As science fiction author N.K. Jemisin wrote, “Writing short stories taught me about the quick hook and the deep character. Shorts gave me space to experiment with unusual plots and story plots…which otherwise I would’ve considered too risky for the lengthy investment of a novel.” Within the constraints of short-form writing, writers push themselves to make the most of space, time, and language. As a genre, science fiction expects us as readers to build galaxies within the space of a few words. Together, hort form writing and science fiction forces writers to analyze even the smallest elements of a story–the most basic elements.
This course will focus on short-form writing in order to build those fundamental creative writing skills and use science fiction as a means of re-viewing the possibilities of those skills. Through flash fiction, prose poetry, and other short-form writing, students will strengthen their development of characters and setting. Students will focus on language in their writing through the careful selection of sounds and words that create dynamic worlds within the constraints of short stories.
Format: Synchronous, MWF, 10:30am-11:20 am
Required Texts (subject to change)
Octavia E. Butler Bloodchild and Other Stories
Ursula Le Guin Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Stories
Francine Prose Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who want to Write Them
Other texts by creators, such as Samuel R. Delany, Devorah Majors, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, Solomon Enos, and more, will be made available online.