Course Outline of Record

Item	Value
Curriculum Committee Approval Date	12/02/2020
Top Code	150700 - Creative Writing
Units	3 Total Units
Hours	72 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 72)
Total Outside of Class Hours	0
Course Credit Status	Credit: Degree Applicable (D)
Material Fee	No
Basic Skills	Not Basic Skills (N)
Repeatable	No
Grading Policy	Standard Letter (S),  Pass/No Pass (B)
Associate Arts Local General Education (GE)	OC Humanities - AA (OC1)
Associate Science Local General Education (GE)	OCC Humanities - AS (OSC2)

Course Description

For students who have completed at least fifty pages of an original novel, this intermediate level writing workshop focuses on planning and developing the novel into a full-length manuscript. The course explores theory, technique and the practical discipline of writing fiction, and examines models from various genres (literary classics, historical fiction, detective fiction, romance, science fiction and others). In addition, students learn to write critiques demonstrating a working knowledge of literary technique and terminology. Transfer Credit: CSU.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

1. Analyze the narrative strategies of published fiction, evaluate elements of fiction in student and professional work, and compose multiple chapters of a novel-in-progress.

Course Objectives

• 1. Demonstrate knowledge of specific techniques of story telling with a concentration on scene building and plot elements as derived from a study of modern and classic novels.
• 2. Maintain a disciplined writing schedule and a method of composition, making substantial progress on the completion of a book-length manuscript.
• 3. Analyze and assess the work of contemporary writers and critics using intermediate novelistic techniques.
• 4. Write one hundred pages of a typed manuscript (seven pages per week, on a regular schedule) and present fifty pages for evaluation.
• 5. Criticize and discuss manuscripts according to workshop protocol, incorporating line and scene editing skills.
• 6. Develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of fiction through analysis of published works and student works in progress.

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Lecture Content

Introduction to intermediate techniques of fiction Narrative Point of View Authorial Voice Texture Sensory Detail Plot Character Dialogue Time Compression Scene Panorama Movement and Modulation The Intermediate Writers Schedule Page Count Hour Count Writers Block Prewriting Revising Editing Intermediate Concerns Advanced Structure Multiple Plotlines Complication Character Arcs Continuity Advanced Outlines Methods of Intermediate Workshop Criticism Analysis of structure, style, and theme Applying judgments to published work Applying judgments to students work Techniques for writing effective critiques Intermediate Study of Appropriate Models Contemporary novels Literary and genre fiction Critical reviews and essays Preliminary Research Audience Expectations Location and Backstory Genre Conventions Experimental Forms Analysis of Essays on Craft Intermediate Editing Concerns

Method(s) of Instruction

• Lecture (02)
• DE Live Online Lecture (02S)

Instructional Techniques

Lectures focus on intermediate creative writing techniques and critical thinking strategies about the craft of writing a novel, providing a variety of methods to enhance style, content, and voice. Lectures also focus on the methods of aesthetic evaluation and the process of revision.   Demonstration: Models of modern and contemporary novels from various genres (literary classics, historical fiction, detective fiction, romance, science fiction, and others) are demonstrated using a variety of methods: books, handouts, overheads, videos, DVDs.   Discussion: Students engage in regular discussions on reading and writing assignments, workshop group writing assignments, and topics (social, political, cultural, etc.) introduced in class.    Technology: Students use the Internet to access information about major writers.   Students may also attend live readings presented by visiting authors, to model and assess the oral presentation and to meet with and talk to the professional writers.   Video Presentation: Students view relevant videos of major authors reading and discussing their work.   Collaborative Learning: Partners and groups engage in a large amount of discussion of each others written assignments and manuscripts.   Supplemental Learning: Students may attend live readings presented by visiting authors, when available, to model and assess the oral presentation, and to meet with and talk to the professional writers.   Conferencing: The instructor is available for individual conferences throughout the semester.

