Stranger Than Fiction: The History & Craft of Fiction Writing

THIS IS A SELF-PACED COURSE

Class starts every Tuesday, starting at the beginning of the semester. You have until the final due date of the semester to complete all work for the course. This means you have the entire semester to complete the course on YOUR schedule!

CLASS DESCRIPTION
What makes a good story? What makes a bad story? How can a writer make their readers care about the characters they have created? What motivates someone to write a story in the first place? In this course, we will look at many examples of creative writers who have used storytelling to share their ideas and opinions about the world around them, and who have turned to fiction to see their imaginations come to life.

This 4-lesson course will introduce students to major aspects of creative fiction, looking specifically at popular writers and genres that have helped shape modern creative writing in the United States and around the world. As a creative writing “workshop”, this course will focus heavily on reading and writing, and will include examples of famous writers from many different cultures throughout history to help students create fictional stories of their own.

By the end of this course, students will become familiar with several major figures in literary history, as well as with the basic building blocks of storytelling – such as genre, character, setting, conflict, and resolution. Creative assignments will give students the opportunity to use these skills in developing their own creative writing style so they can begin to build their own fictional worlds!

CLASS FORMAT
No live classes—view lessons on YOUR schedule. In general, expect 1.5-2.5 hours to work through the lesson plan each week, and an additional 2-5 hours working on assignments (it really depends what assignment your child chooses to do and how they manage their time). For classes with two levels, the material is the same for both—the depth of the assignments differs. Younger students should usually be placed in Level 1. Older students, or younger students who want more of a challenge, should be placed in Level 2.

Each lesson consists of a fully narrated PowerPoint presentation with images and videos to enhance the topics. Students will have access to our learning management system, Canvas, for viewing their lesson, printing worksheets, taking quizzes, and viewing assignments and grades. Read more details about self-paced class format.

IMPORTANT!! Self-paced class enrollment is separate from our other courses. You can only enroll by clicking the button below.