course description for creative writing

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Creative Writing Major and Minor, Course Descriptions

Creative writing major and minor, course descriptions.

ENG 209. Introduction to Creative Writing. 3 Credit Hours.   This is an introductory course in writing fiction and poetry.  A basic premise of this course is that powerful stories and poems often emerge from attentive reading, fearless writing, and rigorous revision.  Some writers may be born, but all writers are made (as are athletes, doctors, painters, lawyers, and musicians) through the deliberate and persistent practice of discipline.  In English 209, readings, class discussions and in-class writing exercises will focus on the elements of craft.  We will pay special attention to reading as models and jumping off places into our own work.  We will, in effect, “imitate toward originality.” 

Learning Outcomes

Develop a working knowledge of the differences between poetry, fiction and the third genre.

Understand how to talk about these genres as writers.

Become familiar with the workshop as a form of receiving and giving feedback.

Understand the writing process, from idea to draft, workshop to revision, and the importance of all steps.

Gain a familiarity with reading and writing work that is multilingual.

Attend literary events and write reflections about them.

Produce a final portfolio of writing samples, including first drafts, intermediate drafts, and final revisions (three samples—one in each genre).

ENG 290/219. Introduction to Fiction Workshop .   3 Credit Hours.    This course is an introduction to the writing of contemporary short fiction where you will develop critical as well as creative thinking and writing skills.  We will focus on building your understanding of the elements of fiction and how you might use these elements to design your stories.  We are also concerned with developing your sense of what it means to be part of a writing community. The workshop environment requires extensive peer collaboration as we practice various writing strategies and examine the stages of the writing process: mining, collecting, shaping, drafting, and revising. This course meets requirements for creative writing majors and minors.

Prerequisite:  ENG 209 or   Requisite:   Creative Writing Majors or Creative Writing Minors. May not be taken in the same term with another Creative Writing course

Define and know the difference between a short story, vignette, flash fiction, novel, and the novella.

Develop and implement a vocabulary for talking about the craft of fiction. Terms should include tension, conflict, character, setting, plot, structure, pacing, voice, point of view, tone, revision, epiphany, resolution, scene, exposition, summary, narrative, sensory details, concrete details.

Recognize scenes as the building blocks of stories.

Write from the ground up, i.e. begin with the writing of scenes that develop character and conflict, that can move a story forward.

Write complete short stories, built upon the work done at the scene level.

Become comfortable with the workshop, with the giving and receiving of feedback.

Become aware of their personal writing process, and be able to describe it in reflection.

Continue to become familiar with work that is multilingual.

Produce at least one assignment that is multilingual.

Write work that fall under the literary tradition.

Produce a final portfolio of writing samples, including first drafts, intermediate drafts, and final revisions.

ENG 292/219.  Introduction to Poetry Workshop. 3 Credit Hours.   Our aim is to help each of you develop your interests and abilities as poets. This means we’ll be doing a lot of reading, writing, and revising during this semester. We’ll spend much of our time in the detailed discussion of your own creative work. We’ll also read the work of a diverse array of contemporary writers to gain an understanding of contemporary American poetry. You will learn the state of the art and you will contribute to its continuing evolution as engaged and active artists.

Actively participate in the workshop by receiving and providing critical feedback

Define key terms including diction, syntax, line break, stanza, image, metaphor, simile, and cliché.

Define the term ‘free verse’ and write free verse poems that feature tactile imagery and original phrasing/description free of clichéd language.

Understand the difference between concrete and abstract language.

Understand the poetic line as a unit of sound and meaning.

Generate evocative titles for their poetry.

Understand how punctuation shapes rhythm, cadence, and meaning in a poem.

Produce at least one poem that is multilingual.

Produce a final portfolio of free verse poetry that includes first drafts and final revisions.

ENG 390/391. Intermediate Fiction Workshop. 3 Credit Hours.   This workshop will look at the construction of effective contemporary stories. Its intention is to build a community of writers with a commitment to craft, to risk taking, and to building each other’s own sense of story. Students are expected to generate 20-30 pages of new writing and to complete one revision of a full-length story. In addition, each student may be expected to discuss writing from a reflective and critical perspective in the form of an annotated bibliography, close reading, essay, presentation, response paper, review, or some other form determined by the instructor. Topics may include an element of craft (i.e. balancing story with flashback), a narrative strategy (such as the unreliable narrator) or an exploration of a particular writer, group of writers, or writing school. This course meets requirements for creative writing majors and minors.

Prer equisite:  ENG 219 Or ENG 290 Or Permission of Creative Writing Director.  May not be taken in the same term with another Creative Writing course.

Write and revise 20-30 pages of new writing.

Develop and refine the use of literary elements in their short stories.

Develop their sense of what it means to be part of a writing community via workshop, attendance of literary events.

Read contemporary writers, including work from multilingual and/or multicultural writers.

Discuss writing from a reflective or critical perspective in the form of an annotated bibliography, close reading, essay, presentation, response paper, review or some other form determined by the instructor.

ENG 392/391. Intermediate Poetry Workshop .   3 Credit Hours.   This course will continue your development as writers and critical readers of poetry. While you may be familiar with workshop practices from prior courses, this intermediate workshop will challenge you into offering increasingly sophisticated feedback to your peers. We’ll be seeking similarly sophisticated turns of thought and language in the poems you write. Our course reading will complicate your notions of what’s possible in poetry and inspire you to write poems unlike any you have written before. 

Prerequisite:   ENG 219 Or ENG 292.  Or Permission of Creative Writing Director. May not be taken in the same term with another Creative Writing course.

Learning outcomes

Receive and offer critical feedback in workshop with an eye towards submitting their work to undergraduate literary journals like   Mangrove .

Display a deeper understanding of the terminology and elements of craft introduced in ENG 292/219.

Experiment with more figurative language, unconventional forms, and cross-genre work.

Be able to distinguish between free verse and formal poetry with an increased knowledge of terms like metered verse, blank verse, rhyme scheme, and fixed form.

Develop a stronger sense of his/her revision process with an emphasis on independent self-direction.

Produce a final portfolio of free verse poetry that includes first drafts and final revisions with an eye towards submitting their work to undergraduate literary journals at UM or elsewhere.

Read and offer original analysis of poetry by contemporary writers, including work from multilingual and/or multicultural poets.

ENG 404. Creative Writing (Fiction Prose). 3 Credit Hours.   This workshop will look at the construction of effective contemporary short stories. Its intention is to build a community of serious writers with a commitment to craft, to risk taking, and to building each other’s own sense of story. It is my hope that you find the material deep inside you and that you use your craft, your ability to risk and your community to develop your works. In addition to workshopping student narratives, we will ground our discussions in published contemporary short stories to give your own stories context in form and inspiration to grow. In the end, I intend for you to be strong storytellers and readers, able to write, critique and revise your works in a confident manner. This course meets requirements for creative writing majors with a concentration in fiction.

Prer equisite : ENG 390 Or Permission of Creative Writing Director.  May not be taken in the same term with another Creative Writing course.

Students should produce 20-30 pages of writing.

Construct effective short stories and write outside the short story form as well. This may include flash fiction, novellas, chapters from novels-in-progress, digital expressions, etc.

Read at an advanced and challenging level.

Take risks in their writing in order to develop the content of their work.

Be introduced to basic ideas about publishing for emerging writers.

Create a portfolio that is future-minded. In other words, the portfolios should include samples of work and the revision process, as well as proposals regarding either longer work to be written post-graduation, or postgrad plans, a process letter that serves as self-assessment, or an annotated list of goals for continuing the life of the writer after the undergraduate degree is completed.

