OWC 101 B — The Writing Life: Form and Theory of the Novel
Quarter: Fall
Instructor(s): Rachel Smith
Date(s): Sep 23—Dec 2
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Wednesdays
Grade Restriction: Letter grade only
Class Meeting Time: 12:00—1:15 pm (PT)
Please Note: No class the week of November 23
Tuition: $1290
Refund Deadline: Sep 25
Unit(s): 2
Enrollment Limit: 15
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Fall
Day: Wednesdays
Duration: 10 weeks
Time: 12:00—1:15 pm (PT)
Date(s): Sep 23—Dec 2
Unit(s): 2
Tuition: $1290
Refund Deadline: Sep 25
Instructor(s): Rachel Smith
Grade Restriction: Letter grade only
Enrollment Limit: 15
Recording Available: Yes
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
Please Note: No class the week of November 23
This course is not open to the public, but rather by admission only. For more information on the 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 commercially popular 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 commercially popular 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 SMITH
Writer
Rachel Smith’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Seattle Times, The Rumpus, Brevity, and elsewhere. She has received residencies and fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Marquette, and the Elizabeth George Foundation and has taught creative writing at Stanford, the University of San Francisco, and the University of Mississippi, where she received an MFA in creative writing. She is at work on a novel. Smith was a Stegner Fellow and William Chace Lecturer at Stanford. Textbooks for this course:
(Required) Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These (ISBN 9780571368709)
(Required) Kaveh Akbar, Martyr! (ISBN 9780593320648)
(Required) Nancy Kress, Beginnings, Middles, and Ends (ISBN 978-1599632193)
(Optional) Stephanie Soileau, Should the Waters Take Us (ISBN 9780385551786)
(Required) Kaveh Akbar, Martyr! (ISBN 9780593320648)
(Required) Nancy Kress, Beginnings, Middles, and Ends (ISBN 978-1599632193)
(Optional) Stephanie Soileau, Should the Waters Take Us (ISBN 9780385551786)