fullscreen background
Skip to main content

Winter Quarter

Winter Registration Opens Dec 02
shopping cart icon0

Courses


« Back to Creative Writing

OWC 303 B — Novel I: The Powerful Beginning

Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s):
Duration: 10 weeks
Location: Online
Date(s): Jan 15—Mar 19
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Wednesdays
Grade Restriction: Letter grade only
Class Meeting Time: 12:00—1:00 pm (PT)
Tuition: $1240
   
Refund Deadline: Jan 18
 
Unit(s): 2
   
Enrollment Limit: 15
  
Status: Registration opens Dec 2, 8:30 am (PT)
 
Quarter: Winter
Day: Wednesdays
Duration: 10 weeks
Time: 12:00—1:00 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 15—Mar 19
Unit(s): 2
Location: Online
 
Tuition: $1240
 
Refund Deadline: Jan 18
 
Instructor(s):
 
Grade Restriction: Letter grade only
 
Enrollment Limit: 15
 
Recording Available: Yes
 
Status: Registration opens Dec 2, 8:30 am (PT)
 
 
This course is not open to the public, but rather by admission only. For more information on the Online Writing Certificate Program and its application process, please click here.

The beginning of a novel is crucial: establishing a contract with the reader, raising narrative questions, setting the tone and mood of the book, and, of course, introducing the main characters. We will begin by making sure that your novel starts in the right place, with a conflict compelling enough to reveal who these people are, and to ensure that they are making meaningful choices that lead to dramatic action. The challenges that our characters face up front help us to know who they are at the beginning of a book, and also set up expectations for how they might change by the end. Students will spend time thinking about the trajectory they envision not only for their protagonists but also for the secondary characters, and discussing issues related to characterization, such as point of view, dialogue, and voice. In this course, everyone will write and workshop an opening section of up to 5000 words.