Attendance and participation (includes responses to student work): 30%.

CRW 325F  l  Fiction Writing

Instructor:  La Salle, P

Unique #: 34135

Semester:  Fall 2020

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:  The beginning of the course will stress the development of skills in the various aspects of narration, including writing description, probing character, and plotting.  The latter part of the course will involve the writing and rewriting of a complete short story.

Texts:  The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, Cassill, ed.

Requirements & Grading:  Four writing assignments: 90%; Attendance and participation: 10%.

CRW 325F  l  Fiction Writing

Instructor:  Cásares, O

Unique #: 34120

Semester:  Fall 2020

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 Creative Writing course focuses on the mechanics (structure, narrative voice, dialogue, character development, etc.) within selected fiction, allowing you to study the different elements you will use later as you write your own short stories.

Texts:  Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, Janet Burroway and Elizabeth Stuckey-French, Pearson/Longman (Publisher); How Not to Write Bad, Ben Yagoda, Riverhead Books; Various Handouts.

Requirements & Grading:  You are required to write two short sketches (3-4 pages) and two short stories (each 6-10 pages) that will be discussed in a workshop setting or individual conference.  One of the short stories will be revised for an additional grade.  As part of your Class Participation grade, you will read each other student drafts and write peer reviews.  For the student work discussed in class, you will be responsible for writing detailed critiques (1-2 pages).  I will also provide written feedback that should help you to revise certain assignments.

Attendance is required.  There will be no final exam.

Classroom participation/Quizzes/Written Critiques: 20%; Two Sketches and Two Stories, plus one revision: 80%.

CRW 325F  l Fiction Writing

Instructor:  Pipkin, J

Unique #:34115

Semester:  Fall 2020

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).

34115Description:  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:  Harvey, J (aka E Carey)

Unique #: 34125

Semester:  Fall 2020

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 class, we will discuss, dissect, criticize, and write short fiction.  We will examine through each other's work and through work previously written the possibilities of the short story.  We shall examine topics such as character, dialogue, setting, plot and language.  Students will read each other’s work with rigor and generosity.

Requirements & Grading:  Attendance: Regular attendance is essential.  A workshop class is a community, and if you don’t show up to discuss your colleagues’ work, there’s no reason for them to read yours with any attention.

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.

Please submit stories to the class via e-mail before class the day your story is due.  I will send out an e-mail list after the first class meeting.  Make sure your work is double-spaced and page-numbered.

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:  WRITTEN COMMENTS ON OTHER STUDENTS’ WORK: 15%; CLASS PARTICIPATION: 20%; CLASS ASSIGNMENTS: 20%; FIRST STORY: 20%; SECOND STORY: 25%; each story must be a minimum of six pages, double-spaced.

CRW 325P  l  Poetry Writing

Instructor:  Somers-Willett, S

Unique #:  34140

Semester:  Fall 2020

Cross-lists:  n/a

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

Description:  This course is designed to introduce students to writing poetry in a workshop environment.  Through reading and writing exercises, we will explore the foundations of poetic craft such as image, metaphor, abstract versus concrete diction, and using precise language.  We will also practice different formal approaches toward line and stanza.  Because good writers are first good readers, our writing exercises will be paired with literary selections that we discuss from a writer’s perspective.  Finally, we will practice offering and receiving nuanced, constructive responses to student writing, with revision as our goal.  Regular attendance and participation are required.

Requirements & Grading:  Requirements include: timely completion of reading, writing journals, exercises, and assignments (50%); attendance and participation, including engaging in class discussion and peer feedback (25%); a final portfolio of revised poems, with a brief statement about process and craft (25%).

CRW 330  l  Literature for Writers

34145 

Instructor:  Heinzelman, K

Unique #: 34145

Semester:  Fall 2020

Cross-lists:  n/a

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

Description:  The official name of this course is “Literature for Writers,” but I would prefer to call it “Reading Like a Writer,” which is also the title of a wonderful book by an author with the wholly appropriate name of Francine Prose.  Her book is subtitled: “A Guide for People Who Love Books And For Those Who Want to Write Them.”  I recommend this text highly to all prospective students.

The texts that we will be “reading as writers” will be composed in both prose and verse, for the simple reason that prose writers can learn much about rhythm, figurative language, and structure from reading lyrics, just as poets can learn much about narrative, character, and timing from reading fiction.

Some of the literary works will focus on poetic or narrative forms; others will be thematic—e.g., writing about place or about art (the technical term for the latter is ekphrasis); and still others will introduce comparative analyses—e.g., of why one translation is “better” than another.

Requirements & Grading:  In the first half of the course we will discuss what “reading like a writer” means, and there will be periodic weekly written reports.  The rest of the semester will be about texts generated by students who will identify and report on, in both oral and written forms, stories and poems that demonstrate what they think can be learned about craft by reading closely those texts.  Let me emphasize that this is a reading/writing course, not a creative-writing workshop.

Two absences permitted without penalty.  Grading Scale:  Final essay and oral report = 60%; Class participation and weekly reports = 40%.

CRW 340F  l  Short Story Workshop

Instructor:  Casares, O

Unique #: 34155

Semester:  Fall 2020

Cross-lists:  n/a

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

Description:  Practice in writing the short story, with study of contemporary models.

This course is 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.

Texts: Various texts posted on Canvas

Requirements & Grading:  Students are required to write two short stories (each 8-15 pages) that will be discussed in a workshop.  One of these stories will be revised for an additional grade.  For all the other student work discussed in class, you will be responsible for writing detailed critiques (1-2 pages).  Attendance is required.  There will be no final exam.

Two Stories, 60%; Revision, 30%; Classroom participation, 10%

CRW 355F  l  Advanced Fiction Workshop

Instructor:  La Salle, P

Unique #: 34175

Semester:  Fall 2020

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 three 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 reading from two texts.

Texts:  The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, Seventh Edition, Cassill and Bausch, editors; Dreamtigers, Jorge Luis Borges (fiction and poetry, for discussion of how the two genres influence each other).

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.  Two absences are allowed, and more than that will affect the grade.

CRW 355F  l  Advanced Fiction Workshop

Instructor:  Unferth, D

Unique #: 34170

Semester:  Fall 2020

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 either three original stories of at least 10 pages each or two original stories and one revision.  They will also write extensive comments (1-2 pages) on their classmates’ stories.  We will also 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.  This is a no-screens class.  All materials will be used in class in hardcopy.

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

Requirements and Grading:  First story 20%; second story 20%; third story/revision 10%; comments on classmates’ work 25%; participation and attendance 25%.

CRW 355F  l  Advanced Fiction Workshop

Instructor:  Harvey, J (aka E Carey)

Unique #: 34165

Semester:  Fall 2020

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:  Somers-Willett, S

Unique #:  34180

Semester:  Fall 2020

Cross-lists:  n/a

Prerequisites:  CRW 340P (or E 341L).

Description:  This course offers advanced instruction in writing and revising poetry in a workshop setting.  Our primary focus will be on students’ own literary production—writing and critiquing poems, with occasional writing exercises as the class elects.  We will read some contemporary poetry, using our discussions to think beyond the single poem and envision how poems work together in collections.  We will also discuss editing and publishing, and students will present on literary journals as part of the course.  Students will produce a revised portfolio of poems and a statement of poetics at the end of the semester.  Regular attendance and participation are mandatory.

Requirements & Grading:  Requirements include: attendance, on-time submission of poems, and timely written and spoken participation, including peer feedback (40%); presentation on a literary journal (10%); revised portfolio and statement of poetics (50%).