Program Courses
Please note that course schedules may be amended due to low enrollment, faculty availability, and/or other factors.
Online Sync Sessions are an integral part of the online learning experience. Additional information about learning concepts and assignments may be discussed and sync sessions offer valuable opportunities for students to interact with their faculty and peers during the term. We encourage all students to attend live, but if they are unable to, sync sessions will be recorded and posted within Canvas to allow for an asynchronous model of success as well.
MCW 413-0 : Fiction Workshop
Description
This is a graduate fiction writing workshop that will take a deep dive into reading and writing fiction to explore how journeys into new worlds can profoundly shape character, action, and plot. We will also reflect on our own odysseys as writers—from idea discovery to the final stages of revision—whether we’re in the process of creating short stories or novels-in-progress for publication. What strategies can we use both short- and long-term during our life-long journeys as artists?
From the ancient roots of hero journey folk tales around the globe to the best of classic and contemporary fiction by such authors as Richard Powers, Eric Nguyen, Charlotte McConaghy, Avni Doshi, Lauren Groff, Cormac McCarthy, and Colson Whitehead, the course will examine the importance of setting and the necessity of discovery. The course will focus on novels, novel excerpts, and short stories that propel the character willingly (or unwillingly) into journeys that alter his/her/their universe. Readings and writing exercises will traverse themes of quest, exile, and the struggle to find refuge as an immigrant in a “brave new world.” Using the language of craft, we will examine how to transport readers and enlarge their capacity for empathy by creating fully dimensional characters. Discussion and writing exercises will probe character motivation, conflict, point of view, and setting as panorama in space and time. Because conversation and discussion will be the chief pedagogical methods, all students are expected to attend class regularly and punctually submit their writing projects when due and participate in class discussions and contribute to online and in-class workshop critiques.