OWC 101 D — 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): Angela Pneuman
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):
Angela Pneuman
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.
ANGELA PNEUMAN
Former Stegner Fellow, Stanford; MFA Instructor, Sarah Lawrence College; Executive Director, Napa Valley Writers’ Conference
Angela Pneuman is the author of the novel Lay It on My Heart and the short story collection Home Remedies. Her fiction has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, Glimmer Train, The Virginia Quarterly Review, New England Review, and Ploughshares, and she is a contributor to Salon, The Believer, and The Rumpus. She received a PhD in English from SUNY Albany. Textbooks for this course:
(Required) Stephen Koch, The Modern Library Writer's Workshop (ISBN 978-0375755583)
(Required) Lynda Barry, Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor (ISBN 978-1770461611)
(Required) Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half (ISBN 978-0525536291)
(Required) Tobias Wolff, Old School (ISBN 978-0375701498)
(Recommended) Lysley Tenorio, The Son of Good Fortune (ISBN 978-0062059598)
(Required) Lynda Barry, Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor (ISBN 978-1770461611)
(Required) Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half (ISBN 978-0525536291)
(Required) Tobias Wolff, Old School (ISBN 978-0375701498)
(Recommended) Lysley Tenorio, The Son of Good Fortune (ISBN 978-0062059598)