ENG 406. Creative Writing (Poetry Workshop). 3 Credit Hours.   Students in this advanced poetry workshop will have the opportunity for hands-on experimentation with poetic crafts—structure, language, musicality—as well as for research, collaboration, and critique.  We’ll mine memory, mix genres, and explore culture and linguistic inventions, while enjoying the work of a diverse array of contemporary and canonical poets.  Through annotations and lively discussions of both contemporary poems and student work, as well as through exercises and assignments, students will create poetry of increasing risk and quality and develop the skills necessary to advance their craft.  A final portfolio of creative and critical work is due at the semester’s end.

Prerequisite:   ENG 392 Or ENG 391 Or Permission of Creative Writing Director. May not be taken in the same term with another Creative Writing course.

Receive and offer highly informed and eloquent critical feedback in workshop with an eye towards submitting their work to undergraduate literary journals like   Mangrove   and/or towards the compilation of an MFA application portfolio.

Write original work that reveals their unique aesthetic interests and displays a strong sense of individual voice.

Discuss their specific literary models and influences by speaking and writing knowledgably about the work of published poets they either admire or find difficult.

Experiment with more figurative language, unconventional forms, and cross-genre work

Effectively experiment in multiple languages, including writing in vernacular, dialects, and even invented language.

Be able to dramatically transform their poems from one draft to another with an emphasis on linguistic originality, descriptive sophistication, and thematic complication.

Produce a final portfolio of poetry that includes final revisions with an eye towards submitting their work to undergraduate literary journals at UM or elsewhere or towards the compilation of an MFA application portfolio.

Course Description for 407

Special Topics Advanced Workshop in Creative Writing

This course explores special topics in Creative Writing. Students will be taken step by step through the process of writing compelling fiction, poetry or nonfiction in the genre and specific form of the professor’s choice. Students will learn the basic skills and attitudes needed to research, produce and write in that specific form. Readings in the form will be broad and challenging. By the end of the course, students will have developed a portfolio of work that reflects the form under study.

Prerequisite:  ENG 390 or Permission of Creative Writing Director. This course may not be taken concurrently with another creative writing workshop.

Produce a significant amount of written work, equivalent to what is asked of them in ENG 404, but tailored to the needs and standards of the form being studied.

Recognize the major elements of the topic under study, and be able to talk about them in formal terms related to that topic.

Model the readings in their work via writing assignments, reflecting an understanding of the topic.

Complete a final portfolio or project that reflects their best work, their understanding of the topic, and their process.

Course Description for 408

Writing Autobiography

This course explores the writing of prose or poetry as autobiography. Students will be taken step by step through the process of writing compelling memoir, the essay, blogging or creative nonfiction as a way of exploring the Self. Students will learn the basic skills and attitudes needed to research, produce and write autobiography. Readings in the form will be broad and challenging. By the end of the course, students will have developed a portfolio of work that reflects the form under study.

Recognize the major elements of autobiography, creative nonfiction and the essay; and be able to talk about them in formal terms.

Model the readings in their work via writing assignments, reflecting an understanding of form.

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Creative Writing Course Descriptions

Winter 2021, wr 224, introduction to fiction writing.

See the Course Catalog for available sections.

WR 224 is an introduction to the writing of fiction. Our approach in this fiction writing workshop will be to develop your skills as a creative writer through several means: careful reading and analysis of our own work; careful reading and analysis of established writers’ work; the execution of several meaningful fiction exercises; and a constant commitment to revision. Assessment methods include creative writing exercises, quizzes and reading checks on textbook craft sections, peer review, and the evolution of a short story from first to final, polished draft by the end of the term. Successful completion of Writing 121 is a prerequisite for this course.

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing II (CSW2)

Liberal Arts Fine Arts Core (LACF)

Wayne Harrison

WR 224 is an introduction to the writing of fiction. Our approach in this online fiction writing workshop will be to develop your skills as a creative writer through several means: careful reading and analysis of our own work; careful reading and analysis of established writers’ work; the execution of several meaningful fiction exercises; and a constant commitment to revision. Assessment methods include creative writing exercises, quizzes and reading checks on textbook craft sections, peer review, and the evolution of a short story from first to final, polished draft by the end of the term. Successful completion of Writing 121 is a prerequisite for this course

WR 240, INTRODUCTION TO NONFICTION WRITING

Creative nonfiction is the genre of creative writing that bridges the act of making literary prose--the crafting of vivid scenes, a thoughtful narrative voice, and meaningful formats--with the kinds of practical personal writing often required in our academic and professional lives. In this course, we will discuss several published pieces from the creative nonfiction genre, including personal essays, memoir, and lyric essay. More importantly, we will also write, edit, workshop, and revise several pieces of our own creative nonfiction. Expect a lively class with lots of imaginative prompts, free-writes, and hardy discussion.

Bacc Core Requirement(s) Fulfilled: Core, Skills, WR II

WR 241, INTRODUCTION TO POETRY WRITING

“The art of poetry is ultimately an art of attention—Michael Blumenthal.” Throughout this course, we will consider the tools necessary to approach poetry more attentively as both readers and writers. This course will provide a firm grounding in the rudiments of poetic craft such as word choice, line breaks, imagery, structure, and other devices, as well as an introduction to different forms available to poets. We will consistently work through writing exercises and read/ discuss the work of various poets in order to aid us in the generation of our own poems.

WR 324, SHORT STORY WRITING

Kristin Griffin

Prerequisite: WR 224. This class is a workshop for writers experienced in writing fiction. Students learn techniques of the form by discussing their work, as well as the assigned readings, in a group setting. We’ll be reading work by current writers, some of whom will Skype in with advice, and learning the features of today’s literary landscape. The course assumes familiarity with major fiction writers and fundamental craft concepts such as point of view, characterization, dialogue, and theme. If you’re hoping to take your short story writing skills to the next level, this course is for you!

WR 424, ADVANCED FICTION WRITING

Rob Drummond

In this workshop we will read and write fiction.  Using published stories as models, we’ll discuss methods of characterization, plotting, scene-setting, dialogue, and so on.  Much of our work together will involve close reading and analysis of the texts in question.  Our emphasis will be on writing more complicated and sophisticated stories with concision and economy.

WR 440, ADVANCED CREATIVE NONFICTION

Justin St. Germain

In WR 466/566, Professional Writing, we’ll study texts, contexts and concepts important to the practice of professional writing and produce documents for both paper and digital distribution. As future professional writers, students will be expected to analyze organizations and institutions in order to develop effective communicative practices. Therefore, the class is organized with an eye towards future action: you will be reading what others have done and we will be developing strategies for your own future writing activities. The fundamental question addressed in this class is: what do professional writers do? Through the course, students will read definitions of professional and technical writing from academic and professional perspectives. Students will also research and report on a variety of documents in genres common in professional and technical writing as they develop an awareness of genre. Class reading and writing assignments have been designed to help students gain greater insight into the issues and challenges of professional writing in a variety of workplace contexts.

Click here for a full list of Winter 2021 course descriptions in Applied Journalism, English, Film, and Writing.

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Creative writing undergraduate course descriptions , engl 3420: introduction to fiction writing (waugh) .

This introduction to short story writing will help you see all the many things a story is besides what happens. Plot may be “the soul of a tragedy,” according to Aristotle, but it certainly won’t keep your readers if that’s all there is. We will examine why character matters, as well as imagery, description, setting, time, point of view, and sparkling prose, among many other things. By taking this course, you will learn to: 1) use a basic fiction writing vocabulary, 2) identify the core narratological concepts in a work of fiction, 3) recognize the sound and rhythm of good prose, 4) understand and employ various narrative modes and structures, and 5) participate fully and constructively in a workshop oriented class. In-person. Logan.

ENGL 3420 Introduction to Fiction Writing (Denetsosie-Mitchell)

This introduction to short story writing will draw upon natural patterns that exist within nature and help you apply those patterns to your fiction. The craft of writing should extend beyond the dramatic arc, where tension reaches a climax and then falls. Although many great stories have been written using this structure, it can feel stifling. By taking this course, you will experiment with form and nonlinear prose to explore the texture of narrative writing and consider how your story might meander, spiral, or explode. Using Jane Alison’s text, 'Meander, Spiral, Explode,' we will collectively identify new patterns and natural shapes within our stories to produce new narrative vessels that make our stories ring true. In-person. Logan.

