Description

Writing can be a lonely art. More and more writers are seeking out a community of like-minded individuals who can help them achieve their goals…and provide some good company along the way! If you’d like to learn more about writing and the writing life alongside fellow artists, our Introduction to Creative Writing course is the place for you. In this eight-week course you will be introduced to possibilities of the writing craft and its many forms and you will gain some of the necessary vocabulary that will allow you to further engage in the study of creative writing.

Students will gain fundamental vocabulary and skills of creative writing which can be applied to any genre. Techniques for getting started as a writer and some practical information about publishing and the writing life will be covered.

Your Instructor: Zoe Whittall is the author of two literary novels - the Lambda award-winning Holding Still For As Long As Possible (House of Anansi, 09/10) and Bottle Rocket Hearts (Cormorant, 07) which was named a Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year, made the CBC Canada Reads Top Ten Essential Novels of the decade, translated into French and optioned for film. Holding Still for as Long as Possible was shortlisted for the Relit Award, and named an American Library Association Stonewall honor book. She has published one short novel for adults with low literacy skills called The Middle Ground (Orca Books, 2010.) She won the Writers' Trust of Canada's Dayne Ogilvie Award in 2008. Her poetry books include The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life (McG, 01) and The Emily Valentine Poems (Snare, 06) and Precordial Thump (Exile, 08). She edited the anthology Geeks, Misfits & Outlaws in 2003. She lives in Toronto. zoewhittall.blogspot.ca

Introduction to Creative Writing is a required course in the Creative Writing Certificate.

Objectives

Each class will begin with a discussion of the required reading for approximately 20 - 30 mins. The majority of each class will be dedicated to peer workshopping. Some in-class time will be spent on writing exercises and some writing exercises will be completed between classes.

Assessment Method

• Class Participation 40%
• Reading/Writing Journal Exercise 30%
• Final Portfolio 30%

Course Topics

You will be introduced to choices of point-of-view in fiction, basic requirements of narrative scene, dialogue, narrative structure in fiction and nonfiction, techniques of lively writing, metaphoric language, and poetic forms. You will also be encouraged to consider creative writing as an art of authorial choice and selection and expand your own range of choice. The course will also touch on techniques for getting started as a writer, generating material, finding a voice and transforming life experience into writing (using notebooks, exercises and prompts, etc.)

Course Prerequisites

There are no prerequisite for the Introduction to Creative Writing courses. You may take this course as a single course or you may continue on to complete the Certificate in Creative Writing.

Required Materials Provided:

• Students will be provided with the required readings on the first day of class.