Course Information

Fall 2024

ENGL 35A (Section 001) Intro. to Writing Fiction (CRN: 71776) and

ENGL 35B (Section 001) Intermediate Fiction Writing (CRN: 71775)

Mondays 6:10-9:00pm at Ocean Campus, Health Center 204

We’ll read deeply into the stories we read this semester, both published stories by authors and stories that we write, and explore the way writers craft their stories, and which tools they use to create the effects they want on their readers. We’ll look closely at how stories begin, and how stories end. We want to understand in our personal worlds how stories begin to  live on the page, and how writers shape their stories to fulfill their purposes. While we read and discuss stories this semester, we’ll always do so with love and respect for the authors of the stories, who have opened up and shared their personal thoughts and emotions with us. When we discuss our writing in class, we will explore with curiosity and ask inquisitive questions in order to better underrated the writers’ intentions, and tactfully provide ideas for experimentation and development. We never insult writers, make fun of works that we don’t relate to as individuals. Rather, we are building a sanctuary, a place to feel safe and brave, a community of support and care.

Revision—both an altering of what is there and a new vision all together—will be a central part of this course, to dive into a work and envision its potentials, to experiment, take chances, to see each piece’s flexibility in the moment, the choices we make. As the purpose of this class is to survey our processes, and ourselves, questions are more important that answers and your own advice to yourself will be the most valuable.

Important Dates

Day Class Begins: August 19, 2024  [Find the following dates in the Instructional Calendar or in the online Schedule of Classes by hovering over the deadlines link next to your class listing.]

Day Class Ends: December 16, 2024

Last Day to Drop with a refund: August 30, 2024

Last Day to Add without instructor's approval: September 6, 2024

Last Day to Drop without a 'W' symbol: September 6, 2024

Last Day to Drop with a W or apply for leave of absence: November 6, 2024

Final Exam Date: December 16, 2024

Syllabus

You can read my English 35AB Fall 2024 Course Syllabus here.