ENGL 3420 Introduction to Fiction Writing (Olsen)

This is a fiction writing course that is accessible to beginning fiction writers and beneficial to writers who have had practical experience with fiction writing but minimal academic study in the field. The course is workshop-driven (meaning there will be extensive hands-on analysis of student work) but will also feature serious craft discussion and thorough readings of published material to help students better understand how to approach their own work. Students are encouraged to write in genres and styles that interest them. The course is structured as a hybrid with every-other-week in-class meetings that alternate with weeks where we discuss specific issues related to craft and contemporary fiction. Connect.

ENGL 3430 Introduction to Poetry Writing (Gunsberg)

This course is designed to help you become better writers and readers of poetry. To this end, we’ll discuss student work as well as poetry written by established authors. Our conversations will revolve around craft, which means we’ll explore those time-tested techniques that guide and strengthen poets’ efforts. This approach begins with close attention to the language that moves us and, moreover, careful consideration of why it moves us. Class discussion and careful reading of student work will be enhanced by your efforts to develop a critical/literary vocabulary, one that broadens your understanding of poetry and enlivens your responses to your classmates’ work. In person. Logan.

Eng 3430 Introduction to Poetry Writing: Poetry and Art: Building New Worlds (Grimmer)

In this workshop-based course, we will explore poetry’s role in articulating “better worlds” through a combination of classroom-based learning and experiential learning outside of the classroom. Our guiding questions include: 1. How does poetry interact with and create effects across different modes of art, including popular music and visual arts? 2. What are the relationships between language, bodies, and content across digital and analog forms of writing? 3. What are the sociopolitical effects of these relationships across racialized, gendered, and classed identity groups? This course will be a workshop-styled attempt to explore these questions by reading and experimenting with poetry in a variety of formats and in a variety of settings. Students can expect a combination of individual writing exercises, group-based arts projects, and experiential learning in local museums and cafes. Students will learn different craft techniques for playing with the effects of text-based poems; they will also experiment with translating those effects into audio and visual mediums. Students are expected to attend local readings, write outside the classroom in libraries, cafes, and museums, and practice navigating the dynamic between individual writing, digital content, and community-based arts. In person. Logan.

ENGL 3430 Introduction to Poetry Writing (Olsen)

Regardless of your previous experience or comfort level with poetry, this is a course that will help you find your way. By reading engaging contemporary poems and discussing techniques that will allow your writer's voice to emerge and shine, this class will use both discussion and workshop to help students improve. This is a hybrid course—that means we'll be meeting via Connect every other week and then engaging in poetry writing discussions over Canvas during weeks when we're not in class. There will be frequent workshops in which we will discuss student work and find ways to improve our work. Connect. 

ENGL 3440 Introduction to Creative Nonfiction Writing (Beck)

Nonfiction is the only genre that starts with an apology. It knows that you wished it were fiction and, sometimes, it does too. Because it starts with a stutter step—by defining itself by what it’s not—nonfiction is the most accepting of all genres. If you can follow nonfiction’s one rule, DMSU (don’t make stuff up) you can do whatever you want in the genre. English 3440 will be a mix of lectures and workshops that will focus on creating new nonfiction projects. Few parameters will be placed on the projects you will complete, but the class will emphasize narrative and personal writing. Project mediums will include traditional essays, podcasts and will be open to other experimentations. In person. Logan.

ENGL 3440 Introduction to Creative Nonfiction Writing (Engler)

You got something to say about the world? About your life? About Stranger Things, Beyoncé, or Neon Genesis Evangelion? Say goodbye to boring, dry, academic papers, and come join this workshop-style community where we experiment with the tools of nonfiction artist (like story, character, voice, and style) to learn the genre more popular than fiction. Whatever you might hope to say, this course will help you add layers of meaning and intrigue to find a compelling way to say it. In person. Logan.

ENGL 4420 Advanced Fiction Writing (Waugh)

The purpose of this advanced fiction writing course is to allow you to make the step from story dabbler to serious fiction writer, and to help you, as M.S. Bell says, “deploy unconsciously, intuitively, instinctively” the rudimentary skills you learned in the introductory course. The readings of our own work will be the basis for our workshop discussions, which means you must read the work in advance and come to class prepared with notes to help you give thoughtful, constructive criticism. We will also read exemplary texts to help us better understand what creates good writing, to train ourselves always to read as a writer, and to find how a particular word or sentence contributes to the overall effect. Similarly, we’ll cultivate a writer’s approach to life, the goal being to become what Henry James called, “one of the people on whom nothing is lost.” In person. Logan.

ENGL 4430 Advanced Poetry Writing: Advanced Multimodal Poetry: Building New Worlds (Grimmer)

In this workshop-based course, we will practice techniques for “building better worlds” through poetry and related multimedia arts. Our approach will combine in-class writing workshops with experiential learning outside of the classroom. Our guiding questions include: 1. How can we create poems that can create varied effects across multiple modes of art, including popular music and visual arts? 2. How can our poems help us navigate the relationships between language, bodies, and content across digital and analog forms of writing? 3. What do our own, our colleagues, and contemporary poems in general teach us about the sociopolitical effects of these relationships across racialized, gendered, and classed identity groups? This course will be a workshop-styled attempt to explore these questions by reading and experimenting with poetry in a variety of formats. Students can expect a combination of individual writing exercises, group-based arts projects, and experiential learning in local museums and cafes. Students will learn different craft techniques for playing with the effects of text-based poems; they will also experiment with translating those effects into audio and visual mediums. Students are expected to attend local readings, write outside the classroom in libraries, cafes, and museums, and practice navigating the dynamic between individual writing, digital content, and community-based arts. As an advanced course, students must receive and provide weekly feedback in writing workshops. In person. Logan.

ENGL 4440 Advanced Creative Nonfiction (Wells)

Michel de Montaigne says, “Every man has within himself the entire human condition.” By fairly and accurately investigating the larger meaning of a personal experience, a nonfiction writer can speak to the universal. The nonfiction writer is, therefore, tasked with honesty in their pursuit of discovery and greater knowledge. Often, we hear this described as a pact formed with the reader. However, we also know that memory can be fallible. David Lazar asserts that “Nonfiction blends fact and artifice in an attempt to arrive at truth, or truths.” Calling on memory for meaning may, at times, involve some imagination. So, then, where do the boundaries (if there are any) lie between fiction and nonfiction? What obligation does the nonfiction writer have to the reader? How does structure and form contribute to this discussion?

Advanced Creative Nonfiction builds off of the introductory course, which focuses on memoir and personal essay, to examine varied essay forms. We’ll examine craft techniques in order to deepen our understanding of form and structure. Together, we’ll look closely at braided, lyric, and flash essays to develop and hone our craft, while evaluating our own assumptions regarding writing strategies, memory, and fact along the way. Students will engage in writing exercises and workshops, with a focus on revision strategies to produce a final portfolio of innovative and polished essays. In person. Logan.

ENG 5450 Special Topics in Creative Writing: Mixtures and Margins: An Introduction to Multimodal Composition (Gunsberg)

How do contemporary writers use digital technology to adapt their poems, stories, and essays to a diverse and rapidly changing media textscape? English 5450 investigates this question by exploring different media forms, including alphanumeric writing, film, music, electronic literature, visual art, performances, and installations. Students will have opportunities to create new media texts that combine audio, visual, and interactive elements, such as printed poems that also occur as audio files or videos in conversation with print-based texts. We’ll discuss theories and historical antecedents of contemporary multimodal work before tackling three major assignments: 1) a multimodal adaptation of alphanumeric writing, 2) a digital media project, and 3) a performance or installation. Your efforts on these assignments will be supported by readings, experiments, and class visits from writers who steer their work in many exciting directions. In person. Logan.

