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CW 25 — The Bleeding, Pounding Heart of Prose: The Art and Craft of the Sentence

Quarter: Fall
Instructor(s): Robert Hoekman Jr.
Duration: 5 weeks
Location: Online
Date(s): Oct 12—Nov 9
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Mondays
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Class Meeting Time: 5:30—8:00 pm (PT)
Tuition: $430
   
Refund Deadline: Oct 14
 
Unit(s): 1
   
Enrollment Limit: 40
  
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
 
Quarter: Fall
Day: Mondays
Duration: 5 weeks
Time: 5:30—8:00 pm (PT)
Date(s): Oct 12—Nov 9
Unit(s): 1
Location: Online
 
Tuition: $430
 
Refund Deadline: Oct 14
 
Instructor(s): Robert Hoekman Jr.
 
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
 
Enrollment Limit: 40
 
Recording Available: Yes
 
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
 
One by one, sentences either quicken our pulse or lie there limp, fill us with tension or leave us flat. Whether you’re a novice or a novelist, writing an email or an epic, sentence craft is the key to stronger writing. In this course, we’ll first explore composition through emulation and diagnose structure as a vehicle for content. Next, we’ll look at recursive writing and sonic agreement and conjure concepts of our own through language- and referent-based writing techniques. Finally, we’ll dig into choosing dynamic verbs and using syntax for surprise. At every stop, we’ll blast through skill-play exercises—writing for sound, precision, concision, rhythm, tension, disruption, surprise, tone, style, idiolect, and feel. By the end of this course, you’ll know how to turn clunky, airless sentences into masterworks. The sentence will be your playground, and your writing will never be the same.

ROBERT HOEKMAN JR.
Author

Robert Hoekman Jr. is the author of nine professional/technical nonfiction books. His writing has been published by Fast Company, Wired, Maxim, and many others. His creative work has appeared in Five Minutes, Genrepunk, 50-Word Stories, Nanoism, Spelk, and elsewhere. He has served as an arts and culture journalist, magazine editor, and manuscript developer. He received an advanced certificate in creative writing from the University of Pennsylvania and is earning his MFA through the Bennington Writing Seminars.

Textbooks for this course:

There are no required textbooks; however, some fee-based online readings may be assigned.