ENG 273: Writing Place
In Person, T Th 10:30-11:45
When we write stories, we write about and from a particular place. These two senses of place—the settings of our stories, and also the places we write from and create together—will be the guiding frameworks for this course. Writer Rebecca Makkai calls setting “the most underutilized tool in fiction,” and we will examine and experiment with its possibilities by reading other writers’ stories that utilize it well, and by crafting our own writing experiments that consciously use setting to enhance our fiction. As Makkai says, setting is a physical place and time in a story, but also an occasion which influences and is influenced by our characters. This offers so much to work with!
We will also cultivate our classroom writing community—a place we write with and from—throughout the semester through discussions and workshopping. This means that you will be sharing your work with your peers, and offering your own feedback on their work as well. Throughout the semester, we will practice offering constructive and respectful feedback together. Although we often think about writing as a solitary endeavor, it is truly a collaborative engagement. With that in mind, we will also think deeply about the places we write about and our relationships and responsibilities to them.
Texts
Assigned readings will be provided as pdfs or linked to online.
Assignments
This is a Writing Intensive course requiring a total of 4,000 words of finished prose. Assignment will include:
- Short Reading Responses on assigned texts
- Short Writing Experiments based on various prompts
- Workshop Pieces (students will expand on and revise their favorite Experiments into longer pieces for workshop)
- Workshop memos for peers
- Workshop reflections + Revision plans
- Final Project (a complete, revised piece or pieces) + a craft reflection