Are you looking for the best online creative writing courses? You may have found some promising classes online, but you may also be unsure if the course is actually good. How can you know you’ll benefit from the course without spending your money first?

The good news is, there are creative writing courses out there for everyone, and they’re sure to improve your writing. Even better news, the best online creative writing courses share many of the same qualities.

If you want to learn how to write creatively, or if you simply want to improve your everyday writing, the best online creative writing courses can transform your writing abilities. Let’s explore what you might learn in creative writing classes, and how they help writers of all skill levels.

The Best Online Creative Writing Courses: Contents

What do you do in a creative writing class?

• Reputable Instructor
• Clear Course Description
• Promise of a Great Experience
• Constructive Feedback
• Focus on Craft
• Respect Your Creative Autonomy
• A Writing Community
• Motivate You to Write
• Jumpstart a Writing Habit
• Broaden Your Literary Horizons
• Offer a Healthy Creative Outlet
• Give You Next Steps

How to Make the Most of Online Creative Writing Courses

Every online creative writing class is unique, and different courses emphasize different things. We have classes that are entirely generative, meaning the focus is on writing new poems, essays, stories, or making headway into a novel or memoir project. Other courses might have more of a workshop component, in which you share your work with the class and receive feedback on how to improve your writing.

Some online writing courses also focus on specific skills or types of writing. You might take a class focused entirely on learning the tools for revision, or on learning the elements of fiction writing so you can later employ them in a story or novel.

In short, the best online writing courses typically include the following:

• Lectures and discussions on a topic of creative writing craft.
• Assignments that help you generate new work or revise old work.
• Opportunities to give and receive feedback with your fellow classmates.
• Feedback on your work from the instructor, who themselves is a successfully published author of the type of writing you’re producing.
• A weekly video call. Some courses, including ours, are entirely text-based and asynchronous, but many classes meet at least once a week on Zoom.

In addition to all of this, you will make new friends and connections in the best online creative writing classes. Writing is often a lonely experience for writers, and the bonds you make in creative writing workshops can last a lifetime.

12 Things to Look For In the Best Online Creative Writing Courses

The best online creative writing courses will sharpen your writing skills, help you find your confidence, and introduce you to new communities of writers. How do they do it? Here’s 12 things to look for to make sure you’re spending your money on the right online writing class. 

1. The Best Online Creative Writing Courses Have a Reputable Instructor

Your course is only as good as the instructor who teaches it. For online writing classes to teach you the craft, they need to have reputable, trustworthy instructors. A great instructor will also be empathetic, community-oriented, adaptive to your writing needs, and a great writer themselves.

A great instructor will also be empathetic, community-oriented, adaptive to your writing needs, and a great writer themselves.

Do some research on the course instructor: they should have a terminal degree in their field (M.A., M.F.A., Ph.D., etc.), as well as a significant publication history. A reputable instructor will make all the difference in your course: as part of their education, the instructor should have undergone dozens of writing workshops, submitted to countless literary journals, and had their work scrutinized by critics and book lovers alike.

In order for an instructor to help you develop your creative writing skills, they need to be successful on their own. The best instructors are what make the best online creative writing courses.

2. The Best Online Creative Writing Classes Have a Clear Course Description

What does the course teach you, and what will you learn week by week? In addition to listing a reputable instructor, the course description should tell you exactly what you’ll gain from taking the course.

In addition to listing a reputable instructor, the course description should tell you exactly what you’ll gain from taking the course.

Be sure you know exactly what you’re getting out of your online creative writing course, including what you might learn and write in the process. Consider what will help you the most as you embark on your writing journey: entering a course with certain goals or learning objectives will help you make the most of the course’s lectures and writing assignments.

There should be no ambiguity: if you’re paying for the course, you deserve to know exactly what you’re paying for. And, if you have questions, ask the program administrator before you enroll. They should be happy to hear from you!

3. The Best Online Creative Writing Classes Promise a Great Experience

The best online creative writing courses prioritize one thing: YOU! Your learning, your goals, and your writing should be at the center of your experience. And, your course should guarantee that experience.

The best online creative writing courses prioritize your learning, your goals, and your writing.

Creative writing classes can be a risk, since they probably won’t confer university credit and you probably haven’t interacted with that instructor before. You want to be confident that your learning is guaranteed, otherwise you’ll only waste your time, money, and creativity.

Before you enroll in an online writing course, look to see if the program administrators have a student promise . Your experience in the course should be the number one priority of the instructor and administrators; otherwise, you’re better off looking elsewhere for the best online creative writing courses.

4. The Best Online Creative Writing Courses Offer Constructive Feedback

In addition to useful lectures and assignments, creative writing courses give you access to helpful, instructional feedback. Most instructors hold Masters or Doctoral degrees in English or creative writing and, as a result, they have ample knowledge of what works in literature, as well as tons of experience in giving feedback.

Creative writing courses give you access to helpful, instructional feedback.

In the best online creative writing classes, an instructor will both inspire you to write and guide you towards being a better writer. Their feedback will cover the many aspects of great writing. For example, your instructor might comment on:

• Unclear language
• Ideas that need to be expanded
• Sentences that are too wordy or passive
• Opportunities to use more engaging vocabulary
• Places to improve writing structure
• Grammar and spelling corrections

Finally, an instructor will tell you what you are already doing well in your writing. When you write a really great metaphor , use interesting word choice, or find a moment of great insight, your instructor will tell you—highlighting the creative writing skills you have already mastered.

5. The Best Online Creative Writing Courses Focus on Craft

You might be wondering how creative writing classes are different from high school English. The big difference is that, where a typical English class focuses on basic grammar and literacy skills, creative writing classes focus specifically on craft.

Creative writing classes focus specifically on craft: the elements of language and storytelling that make a work of prose or poetry successful.

What is creative writing craft? Craft involves the elements of language and storytelling that make a work of prose or poetry successful. Focusing on craft is how creative writing classes primarily improve your writing.

Your writing class might focus on the structure of a short story, the different types of literary devices , the importance of effective word choice , or the elements of storytelling . A writing class should break down successful works of literature into the components that make it work, giving you the tools to practice your own creative writing skills.

Additionally, craft-focused writing helps you with everyday writing. From improving your vocabulary to structuring an email, the creative writing practice translates to improved writing in every aspect of your life.

6. The Best Online Creative Writing Classes Respect Your Creative Autonomy

One of the benefits of creative writing classes is the perspective you get from different writers. No two writers are working on the same projects, and in your course, you’re likely to work with students of different genres and writing styles.

your creative authority should be respected no matter how new you are to creative writing.

With so many different writing philosophies in one class, the new ideas you encounter can help strengthen your own writing. But in the worst-case scenario, a student or instructor might try to force their writing philosophy onto you. This is always unfair, as there is no one-size-fits-all writing advice, your creative authority should be respected no matter how new you are to creative writing .

For example, let’s say you’re writing a poem about your childhood cat, and the instructor thinks it should be a poem about your experiences growing up. No matter how many times you explain you want this poem to be about your cat, the instructor keeps telling you to write more about your childhood. By ignoring your goals for the poem, the instructor is not respecting your creative autonomy, because they think they know your writing needs better than you do.

No matter where you are in your writing journey, you are a writer, and you deserve respect and compassion as such. Every writer is on a constant journey of growth and discovery; your instructor and course should acknowledge and respect that. In your course, you will encounter many different ideas, but you should also encounter the freedom to accept or reject those ideas. It’s your writing: you get the final say!

7. The Best Online Creative Writing Courses Foster a Writing Community

A creative writing course fosters a creative writing community . This community gives you the motivation to create, as it creates a safe environment to experiment, take risks, and grow in your writing practice.

