Apply: Advanced Fiction Class, Arc of the Novel

The Creative Writing Program welcomes applications to the Spring 2018 Advanced Fiction course Arc of the Novel.

ENGL 4702 - Fiction Writing 3: Arc of the Novel
Instructor: Stacey D'Erasmo
Rose Hill Campus, TF: 1 - 2:15 p.m.
Advanced Fiction Workshop, Prerequisite: Writing sample application.
Robert Olen Butler says that what is essential to any work of narrative art is a “character who yearns.” If this is the impulse that sets most novels in motion—for instance, we could describe Fitzgerald's Gatsby as a poor young man who tries to win the love of a rich girl—it is the threat to this desire and the protagonist's attempts to overcome it that generates a sense of urgency and drama. In this class we will pay particular attention to the composition of the novel from a writer's point of view. We will consider development of protagonists and minor characters; voice, perspective and form; beginnings, endings and formal wholeness; sustaining narrative arcs; compelling a reader's interest for the duration of the text, and various aspects necessary to create a compelling work. Students will have the opportunity to make significant progress on a novel already begun in workshops and in conferences with the instructor.

Access the Application
Due by November 8th