Elective/Specialty Writing Courses

Story in Fiction and Film – 55-1305-01 (undergrads only) Thursday, 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Fulfills HA requirement 3 credits undergrads - Fiction has been an important source for cinematic storytelling since its earliest incarnations. This class critically explores the elements of fiction writing as they are translated on film: voice, point-of-view, dialogue, scene, structure, and other fictional forms. Students will view films, read fictional excerpts, discuss techniques, and hear speakers, studying how these elements can be used to heighten their own stories. This course will be helpful for students interested in studying fiction, film, and other arts and media disciplines. Prerequisite: 52-1152 English Composition II.

Story in Fiction and Film: International 55-1306-01 (undergrads only) Wednesday, 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Fulfills HA requirement 3 credits undergrads - Fiction has been an important source for cinematic storytelling since its earliest incarnations. This class critically explores the elements of fiction writing as they are translated to film with an emphasis on foreign and international stories: voice, point of view, dialogue, scene, structure, and other fictional forms. Students will view films, read fictional excerpts, discuss techniques, and hear speakers, studying how these elements can be used to heighten their own stories. This course will be helpful for students interested in studying fiction, film, and other arts and media disciplines. Prerequisite: 52-1152 English Composition II.

Fiction Seminar 55-4108-01 (undergrads) or 55-5108-01 (grads) Thursday, 1:30-5:20 - 4 credits undergrads, 3 credits grads - This advanced class in fiction writing will begin with technical or craft matters, then proceed to the more artistic aspects of composing fiction of any length. The craft sessions will address the general nature of communication, involving creating characters (including both their physical and psychological description), dialogue, interior monologue and stream of consciousness, action, pace, point of view, plot, setting, and style. Substantial writing projects will be undertaken by the students and submitted for class analysis and discussion. There will also be extensive use of one-to-one writing conferences between the teacher and the students. Fiction seminar is taught by discussion and critique, rather than the Story Workshop approach. Instructor: novelist Antonia Logue. Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment: Prose Forms

Writing for Children 55-4312-01 (undergrads) & 55-5312-01 (grads) Monday, 1:30-5:20 - 4 credits undergrads, 3 credits grads - Writing books for children—from lap-sitter to young adult—covers fiction, creative non- fiction, and plays, with emphasis on characterization, theme, plot, setting, dialogue, and conflict. Professional tips on subject matter of interest to children, preparation of manuscripts for publication and possible markets will also be studied. Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment: Fiction Writing I. Instructor: children's author Laurie Lawlor.

Story and Journal 55-4315-01 (undergrads) & 55-5315-01 (grads) Wednesday 9:00-12:50 - 4 credits undergrads, 3 grads - The students' personal journals and the journals and notebooks of authors such as Melville, Kafka, Nin, and Böll are used and studied as devices for the exploration of the imagination, the recording of the living image, and the development of various kinds of writing. Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment: Fiction Writing I. Instructor: fiction writer Tom Popp.

Writing Popular Fiction - 55-4306-01 (undergrads) & 55-5306-01 (grads) Thursday, 9:00-12:50 - 4 credits undergrads, 3 credits grads - This course investigates a variety of fiction forms written for the popular market, including such genre novels as mysteries, historical novels, and suspense fiction. Emphasis is given to analysis of given genres. The characteristics of form and general technique will be analyzed. The intent is to make students aware of the characteristics that define a popular genre novel and how to apply those defining techniques in the production of their works. Some discussion of marketing is also included, since most popular fiction is market-driven. Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment: Fiction Writing I. Instructor: writer Patricia Pinianski.

Bibliography and Research for Fiction Writers 55-4318-01 (undergrads) & 55-5318-01 (grads) Thursday, 6:00-9:50 - 4 credits undergrads, 3 credits grads - Researched fiction, commercial and literary, is increasingly in demand. This course is designed to help fiction writers learn how to do research for many of the popular genres of fiction and creative nonfiction on any subject area which the writer may want to explore. The subjects for research could be historical, legal, scientific, military, archaeological, classical, and so forth. Fiction writers learn how to use the multiple facilities of the modern library and other archival sources including computers. Students undertake a researched fiction or creative nonfiction project. Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment: Fiction Writing I. Instructor: fiction writer Sam Weller.