A writing community gives you the motivation to create, as it creates a safe environment to experiment, take risks, and grow in your writing practice.

For even the most solitary of writers, writing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Participating in a community of word enthusiasts can jog your creativity and give you useful feedback on your work. Additionally, the feedback you provide other writers in the community also helps you learn. It’s a self-fulfilling, self-sustaining process, where members of a writing group can continuously grow, improve, and fine-tune their love of the craft.

In fact, well-known authors throughout history have been a part of valuable writing communities, such as The Beat Poets, Stratford-on-Odeon, and other famous writing groups .

When you enroll in creative writing classes, you also take part in a writing community. Foster relationships, make new writing friends, and forge your own writing group—it may one day be famous, too!

8. The Best Online Creative Writing Classes Motivate You to Write

Writing is a skill that you can only develop through practice. For anyone just starting on our writing journeys, the best online creative writing classes keep you motivated and accountable.

The best online creative writing classes keep you motivated and accountable.

Every instructor works differently, but you can expect the following in a creative writing class:

• Creative writing prompts
• Daily journaling assignments
• Helpful revisions
• Inspirational readings
• Ideas to combat writer’s block
• Different opinions on how to write creatively

Some courses are even designed to motivate you, such as our course Write Your Novel! The Workshop With Jack . Sometimes, the biggest struggle is simply to begin, and creative writing courses help you do that.

9. The Best Online Creative Writing Classes Jumpstart a Writing Habit

The best online creative writing courses will get you into a writing habit. By combining lectures with thought-provoking assignments, one of the primary goals of a writing course is simply to get you writing.

You’ll gain the most from your creative writing courses if you block out the time to write every day.

To make the most of your creative writing classes, try to find time to write every day. It’s best to write at the same time every day, but if your schedule doesn’t allow this, sneak time where you can.

Here are some ways you can steal time as a writer:

• Journal for 15 minutes before you go to bed.
• Write while you wake up with your morning breakfast or coffee.
• Keep a journal on your phone during work and lunch breaks.
• Write on your commute to and from work. If you’re driving, consider keeping an audio journal, where you write by speaking into your phone’s recording device.
• Write on your phone while running on the treadmill.
• Put pen to paper while taking a bath.

These ideas won’t work for everyone, and it all depends on your schedule and lifestyle. Nonetheless, you’ll gain the most from your creative writing courses if you block out the time to write every day, no matter how brief that time is. And, your course should help you find the time to write!

10. The Best Online Creative Writing Courses Broaden Your Literary Horizons

You need to read great writing to produce great writing. The best online creative writing courses will introduce you to great literature, giving you additional opportunities to explore the writing craft.

The best online creative writing courses will introduce you to great literature, giving you additional opportunities to explore the writing craft.

In creative writing classes, you might read both classic and contemporary literature. As writers, it’s good to have knowledge of both worlds. Classic literature introduces you to the bedrock of modern writing, including the devices and rhetorical strategies that make for effective poetry and prose.

Contemporary literature, on the other hand, gives you a glimpse into today’s literary zeitgeist. It’s important to understand today’s publishing landscape and the type of work that’s being published, even if you don’t intend to write like contemporary authors.

In fact, it’s better if you don’t try to write like anyone else! Reading other writers shows you what works in literature and what doesn’t, giving you opportunities to experiment with form and style. But, at the end of the day, your writing is for you, not for publishers or particular writing schools.

Use your creative writing classes as opportunities to explore literature, experiment with words, and discover what you’d like to write yourself.

11. The Best Online Creative Writing Classes Offer a Healthy Creative Outlet

Creative writing classes offer a healthy outlet for your creativity and emotions.

A healthy writing space can supplement your emotional health and wellbeing.

How is that so? With a space to put thoughts to paper, many writers inevitably reach breakthroughs about their own feelings and experiences. This is true regardless of whether you write poetry, fiction, plays, articles, or creative nonfiction.

Now, even the best online creative writing courses can’t replace the benefits of therapy. But, a healthy writing space can certainly supplement your emotional health and wellbeing. Between the prompts, community, and writing habits that a creative writing class fosters, you’re sure to come away from your course with renewed emotional health.

12. The Best Online Creative Writing Courses Give You Next Steps

Your education doesn’t end at the end of your course. If anything, the best online creative writing courses are only the beginning of your writing journey!

The best online creative writing courses are only the beginning of your writing journey!

The best online creative writing courses give you opportunities for continuous growth. Those opportunities can take many forms, such as: a list of literary journals to submit to, further readings on a topic of interest, future creative writing classes, or even simply the instructor’s email.

If you’re ready to move on to the next level of your career, your instructor should provide you with next steps. And if you crave more learning, ask the instructor!

A creative writing course is much like life: the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Being an active participant will teach you as much about creative writing as the instructor will, because engaging with language is how you grow as a writer. Actively working with suggestions and ideas, keeping a daily writing practice, and offering other students constructive feedback will all boost your creative writing skills.

A creative writing course is much like life: the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.

Additionally, do your research before you enroll in the course, or you might end up taking a class that isn’t suited to your needs. Look up the instructor for the course, their teaching style and previous publications, and how much experience they have as a writing coach. If they don’t seem well suited towards your learning style, they might develop your creative writing skills, and they won’t be worth the cost.

Find the Best Online Creative Writing Courses at Writers.com!

Are you looking for a writing community? Are you ready to get writing? Check out some of the upcoming courses at Writers.com , the oldest creative writing school on the internet.

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Creative Writing Course Descriptions

Whether you want to try something for the first time, or dive deep into your area of study, our courses offer you the opportunity to shine a light on what interests you. 

Please note:  The Course Catalog  should be used for all official planning. 

Explore a sample of Creative Writing courses offered by the Department of English:

ENG 180:  Introduction to Creative Writing  

A survey of prominent literary works through the lens of creative writing. Students will analyze works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry and will have the opportunity to respond creatively to the assigned readings-- i.e., by composing original stories, creative essays, and poems. Assigned texts will seek to expose students to various writing styles, and provide examples of the successes and strategies of other writers. In addition to learning various aspects of reading and discussing texts as writers, students will learn how to respond to writing in different genres. Units: 6 

ENG 350:  Creative Writing: Non-Fiction  

Practice in the writing of non-fictional prose. Units: 6  Prerequisite: ENG 180. Sophomore standing or consent of instructor 

ENG 360:  Creative Writing: Fiction 

Practice in the writing of short fiction. Units: 6  Prerequisite: ENG 180. Sophomore standing or consent of instructor 

ENG 370:  Creative Writing: Poetry 

Practice in the writing of poetry. Units: 6  Prerequisite: ENG 180. 

ENG 560:  Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction 

A workshop for students with previous fiction writing experience. Units: 6  Prerequisite: ENG 360 or consent of instructor 

ENG 562:  Advanced Creative Writing: Novel Writing  

Course for students composing creative, book-length works of prose. Units: 6  Prerequisite: ENG 350 or ENG 360, and ENG 550 or ENG 560 

ENG 565:  Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry 

A workshop for students with previous poetry writing experience. Units: 6  Prerequisite: ENG 370 or consent of instructor 

ENG 601:  Senior Seminar in Creative Writing 

A seminar involving analysis of theoretical, critical, literary, and practical (i.e.,craft-related) readings at an advanced level in conjunction with students' writing of an original, substantial creative work, in either poetry or prose. Students working in different genres will have the opportunity to read one another's work and discuss, as a group, both the challenges and possibilities associated with composing lengthy creative projects. Each section of the seminar will focus on a theme that can accommodate variety in students' individual research projects. Units: 6  Prerequisite: Majors only; junior standing for spring term, otherwise, senior standing; at least two English courses numbered 400 or above, and two workshops numbered 500 or above. 

