Course schedule for the Interdisciplinary Studies in Writing Graduate Certificate Program, Northwestern University School of Professional Studies - Northwestern School of Professional Studies

Course Descriptions and Schedule

Interdisciplinary Studies in Writing Certificate Requirements

Four Units of any Writing Courses

May include Writing Workshops, an independent study (not to exceed one), Publishing and Professional Development courses, MCW 575 The Publishing Industry: Literary Presses and Journals, MCW 579 Practicum in Teaching Creative Writing, MCW 580 Practicum in Publishing, any graduate literature course, any MCW 490 elective course, or any other related courses identified by the SPS Graduate Office..

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MCW 413-0 : Fiction Writing Workshop

Description

The goal of this workshop is to refresh our practice. It’s easy to fall into a rut, to think we’re only capable of working in certain modes, and it’s not true. It’s not true even when writing in extraordinary or stressful times, such as the one we’re currently living through. We can do a lot more, even now.

We’ll work through a series of exercises to generate material drawn from three seemingly disparate sources: (1) the fantastical, (2) our own lives, and (3) our complicated relationship to Internet culture. We will also have optional live online group discussions. Expect to generate a lot of material (we’ll write a very rough story per week) but also expect to have a lot of fun. We’ll come out with fresh stories as well as new approaches to our creative output. We will also find constructive and supportive ways to sustain ourselves and our literary community, with a special focus on the ways that web publications and submissions, as well as social media, have changed the writing life. Writing can be hard, it can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be---not all the time, at least---and there is real joy involved. Let’s get back to that joy.