Creative Nonfiction 55-4319-01 (undergrads) & 55-5319-01 (grads) Tuesday, 1:30-5:20 - 4 credits undergrads, 3 credits grads - This course concentrates on the application of fictional and story-writing techniques to non-fiction writing as it occurs in the nonfiction novel, essay, memoir, travel, scientific, and anthropological writing. Books such as Norman Mailer's Armies of the Night , Truman Capote's In Cold Blood , and Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi are studied. Students who have a body of nonfiction material and who wish to experiment with its nonfiction novelistic development will find the course particularly useful. Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment: Fiction Writing I. Instructor: Sam Weller, freelance nonfiction writer and editor.

Fiction Writers and Publishing 55-4320-01 (undergrads) or 55-5320-01 (grads) Monday, 6:00-9:50 4 credits undergrads, 3 credits grads - This course is designed to give developing fiction writers an understanding of the relationships among fiction writers, literary agents, magazine and book editors, and the field of publishing, with particular concentration on recently published fiction and creative nonfiction stories and books. Guest literary agents, editors, publishers, booksellers, and writers enhance the semester's presentation. Attention is given to history of fiction publishing in the United States and to recent and ongoing changes in fiction publishing. The ways in which publishing interests shape literary output are viewed historically. Attention is given to small press publishing in the United States. Students send their manuscripts out for publication as a requirement of the course. Instructor: Fiction and creative nonfiction writer Jotham Burrello. Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment: Fiction Writing I.

Science Fiction Writing Workshop 55-4311-01 (undergrads) & 55-5311-01 (grads) Tuesday, 6:00-9:50 - 4 credits undergrads, 3 credits grads - Taught by practicing science fiction writer Phyllis Eisenstein, this fresh approach to the conception and writing of science fiction offers an overview of the current state of the field and techniques useful to generating publishable stories. Students develop original material and present their manuscripts to the instructor for examination and class reading. Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment: Fiction Writing I. Instructor: science fiction author Phyllis Eisenstein.

Novel Writing 55-4112-01 (undergrads) & 55-5112-01 (grads) Tuesday, 6:00-9:50 – 4 credits undergrads, 3 credits grads Emphasis is on readings, analysis, and criticism of students' writing in Story Workshop setting. Class is devoted to reading of students' writings and discussion of extensive assigned readings directed toward enhancement of students' understanding of literary techniques, process, and values. Instructor: novelist Don Snyder. Prerequisite: Fiction Writing Advanced.

Playwriting Workshop I 55-4323-01 (undergrads) or 55-5323-01 (grads) Monday, 6:00-9:50 or Thursday 1:30-5:20 4 credits undergrads – This course is designed so that students will learn the basics of playwriting. Students will learn the various basic forms of playwriting structure: character, dialogue, monologue, dramatic conflict, and dramatic action. Fundamental techniques of playwriting will be explored to understand how it is different or similar to other types of literary writing. The works of present and past playwrights will be examined in order to learn the process of the playwright. Students will complete workshop exercise in order to obtain basic understand of what a play is and how to write a play, and how to develop their voice as a playwright. Students will write scenes that will be rewritten into ten minute plays. Instructors: playwrights Tim McCain (Monday) or Kristine Thatcher(Thursday). Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment: 55-1101 Fiction Writing I.

Playwriting Workshop II 55-4310-01 (undergrads) or 55-5310-01 (grads) Wednesday, 6:00-9:50 4 credits undergrads – Students will further their understanding of dramatic writing by exploring elevated techniques of structure, character, dialogue, monologue, dramatic conflict, and dramatic action in order to develop their voice as playwrights. Complex techniques and forms of playwriting will be introduced in order to advance the students' knowledge of dramatic writing. Students will be introduced to the works of playwrights that have different stylistic approaches to dramatic writing. Students will write scenes that will be developed into one act plays. Instructor: playwright James Sherman. Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment: 55-1101 Fiction Writing I, Playwriting Workshop I.

Playwriting: Advanced 55-4333-01 (undergrads) & 55-5333-01 (grads) Thursday, 6:00 p.m.-9:50 p.m. 4 credits undergrad, 3 credits grads, - Students will explore advanced playwriting techniques and theory of drama literature. Conventional and Experimental approaches to dramatic writing will be introduced. The works of playwrights (such as Bertolt Brecht and Samuel Beckett) that push the boundaries of drama will be looked at in order to help the student develop their dramatic voice. Students will workshop their writing and explore advanced exercise of writing plays Students will work towards completing a full-length play. Prerequisite: Playwriting II 55-4310 (undergrad) and 55-5310 (grad). Instructor: playwright Tim McCain.