INTRODUCTION TO CREATIVE WRITING

• Kara Mae Brown

Course Description

Our introduction to creative writing takes seriously the idea that to write creatively is both a craft and a practice. A craft meaning: writing is something that can be taught, can be learned, and can be improved with time and practice. A practice meaning: creative writing must be a habitual act that you dedicate yourself to without the promise of a quick or easy reward. This class will tend to both the craft of creative writing by introducing some of the core conventions of both poetry and prose. This class will tend to the practice of creative writing by asking you to engage in many reading, writing, and revising exercises and introducing the ways in which communities of writers work together to strengthen each others’ work.

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Selected Course Descriptions

The English Department offers a wide variety of Creative Writing courses on range of exciting topics.  We welcome you into our curriculum, where you might enjoy some of the classes below.

Slam Poetry   

Professor Daemond Arrindell

Slam Poetry is a term used to describe the style of writing and performance that has taken the world of poetry by storm since the inception of the "Poetry Slam" in the late 80's. But what is the slam style of poetry? And what is a poetry slam? In this course, we will dive deep into those questions and their answers. A main focus of this class will be to discuss, evaluate and analyze past and present slam poems, poets and styles both on the page as well as in performance. To observe what makes these poems effective, powerful, and moving within the craft of writing and what skill the poets employ to bring those poems to life on the stage. The goals of the course will be to for you to gain the skills to write well-crafted poems (imagistic, personal, and evocative) and to then employ the performance style that will best serve the theme and voice of each piece.

Graphic Novel

Professor Peter Bagge   

While combining words and pictures to tell a story dates back to the ancient Egyptians, the combination of the two has developed rapidly since the turn of the last century, in the forms of comic books and comic strips.  Moreover, the last few decades has seen a huge expansion in the use of this distinct medium, especially in the form of long term story telling (i.e.: "graphic novels"). 

This course will go over the history of comic art over the last century in order to familiarize the students with its many achievements and applications, while also providing inspiration for your own ideas.  We'll also discuss the basic language and techniques employed by comic writers and artists to better prepare you for your own assignments.

Young Adult Fiction   

Professor Stephanie Lewis  

Writers and readers are drawn to Young Adult fiction for a variety of reasons: the compelling plots of books like The Hunger Games , the unique characters that bring John Green's novels to life, Melissa Marr's exquisitely-built fantasy worlds, and the stories like Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak  and Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why  that help teens survive a sometimes dark and troubling world. In this class, we'll examine all of these aspects of YA Fiction. We'll read YA books from multiple genres as models and for inspiration. Through a variety of writing exercises and discussion, we'll explore character, point-of-view, plot, construction of scene, setting, theme, and teen voice. You will begin to work on your own Young Adult novel in the genre of your choice. There will also be time spent on peer review and workshopping, revision, and an in-depth discussion of the business of publishing YA books. By the end of the course, you will have at least two revised chapters and a synopsis to guide you toward completion of a publishable quality YA novel.

Writing Scripts   

Dr. Sean McDowell     

This course takes a practice-based approach to screenwriting, engaging the Aristotelian foundations of story, plot, character, dialogue, and conflict within the framework of the individual writer's lived experiences. You will write scenes on a weekly basis and we will read and critique these scenes during workshop. This scene work prepares you to produce a final short film screenplay. With the filmmaking tools of the 21st century taken into account-inexpensive video cameras and audio recorders, self-promoted internet distribution, and handheld devices that literally put cinematic experiences in our hands-you will write screenplays that can be independently produced on a low/no-budget basis. Your final scripts will have the option of getting produced (either by you or someone else) in subsequent sections of Narrative Filmmaking and Filmmaking I. 

Travel Writing: Stories Near and Far   

Dr. Susan Meyers   

Foreign lands and faraway places have captured the minds of readers and writers for centuries. In this creative writing class, we will explore the methods, styles, and ethical dimensions of writing about people and places around the world. From foundational stories like The Odyssey  and Gilgamesh  to spiritual journeys from Dante to Margery Kempe, travel-and the new insights that it can bring-has been a seminal means of intellectual and scientific discovery in western civilization. Recently, with the smashing success of bestsellers like Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love , travel writing has become so popular that major New York publishing houses have begun to devote entire imprints to a steady supply of tourism-based work from "writers who travel." At the same time, cultural critics caution writers-particularly those from countries with relatively more economic and political power-about the potential dangers of typecasting or misrepresenting the people and practices that they encounter abroad. In this class, we will examine both historical foundations and contemporary trends in tales and testimonies of travel, and we will practice writing about places near and far. As part of this work, we will explore various motivations for travel writing-journey, discovery, politics, storytelling, meditation, commerce, and self-discovery-as well as the ethical complexities that accompany them. Students will be introduced to the pertinent craft components of storytelling as they relate to travel, and they will be invited to write about place, travel, and community in a variety of formats. In addition, we will consider commercial aspects of travel writing, including publication venues, paying markets, and the lifestyle of a travel writer.

Writing Fiction: Longer Forms

Dr. Susan Meyers       

The idea of writing a full-length book can be exciting, intimidating, and mind-boggling. You might ask yourself, "How do I begin?" Or, "How much is enough?" What is  the process for planning and completing a book-length work of fiction, and how should such a work ultimately be put together? This class takes on these and other related questions in order to introduce you to the process, craft, and industry of writing longer fiction. Through analysis of craft essays by working writers as well as several book-length works, we will consider core principals related to structure, time, theme, and characterization. Alongside these discussions, we will survey the principle forms that longer fiction takes in today's market: novels, novellas, multi-perspective novels, vignette-driven novels, and story cycles. Your own work in this course will include original writing that will contribute to a larger work-in-progress that you will summarize and outline by the end of the term. Full-class workshops will provide you with feedback on your work, and additional professionally-oriented assignments will introduce you to the process of seeking publication for book-length works of fiction.  

Global Poetry    

Professor Maged Zaher  

Poetry is a global and diverse practice. In this class, we will explore a diverse set of poets--across languages, cultures, poetic practices--from ancient Arabic love poets, to modern and postmodern lyricism, to dirty conceptualism. The aim of this class is to expand both our reading and writing practices. We will contrast different poetic practices that will redefine and open up our understanding of what poetry is.

Kate Koppelman, Ph.D. Chair 206-296-5476 [email protected]

Bridget Hrybiniak Senior Administrative Assistant 206-296-5420 [email protected]

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Creative Writing at City Tech

Course Descriptions

Current creative writing course offerings.

ENG 1141: Introduction to Creative Writing

Introductory techniques and skills in writing poetry, drama, the short story and the essay. Emphasis on the student’s awareness of creative potential. Foundation course for the Academic Minor in Creative Writing.

ENG 2142: Writing Poetry

Practice the craft of writing effective lyric, narrative, and experimental poems, studying poems by accomplished poets and producing poems in a seminar and workshop setting. Key concepts and skills include observation and description, the use of persona, imagery, metaphor, connotation, sound, line breaks, structure in poetry, syntax and grammar. The course incorporates a variety of cultural perspectives in the theory and practice of writing poetry.

Future Creative Writing Courses

Beginning in Fall 2024, new courses in creative writing will be added. See the appropriate college catalog for information on specific class offerings. Forthcoming courses include:

ENG 2143: Writing for the Stage and Screen

An introduction to writing dramatic stories for the stage and screen with a focus on creative processes and techniques associated with creating modern, conventional stories for theater and film. Covers developing scripts, creating story ideas, writing and formatting dramatic scenes, and pitching film and stage projects to peers. The course includes analyzing dramatic literature and engaging in research of dramatic texts, as well as studying methods and theory regarding act-based plays and films.

ENG 2144: Writing Fiction

An introduction to concepts of fiction writing, including strategies for plot and character development, expression, dialogue, point of view, effective language use, and revision. Read from a variety of fiction genres and forms from diverse voices to analyze choices made by professional writers. In-class workshops introduce methods for receiving and delivering effective constructive criticism with the goal of improving creative development.

