ENGL 211 | Introduction to Creative Writing: Story vs. Anti-Story

In this course students begin by learning the fundamentals of creative writing craft. Students answer the central questions of how a story works, what makes a poem moving, and how one creates beauty, complexity, and a powerful voice. Once this foundation is established, students move toward "anti-story." Some texts reject the formula most texts follow. Instead, these word-things turn to games, to humor, to acrobatics of both mind and body (even sometimes math) to create texts that amaze and surprise with their creativity and depth. The goal will be to figure out how these "other" texts work, and to use their inspiration and creative techniques to create our own word-things. We students find that writing is more than simply lining up letters. It includes designing and playing games, making masks, doing improvisation, and playing the blues (yes we will learn how to write blues songs). This class is meant to challenge and inspire students to think of writing in completely new ways.