Reading Assignments

Reading: 45 hours (3 hr/week) Students interpret and evaluate substantial amounts of literature, including classic, modern and contemporary novels from various genres, and they review and discuss journal articles, critical essays, and books about fiction. Students then discuss the literatures relative success according to the application of standards set by class research and discussion. Students learn and demonstrate the ability to apply these critical standards to contemporary novels.   Students must also read and critique their colleagues manuscripts each week, in seminar fashion, according to specific protocols, which requires them to analyze, criticize, and assess one anothers manuscripts according to fundamental narrative techniques such as point of view, authorial voice, texture, sensory detail, plot, character, dialogue, time compression, scene, panorama, and movement. Critical thinking is involved in determining technical solutions to problems in the in-progress manuscripts. Additionally, students read selected novels and/or novel excerpts for structural and technical analysis.

Writing Assignments

PLEASE NOTE: Writing assignments are prepared outside of class.  Writing: 90 hours (roughly 6 hrs/week)  Students write a substantial amount of fiction, at least 100 pages of extended narrative over the semester. In addition, they write weekly 250-word critiques analyzing their own work and others work accocrding to intermediate narrative strategies and techniques. Students may keep journals on the process of writing and on observations that may be included in their creative work. Students begin to use long-manuscript writing strategies such as the page-count calendar and the process notebook. For intermediate novel writers, the portfolio consists of 100 pages of discover draft narrative, exhibiting a competency in the strategies and techniques of the long narrative.

Out-of-class Assignments

144 hours (roughly 9 hours/week) Reading: 45 hours (3 hr/week); Writing: 90 hours (roughly 6 hrs/week); Research, as appropriate: 10 hrs (1-2 hours/week) Students will write a substantial amount of fiction outside of class, at least 100 pages of extended narrative over the course of the semester. In addition, they will write weekly 250-word critiques analyzing their own work and others work according to intermediate narrative strategies and techniques.   Students may partake in visiting writer activities, attending talks and readings by professional writers, and participating in question-and-answer sessions with these professionals.   Students will initiate preliminary research into the circumstances of their characters and into the conventions of the genre they are working within.   Students may keep journals on the process of writing and on observations that may be included in their creative work. Students begin to use long-manuscript writing strategies such as the page-count calendar and the process notebook.

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

Analysis of ones own writing, including creating and revising large portions of the manuscript, is evaluated in terms of the students ability to critique using specific elements of the novel such as point of view, authorial voice, texture, sensory detail, plot, character, dialogue, time compression, scene, panorama, and movement.   Students may also be evaluated on their presentation of oral critiques during workshop discussion. Criteria are clarity, knowledge of studied material, attention to the manuscript being discussed, and utility of the critique.

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

Substantial writing, including creating and critiquing at least 100 pages of the manuscript, is evaluated in terms of the students ability to complete the exercises that are timely, grammatically correct, and relevant to the assignment and that incorporate the specific elements of the novel discussed in class, such as point of view, authorial voice, texture, sensory detail, plot, character, dialogue, time compression, scene, panorama, and movement.   Written responses to published literature are evaluated on the basis of completion, levels of analysis, and summary. Weekly written critiques are evaluated by peers and by the instructor on the basis of technical accuracy and utility of the critiques to the writer(s) receiving them.   Skill Demonstration: Students are evaluated on their class performance, their adherence to deadlines and their manuscript preparation and presentation. They are also evaluated on the level of their critiques and comments during group discussions and their analysis of their own work and the work of others.   Portfolio Review: Students are evaluated on a final portfolio of their best presentation of their manuscript on the basis of timely submission, clarity of presentation, and technical merit.

Eligible Disciplines

English: Masters degree in English, literature, comparative literature, or composition OR bachelors degree in any of the above AND masters degree in linguistics, TESL, speech, education with a specialization in reading, creative writing, or journalism OR the equivalent. Masters degree required.

Textbooks Resources

1. Required Atchity, Kenneth. A Writers Time, ed. New York, NY: Norton, 1995 Rationale: To help students develop a writing schedule that will allow them to complete a first draft in a timely manner. 2. Required Obstfeld, Raymond. Novelists Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes, ed. Writers Digest Books, 2000 Rationale: Provides students with a practical approach to developing cohesive, compelling, believable scenes. 3. Required Leder, Meg, Heffron, Jack, Ed.. The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, 2nd ed. Writers Digest, 2010

Other Resources

1. A variety of novels used as models for narrative technique and strategy. Typical novels would include works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Toni Morrison, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jonathan Safran Foer, Zadie Smith, and others. Additional novels in genres specific to the students manuscript project.