ENG 2145: Writing Nonfiction: Memoir and the Personal Essay

An introduction to memoir and personal essay writing. Course topics include strategies and techniques to develop an autobiographical point of view, a unique reflective voice, storyline, expression, dialogue, effective language use, and strategies for revision. Read from a variety of genres and forms of memoir, autobiography, personal essays, journals, letters, and diaries to analyze choices and techniques used by professional writers. The workshop portion of this course introduces methods for receiving and delivering effective constructive feedback with the goal of improving one’s own creative development.

For specific course offerings, see the College Catalog for the appropriate semester or contact one of the Minor in Creative Writing program coordinators.

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ENG 231. Intro to Creative Writing

Spring 2014.

Introduction to Creative Writing

Course description.

Introduces the craft and practice of creative writing. Engages with both contemporary and classic authors within the primary genres of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. May also include exploration of other genres such as drama, screenwriting, digital storytelling, film, and performance genres. Develops use of craft elements discussed in class to compose original work in at least two genres. Covers revision practices for voice and purpose. Audit Available.

Course Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 

• Identify the basic craft elements of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction writing. 
• Read critically to analyze poetry, fiction, essays, and other written works. 
• Write original poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction works. 
• Participate in workshop method of critiquing creative writing. 
• Revise works within the creative writing process.

Suggested Outcome Assessment Strategies

The determination of assessment strategies is generally left to the discretion of the instructor. Here are some strategies that you might consider when designing your course: writings (journals, self-reflections, pre writing exercises, essays), quizzes, tests, midterm and final exams, group projects, presentations (in person, videos, etc), self-assessments, experimentations, lab reports, peer critiques, responses (to texts, podcasts, videos, films, etc), student generated questions, Escape Room, interviews, and/or portfolios. 

Department suggestions: Original poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction works, peer workshop, written analysis of creative texts.

Course Activities and Design

The determination of teaching strategies used in the delivery of outcomes is generally left to the discretion of the instructor. Here are some strategies that you might consider when designing your course: lecture, small group/forum discussion, flipped classroom, dyads, oral presentation, role play, simulation scenarios, group projects, service learning projects, hands-on lab, peer review/workshops, cooperative learning (jigsaw, fishbowl), inquiry based instruction, differentiated instruction (learning centers), graphic organizers, etc.

Course Content

Outcome #1: identify the basic crat elements of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction writing..

• point of view
• symbolism/allegory
• figurative language
• rhyme scheme
• speaker vs poet
• basic poetic forms (i.e. sonnet, haiky, villanelle, sestia, acrostic, ballad, ode, free verse, limerick, etc.)

Outcome #2: Read critically to analyze poetry, fiction, and essays.

• identiry genre
• identify main idea/point/purpose
• describe structure
• impacts of author choices
• annotating a text
• making claims
• summary vs analysis
• in class workshop
• instruction in constructive feedback (both written and verbal)
• crafting question as feedback

Outcome #3: Write original poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction work.

• Brainstorming
• writing journal 
• acrostic prompts
• hermit crab/mimic forms
• written description of images
• timed freewriting
• at least one fiction draft
• 2-5 poem drafts
• at least one creative nonfiction draft

Outcome #4: Participate in workshop method of critiquing creative writing.

• set community standards for in class workshop
• written drafts submitted in advance
• instruction on constructive and polite feeback
• guided workshop process
• both verbal and written feedback among peers

Outcome #5: Revise works within the creative writing process.

• reverse outlines
• cut & amp; rearrange
• scan and highlight
• revision checklists
• diction/word choice
• consistent point of view
• shifts in verb tense
• sentence/line variety
• paragraph breakdown
• integrate insights from workshop process in revision work
• integrate insights from readings in revision work
• write self-assessment of revision process

Suggested Texts and Materials

• OER Text:  Write or Left: An OER Textbook for Creative Writing Classes. Compiled and written by Sybil Priebe, an Associate Professor at the North Dakota State College of Science.
• OER Text:  the anti-textbook of writing (remixed). By Sybil Priebe and students.
• OER Text:  Introduction to Creative Writing. Linda Frances Lein, Alexandria Technical and Community College – Distance Minnesota
• OER Text:  Creative Writing, Creative Process. Matthew Cheney, Plymouth State University

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Creative Writing Program

1000 E. University Ave.

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: 307-766-6452

Fax: 307-766-3189

Email: [email protected]

Course Descriptions

CW 1040 Intro to Creative Writing    Bergstraesser      

This course is designed to help you craft various works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. In addition to in-class writing exercises, creative exercises outside of class, and discussions, you will critique each other’s writing in a constructive workshop atmosphere—thereby developing useful editorial skills that will help you improve your own writing.

Through lecture and discussion, we will explore the technique and devices involved in creating these three genres. We will read and discuss the works of many different writers, using their technique and content as a guide for your own writing.

And if this course description seems dull, the class is anything but.

CW 2080 Intro to Poetry      Northrop        TR 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

In this course we will read and write poetry; we will discuss, enthuse over and question our responses, question the poems and our expectations of poems. Completing and revising both in- and out-of-class writing assignments, students should expect to produce, by the end of the semester, a poetry portfolio (and artist statement).  Class time will be divided between discussion of reading assignments and workshop submissions.  Please see instructor with any questions. 

CW 2125 Special Topics in Writing: Animals. Northrop. TR 2:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Our worlds are not the only worlds. We live with and beside the non-human animals: pronghorn, Swainson’s hawks, lap dogs, mountain lions straying through town, pine beetles, Mourning Cloaks, drowned kittens, nighthawks overhead, raccoons in the kitchen, Mountain Whitefish.  How do we sound these worlds?  And why? To what ends?  Writers have long looked to and imagined the non-human, but how  do  we do that?  How do we write (and think) that which we name but may not be able to fully know?  In this course we will consider (through class discussion of assigned readings, independent research, writing exercises and semester-long creative writing projects) ways of thinking / representing non-human animals and our relationships with them. In this course, we will approach and mind those relationships.

We will be considering a range of creative work: stories, poems, essays, short videos, dramatic monologues, paintings, photographs.  Of each creative piece we will discuss the questions that we read as driving the piece, and the questions the piece raises for us.  It’s not possible for me to know our questions now, ahead of time, but some  possible  questions, or rather, some of my own questions:  How do we look at non-human animals?  How are we looked at?  How do non-human animal and human animal lives intersect?  What boundaries have been erected historically and why, to what end?  How are our lives shaped by non-human animals?  How are non-human animals lives shaped?  What responsibilities do humans have?  What causes for joy, what concerns?

CW 4050-02 Writers Workshop: Fiction. Pexton. TR 1:20 p.m. - 2:35 p.m.  

In this class students will read examples of published short stories, and possibly some longer work, and participate in discussions that break down the elements of fiction at work: character, setting/place, point of view, tone/style/narrative voice, dialog, conflict/plot, main ideas, etc. The reading will be mostly, if not entirely, Realism. The writing will be short stories of varying length, from flash fiction to short-short stories to full-length stories. Students who wish to write longer pieces should discuss the work with the instructor before committing to such a project for this class. The writing will be approximately 30 pp +/- of original fiction (this excludes, for the purposes of this course, fan fiction or game fiction) plus additional writing of occasional exercises and critiques/analyses of the outside reading and peers' work. Attendance required. If circumstances force the class to move entirely online, attendance will consist of posting required materials on the required date at the required hour. Text materials supplied by the instructor.   

CW 5540-01 Seminar: Writing for Public Audiences. Brown. 

CW 5540-02 Seminar. Northrop. T 4:10 p.m. - 7:10 p.m.

CW 5560-01 Writing Workshop: Time & Place. Hagy. M 3:10 p.m. - 6:20 p.m.

