In this introductory class students explore a range of contemporary nonfiction styles and narrative strategies, focusing on elements of craft while learning how to choose a subject, structure a piece, workshop and revise. Attention is paid to developing one’s individual voice and basic skills (some of them involving reportage and research). Nonfiction students may write in a variety of modes – creative nonfiction, essays, memoir, poetic texts, cultural critiques, or hybrid work that can’t easily be categorized. Students will read provocative nonfiction works throughout the semester. No prerequisites.

How do we construct our writerly selves and spaces, at desks, in communities, and facing the abyss of the blank page? This introductory nonfiction workshop aims to practice practice. We’ll study the essential elements of creative nonfiction through the practices and provocations of a diverse set of working writers, styles, and genres: creative nonfiction, essay, memoir, journalism, commentary, and hybrid works. Introductory courses in the Writing program rigorously combine reading and writing. The early writing assignments explore basic skills and craft elements; we develop our voices and narrative structures, then revise. The required reading, critiquing, and workshop assignments will make students better writers and develop the skills necessary for a sustainable writing practice.

How do we construct our writerly selves and spaces, at desks, in communities, and facing the abyss of the blank page? This introductory nonfiction workshop aims to practice practice. We’ll study the essential elements of creative nonfiction through the practices and provocations of a diverse set of working writers, styles, and genres: creative nonfiction, essay, memoir, journalism, commentary, and hybrid works. Introductory courses in the Writing program rigorously combine reading and writing. The early writing assignments explore basic skills and craft elements; we develop our voices and narrative structures, then revise. The required reading, critiquing, and workshop assignments will make students better writers and develop the skills necessary for a sustainable writing practice. No prerequisites.