Practice Teaching: Tutor Training 55-4331-01 or -02 (undergrads) or 55-5331-01, or 02 (grads) Monday 1:30-5:20 or 6:00-9:50 4 credits undergrads; 3 credits grads – Story Workshop concepts, philosophy, and teaching techniques are utilized to train and provide tutors who, concurrent with their training semester, staff the Fiction Writing Department Tutoring Program. Tutors assist Fiction Writing students who need help with reading and writing skills. Students are paid for work done in the Tutoring Program. Instructors: writers Don De Grazia and Alexis Pride. Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment in Fiction Writing I, Fiction Writing II as well as Department permission.

Practice Teaching: Classroom 55-4332-01 ( undergrads) 55-5332-01 (grads) Monday 6:00-10:30 4 credits undergrads; 3 credits grads – An intensive course in Story Workshop theory and practice. Instructor: Professor Emeritus John Schultz. Prerequisite: Tutor Training and department permission.

Internships, Independent Projects

Internship: Fiction Writing 55-3088-01 (undergrads) 55-6088-01 (grads) Variable credit – Internships provide students with an opportunity to gain work experience in an area of concentration or interest while receiving academic credit toward their degrees. Prerequisite: Permission of the Internship Coordinator.

Independent Project: Fiction Writing 55-3090-01 (undergrads) 55-6090-01 (grads) Variable credit – An independent project is designed by the student, with approval of a supervising faculty member, to study an area that is not presently available in the curriculum. Prior to registration, the student must submit a written proposal that outlines the project. Course is intended generally for upper-level students. Prerequisite: Fiction Writing I and permission of Department.

Semester In LA

Semester in LA: The Adaptation-Screenwriting program is available to Fiction Writing students for Fiction Writing credit. The Semester in LA is a five-week immersion program in which the student maintains full-time status (12-16 hours for undergrad, 9 hours for grads) through an intensive educational experience. Financial aid will apply to this program. The program facilities are located in Bungalow 25 in the CBS Lot in Studio City, the only institution of higher learning permanently located on a studio lot. Stop in the Fiction Writing Department office for more information.

Semester in LA Course Descriptions:

Screenwriting Workshop: Coverage of Adapted Screenplays in LA 55-4325-01 (undergrads) & 55-5325-01 (grads) & 24-2732-01 (Film department course number) Students will read and analyze a variety of novels that have been adapted into films. They will also read the scripts based on these works of prose and learn how to do “coverage,” a standard practice used throughout the studio system. They will also view the films based on these published works. The students will then participate in weekly Q & A sessions with the screenwriters who originally adapted the above material, gaining first-hand knowledge and insight into the adaptation process. Prose and script coverage will be used to analyze different adaptation approaches and will serve as practice for entry-level positions in story editing or development offices in LA.

Topics in Writing: Techniques and Business of Adaptation in LA 55-4326-01 (undergrads) & 55-5326-01 (grads) & 24-3732-01 (Film department course number) Students in the program will take part in a lecture series, which will include authors, screenwriters and producers who have either sold their published works to Hollywood or who have adapted published works for Hollywood. Other guest speakers will include entertainment attorneys and agents who will discuss the legalities of optioning and adapting pre-existing material. There will be almost 40 guest speakers in all.

Adaptation in LA 55-4327-01 (undergrads) & 55-5327-01 (grads) & 24-2716-01 (Film department course number) Students develop a completed work of prose (novel, short story, magazine article, etc.) into an expanded outline, then into a detailed treatment for the screen. The outlining process will involve breaking down the prose, streamlining it into visual and essential pieces of dialogue, the registering the outline at the WGA (which will be a stop on one of our tours). A professional story editor/development executive will then collect an outline from each student, do coverage, then have individual meetings with each student to discuss vital story points. Based on feedback from the story editor, each student will revise his/her outline, then develop it into a full-length treatment (10-20 pages). Each student will pitch their treatments to development executives/producers at the end of the 5-week program.