Fundamentals of Creative Writing
Course Description
Summary
In an interview with the Paris Review in 1984, James Baldwin spoke of creative writing as a means of "finding out": "When you’re writing, you’re trying to find out something which you don’t know. The whole language of writing for me is finding out what you don’t want to know, what you don’t want to find out. But something forces you to anyway." This is writing as a form of inquiry, so deep-seated that it's involuntary: the only real, consistently available means we have of gaining better purchase on the world around us, and on ourselves. In this class, we'll devote ourselves to an analytical study of the three major genres of creative writing--fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction--and participate in workshops that will allow students to better learn the 'craft' of each. There will be regular exercises in close looking, frequent writing exercises, and readings designed to build your frames of reference as a creative writer and a critical thinker.
Learning Outcomes
- 1. To steep yourself in the tools that writers use to use their work in the three major genres as a means of "finding out" (Baldwin);
2. To produce a portfolio of work across genres that students will improve with subsequent drafts;
3. To develop a regular writing practice, both creative and critical
4. To become a better literary citizen at Bennington by giving and receiving critical feedback in a constructive mode;
5. To hone your skills as a critical reader and to "find out" more about your place in the world through both reading and writing.