OWC 101 C — The Writing Life: Form and Theory of the Novel
Quarter: Fall
Course Format: Flex Online (About Formats)
Duration: 10 weeks
Date(s): Sep 26—Dec 8
Refund Deadline: Sep 29
Units: 3
Tuition: $1240
Instructor(s): Rachel Howard
Limit: 15
Class Recording Available: Yes
Status: Closed
Fall
Flex Online(About Formats)
Date(s)
Sep 26—Dec 8
10 weeks
Refund Date
Sep 29
3 Units
Fees
$1240
Instructor(s):
Rachel Howard
Limit
15
Recording
Yes
Closed
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.
This first course in the OWC series introduces the fundamentals of novel design. Students will read and analyze two published novels, developing their own ideas about how authors create the effects they do on the page. The class will look first at a bestselling genre novel, considering such key questions as: How does the inciting incident prepare readers for the climax? How do scenes build on the tension of previous scenes, raising the stakes? And how do characters’ internal drives interface with external challenges to create a meaningful plot? The class will then revisit these questions with a work of literary fiction, considering whether and how these fundamentals apply to a quieter novel. Weekly discussion questions and writing prompts will help students think about how best to construct their own books. In the second half of the quarter, students will share a section of their novel-in-progress for supportive discussion by the class, gaining vital insight for the drafting and development they will be doing in workshop throughout the remainder of the certificate program. This course will also help students to develop the habits of successful fiction writers. The goal is for each student to reach a better understanding of how to shape a novel, a better grasp on the individual writing process, and a greater ability to constructively self-evaluate.
This first course in the OWC series introduces the fundamentals of novel design. Students will read and analyze two published novels, developing their own ideas about how authors create the effects they do on the page. The class will look first at a bestselling genre novel, considering such key questions as: How does the inciting incident prepare readers for the climax? How do scenes build on the tension of previous scenes, raising the stakes? And how do characters’ internal drives interface with external challenges to create a meaningful plot? The class will then revisit these questions with a work of literary fiction, considering whether and how these fundamentals apply to a quieter novel. Weekly discussion questions and writing prompts will help students think about how best to construct their own books. In the second half of the quarter, students will share a section of their novel-in-progress for supportive discussion by the class, gaining vital insight for the drafting and development they will be doing in workshop throughout the remainder of the certificate program. This course will also help students to develop the habits of successful fiction writers. The goal is for each student to reach a better understanding of how to shape a novel, a better grasp on the individual writing process, and a greater ability to constructively self-evaluate.
RACHEL HOWARD
Author
Rachel Howard is the author of a memoir about her father’s unsolved murder, The Lost Night, and a novel, The Risk of Us. Her personal essays and stories have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times "Draft" series, The Los Angeles Review of Books, StoryQuarterly, and O, The Oprah Magazine. She received an MFA in fiction from Warren Wilson College. Textbooks for this course:
(Required) Nancy Kress, Beginnings, Middles & Ends (Elements of Fiction Writing) (ISBN 978-1599632193)
(Required) Elizabeth Strout, My Name Is Lucy Barton (ISBN 978-0812979527)
(Required) John Williams, Butcher's Crossing (ISBN 978-1590171981)
(Required) Lysley Tenorio, The Son of Good Fortune (ISBN 978-0062059574)
(Required) Stephen Koch, The Modern Library Writer's Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction (ISBN 978-0375755583)
(Required) Elizabeth Strout, My Name Is Lucy Barton (ISBN 978-0812979527)
(Required) John Williams, Butcher's Crossing (ISBN 978-1590171981)
(Required) Lysley Tenorio, The Son of Good Fortune (ISBN 978-0062059574)
(Required) Stephen Koch, The Modern Library Writer's Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction (ISBN 978-0375755583)