Accelerated Getting Started In Writing
Do you feel you have an aptitude for writing, but you’ve never had a chance to really give it serious attention? Perhaps you’ve been writing reports and memos for work, and you’re yearning to try something more creative—maybe even try your hand at freelancing. Are you overwhelmed by the possibilities? Or not even sure what the possibilities are? You’ve come to the right place!
Course Level: Beginner
Required Book: Keys to Great Writing by Stephen Wilbers
Workshop Length: 6 weeks
Tuition: $250.00 ($225 for VIP)
Start Date: View Accelerated Getting Started In Writing Course Schedule
Course Structure:
This version of Getting Started in Writing is only six weeks long. We’ve condensed the course material from the longer versions of this course, and designed this fast-paced workshop for those students who want to get their feet wet now, or who don’t have the time to commit to a 12- or 28-week workshop. Many of the reading and writing assignments have been shortened, making this workshop a true “sampler” of many different creative writing styles and techniques!
This workshop will consist of six one-week sessions. Each session will include online lectures (text based) and associated textbook reading assignments, along with a writing assignment related to the session’s topic, which will be submitted to the instructor for private review. In each session, work will be posted for group review and feedback. Throughout the workshop you will be able to participate in asynchronous lecture discussion and encouraged to take advantage of ongoing informal discussions and posted self-directed writing exercises. Each session will also include a “Writer’s Glossary” to help you become familiar with terms related to the craft and business of writing. (1.2 CEUs)
In this course you will:
- Explore your writing interests and discover your personal aptitudes
- Dicsover a wide variety of categories of writing
- Learn basic techniques to improve narrative skills
Please note: This workshop is intended to be an overview and introduction to a number of types of writing—from fillers, to short stories to books. You will not be expected to submit fully-developed, final-draft work, but rather you will be encouraged to experiment with a variety of forms with the goal of discovering your own writing “path.”
Who should take this course:
- Beginning writers who have put writing off long enough and want to get started now
- Individuals who have always been interested in writing
- Writers who want to explore multiple writing disciplines
Workshop Outline
Session One: Getting Started—The Writer’s Toolbox
- Discover essential writers’ reference guides and the resources of your local library
- Learn the fundamentals of grammar and mechanics
- Use description and sensory detail to enhance your writing
Writing Assignment: Three versions of a descriptive paragraph, each establishing a different mood or emotion (50 words or less per paragraph); an original passage that uses description and sensory detail to paint a “word picture” (up to 250 words).
Session Two: The Elements of Creative Writing
- Learn how the same principles of creative writing—characterization, viewpoint, dialogue, and conflict, among others—apply to both fiction and nonfiction
- Apply these techniques to any kind of writing you choose to do
Writing Assignment: A “sketch” of a fictional character or a real person that reveals something important about that character through a combination of dialogue, narrative description and action (up to 250 words); A short scene of dialogue between two characters in conflict (up to 250 words).
Session Three: Short Nonfiction
- Learn about fillers, research articles, personal experience articles, how-to articles, and other article types
- Find out what kind of nonfiction writing appeals to your talents and interests.
Writing Assignment: Two to three short fillers; one short personal experience OR how-to article that does not require research (up to 500 words); a plan for a research article, including a brief summary of the article idea and a description of the research you would conduct (up to 500 words).
Session Four: Short Fiction
- Learn about the different categories (genres) of fiction, and the various short fiction forms—short stories, short-short stories and novellas;
- Understand the basics of plot
- Use outlining
- Explore your own story ideas
Writing Assignment: A complete short-short story (up to 1,000 words) OR the first 1,000 words of a longer story or novella.
Session Five: Books
- Discuss different book types: novels, nonfiction books and memoirs
- Use openings to get off to a strong start
- Explore your own ideas to decide what kind of book might be in your future.
Writing Assignment: A completed Idea Summary Sheet for a book you’d like to write (fiction or nonfiction); the opening pages of the book (up to 1,000 words).
Session Six: The Finishing Touches
- Learn the importance of revising and rewriting
- Tips on how to be your own best editor
- Prepare a professionally formatted manuscript
- Decide what kind of writing you’re most interested in pursuing, and where to go from here.
Writing Assignment: An original work of fiction or nonfiction, either a complete short work or the opening of a longer work (up to 1,500 words).