CW 5560-02 Writing Workshop: Creative Nonfiction. Brown. W 3:10 p.m. - 6:20 p.m.

For a full listing all courses offered by Creative Writing, please use the UW Catalog .

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CWCL - Creative Writing and Contemporary Literature Course Descriptions

CWCL  2500 Contemporary Literary Magazines: Revision, Editing, and Production   1-0-1 A practicum focusing on the content, editing, and production of traditional and electronic contemporary literary magazines.

CWCL 3400  Introduction to Creative Writing   3-0-3 Prerequisite: ENGL 2110 or 2110H, 2120 or 2120H, 2130 or 2130H, or 2060.    An introduction to the stylistic conventions and techniques of poetry and prose.  The course also emphasizes techniques of literary invention and offers a brief exposure to the analysis and critique of peer texts.

CWCL 3420  Introduction to Creative Non-Fiction   3-0-3 Prerequisite: CWCL 3400.   An introduction to non-fiction writing which employs a variety of literary techniques common in literary journalism and fiction writing.  Students will read model texts and further develop workshopand revision techniques in order to produce a carefully revised piece of their own non-fiction.

CWCL 3440 Poetry Writing   3-0-3 Prerequisite: CWCL 3400.   A study of poetic technique beyond the fundamentals introduced in ENGL/CWCL 3400. The course emphasizes prosody and poetic forms, both prescribed and organic.  Students receive further training in workshop techniques via the analysis of poems produced by class members.

CWCL 3460  Fiction Writing   3-0-3 Prerequisite: CWCL 3400.   A craft-oriented course devoted to the genre of the modern short story.  Students will study classic stories by writers such as Chekhov, Maupassant, O’Connor, and more recent award-winning writers as well as undertaking exercises in technique and producing at least two stories of their own.

CWCL 4410  Contemporary Poetics: Form and Theory   3-0-3 Prerequisite or co-requisite: ENGL 3060 or CWCL 3400.   A study of key formal and theoretical elements of 20th and 21st century Anglophone poetry and poetry in translation. The course will  emphasize poetry as genre, with a reflection on craft and issues in prosody.

CWCL 4420  Contemporary Narrative: Form and Theory   3-0-3 Prerequisite or co-requisite: ENGL 3060 or CWCL 3400.   A study of key formal and theoretical elements of 20th and 21st century Anglophone fiction and fiction in translation. The course will emphasize the novel as genre, with a reflection on craft and narrative history and analysis.

CWCL 4430  Contemporary Creative Non-Fiction: Form and Theory   3-0-3 Prerequisite: ENGL 3060 or CWCL 3400.      A study of key formal and theoretical elements in 20th and 21st centuryAnglophone creative nonfiction and creative nonfiction in translation. The course will emphasize creative nonfiction as genre, with a reflection on craft and issues related to its narrative and lyric structures.

CWCL 4440  Advanced Poetry Writing   3-0-3 Prerequisite: CWCL 3400.   A workshop-intensive course emphasizing technical analysis of poems produced by members of the class.  The course also emphasizes the application of various aesthetic theories, and students will articulate their own poetics.

CWCL 4460  Advanced Fiction Writing   3-0-3 Prerequisite: CWCL 3400.   A workshop-intensive course in fiction writing.  Students will produce their own work and study narrative alternatives and storytelling strategies. Students will also read book-length story collections and/or novels and write stylistic analyses of a major contemporary writer.

For additional offerings in the Department of English, see English as a Second Language (ENSL), English (ENGL), Journalism (JOUR), and Linguistics (LING).

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Course Syllabus

Course Description

"creative writing 101: nurturing the art of expression".

"Creative Writing 101" delves into the enigmatic essence of human creativity, especially as it manifests in written form. Our journey spans a vast expanse of genres: from timeless novels, intense dramas, lyrical poetry, insightful essays, screenplay arts, to the everyday stories that bind us. Each genre, in its own way, offers a fresh perspective on the creative impulse.

At the heart of any writer's work lies their unique voice. This course emphasizes the exploration of the Writer's Voice, its distinct resonance, and the personality it reflects. We will discuss how writing serves not just as a tool for storytelling but also as a therapeutic avenue. The course will dismantle myths surrounding the writing process, delving into the age-old legends and narratives that have shaped our understanding of the written word. The inspiration you seek might be found in the most unexpected of places, and we aim to guide you there.

Who can truly grasp the entirety of creativity? The one who does might be hailed as the most profound author of our time. Yet, it is this very search, this passionate pursuit, that forms the crux of our exploration. Your creative prowess isn't mere self-deception or hubris. Whether a neophyte or a seasoned professional, your creative essence is intrinsic, akin to your smile or the unique way you perceive the world around you. In many ways, tapping into this creativity is a spiritual endeavor, a connection to the larger tapestry of existence.

Creativity isn't limited to art; it's intertwined with our daily lives. For instance, consider the myriad choices that go into creating something as commonplace as a phone directory: from typography decisions to content layout. Yet, in the hands of an actor of Al Pacino's caliber, even a phone book can be rendered with the dramatic flair of Shakespearean prose. Creativity is everywhere, waiting to be recognized and harnessed.

Your understanding of your own creative process is deeply personal. It's a flame that demands nurturing. Writers, in particular, face unique challenges. Unlike instantaneous art forms, written works require time to be consumed. They demand dissemination, be it through publication or digital platforms. Recognition can be an arduous journey. Yet, the passion for writing, the irresistible pull towards self-expression, remains undimmed.

How does one cultivate creativity? It's akin to holistic self-care. Renowned figures like the Dalai Lama, St. Francis of Assisi, and Mahatma Gandhi have all contemplated the unfathomable depths of creativity without arriving at a definitive understanding. Instead of dissecting creativity, we should foster it, letting it grow organically. In essence, nurturing your creativity is synonymous with nurturing your very soul.

The benefits of creativity are manifold. It uplifts spirits, heals wounds, and brings joy. At times, it can be a ticket to prosperity or a tool for forging connections. Yet, as with all things, it comes with its risks. The very passion that fuels creativity can sometimes become overwhelming, so it's essential to maintain a balance.

As you traverse the world of creative writing, remember this: writing, at its core, is an art of innovation. It's a dance of ideas, a harmonious blend of thoughts and expressions. In the vast realm of creativity, there is no room for stagnation. Movement, growth, and evolution are its lifeblood.

What is creative writing? In its purest form, it's unadulterated joy!

Course Outline:

• Lesson 1 : Personal Creativity in Writing
• Lesson 2 : Exploring Various Written Forms and Their Creative Essence
• Lesson 3 : The Art and Soul of Poetry Writing
• Lesson 4 : Crafting Essays: A Source of Creative Bliss
• Lesson 5 : The World of Stories and Fiction
• Lesson 6 : The Spectrum of Dramatic Forms
• Lesson 7 : Novels: Diving Deep into Extended Narratives
• Lesson 8 : Writing From Experience, Acknowledging the Unknown
• Lesson 9 : Your Unique Identity as a Writer
• Lesson 10 : Embracing Writing as Therapeutic Practice
• Lesson 11 : Illusions in Writing: Separating Myths from Reality
• Lesson 12 : Culinary Arts as a Writer's Metaphor
• Lesson 13 : Writing for the Soul vs. Audience Pleasure
• Lesson 14 : Connecting Words with the Infinite
• Lesson 15 : Grappling with the Limitations and Boundlessness of Words.

Dive into the fascinating world of creative writing and uncover the artist within you.

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Learning Outcomes

• Define ways to develop personal creativity in writing.
• Describe various written forms and define the creative flow.
• Demonstrate creativity through easy essays.
• Describe dramatic forms.
• Demonstrate your personality in your writing.
• Compare and contrast writing a novel versus writing a short story.
• Describe how writing can be therapeutic.
• Demonstrate mastery of lesson content at levels of 70% or higher.

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