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Creative Writing Minor Goals
The minor in Creative Writing offers students the opportunity to learn the craft of writing by studying the works of published writers, by writing and revising their own work, and by examining, critiquing, and supporting each others' work in and out of workshop.
The literature component of the minor will come from one of two courses: Contemporary Literature and Writing Communities. Emphasis in both of these courses will be placed on introducing students to the artistic range of contemporary literature. Students will read and discuss a variety of authors and poets who represent major developments in the trajectories of traditional and non-traditional aesthetics. Such reading will provide students with a repertoire of texts upon which to model their own creative work.
The workshop component of the minor is designed to provide incremental exposure to the writing process. At the 200-level (206 Creative Writing), students are introduced to multiple genres, such as poetry and fiction. They also discuss published work and complete writing exercises which focus on particular, isolated aspects of craft. Students are introduced to the workshop method, but the course is primarily lecture/discussion. At the 300-level, students continue their study in workshops that focus on a single genre (303 Playwriting, 304 Poetry Workshop, 305 Screenwriting, 306 Fiction Workshop). These courses function primarily as workshops, with some lecture/discussion of published work and craft issues. The 400-level course (406 Writer's Workshop) is the most intensive course, a capstone class in creative writing, in which students must produce a significant body of work, such as a chapbook of poems, a series of stories, a full-length play, the beginning of a novel, or a combination of these.
Students interested in pursuing the minor should take WRI 206 as early as possible; it is the prerequisite for all 300 and 400 level workshops. Students must complete CWR 206 before they can declare the minor. Interested students should meet with the program coordinator for advisement and to plan their course of study-an official signature from the coordinator is required before the declaration of minor form will be accepted. Multiple minors may overlap by only two courses.
For more information, contact Jess Row.
