Following, you will find details regarding a writing class some of you may be interested in.
Phoenix Community College has one of the best creative writing curriculums in the state and Carol Test has quite a lot of experience not only as an instructor, but also as the editor of a prestigious literary magazine.
Check out the details below and contact Carol directly if you have any questions: caroltest@gmail.com
Deborah J Ledford
Moderator, Scottsdale Writers Critique Group
Writers,
Have you dreamed of writing a novel, but didn’t quite know how to start? Have you started a novel and found you couldn’t get beyond the first three chapters…or finished one, but it keeps getting rejected? If so, register for CRW 271: Structuring Your Novel. Back by popular demand, this novel class offers deadlines, a chance to connect with other writers and valuable critiques on your work.
Have you dreamed of writing a novel, but didn’t quite know how to start? Have you started a novel and found you couldn’t get beyond the first three chapters…or finished one, but it keeps getting rejected? If so, register for CRW 271: Structuring Your Novel. Back by popular demand, this novel class offers deadlines, a chance to connect with other writers and valuable critiques on your work.
Topics in Writing: CRW 271: Structuring Your Novel is a 1 semester class designed to help students take a mass of pages and turn them into a novel with a clear, solid structure. The course will focus on outlining, developing scene lists, creating conflict and workshopping pivotal scenes.
Fall semester 2010 (8/25-12/17) Wednesdays, 6-8:40 p.m.
Instructor: Test Section #: 12158
Register through Phoenix College: http://www.pc.maricopa.edu/index.php?page=29&subpage=619&sublink=621
FAQs about CRW 271:
Will we workshop novels in class?
Workshopping is an essential part of any good writing class; therefore students will have multiple opportunities to submit novel excerpts for both sentence-level and big-picture evaluation. Workshop submissions will focus on pivotal scenes such as beginnings, reversals, and climaxes.
What else will we do in the course?
Lectures will focus on structure to determine exactly how successful elements of story “work.” To this end, we will diagram both films and novels in class, as well as draft outlines and scene lists. Each student will also select a novel that s/he considers a model for his/her own project and apply successful elements from it to his/her own work.
And, we’ll have punch and pie.
Do I have to have a novel draft underway to take this class?
This class works equally well for those just starting to outline novels as those with a number of pages already completed. The only requirement is that each student commit to a single novel project for the course of the semester. While starting a novel can be easy, finishing a novel requires confidence and a solid commitment to a long-term project.
I haven’t taken a writing workshop before. How do I get an override?
This is an intermediate course designed for writers who have completed at least one creative writing workshop. Writers who do not meet this requirement are welcome to email caroltest@gmail.com to obtain an override. When doing so, students should provide their full names last 4 digits of their SS#s to pass on to Admissions & Records – and ensure that they’ve enrolled in the College.
Workshopping is an essential part of any good writing class; therefore students will have multiple opportunities to submit novel excerpts for both sentence-level and big-picture evaluation. Workshop submissions will focus on pivotal scenes such as beginnings, reversals, and climaxes.
What else will we do in the course?
Lectures will focus on structure to determine exactly how successful elements of story “work.” To this end, we will diagram both films and novels in class, as well as draft outlines and scene lists. Each student will also select a novel that s/he considers a model for his/her own project and apply successful elements from it to his/her own work.
And, we’ll have punch and pie.
Do I have to have a novel draft underway to take this class?
This class works equally well for those just starting to outline novels as those with a number of pages already completed. The only requirement is that each student commit to a single novel project for the course of the semester. While starting a novel can be easy, finishing a novel requires confidence and a solid commitment to a long-term project.
I haven’t taken a writing workshop before. How do I get an override?
This is an intermediate course designed for writers who have completed at least one creative writing workshop. Writers who do not meet this requirement are welcome to email caroltest@gmail.com to obtain an override. When doing so, students should provide their full names last 4 digits of their SS#s to pass on to Admissions & Records – and ensure that they’ve enrolled in the College.
Why study writing at Phoenix College?
Phoenix College has one of the largest community college Creative Writing Programs in the country, and is one of only a handful of community colleges to offer a Creative Writing Certificate. One third of individuals in our evening classes are traditional degree-seeking students, while two thirds are working professionals who wish to realize goals such as bringing novels and short stories to publication and/or polishing portfolios for application to MFA programs.
Located in the heart of the downtown Phoenix Arts District, Phoenix College is an excellent place for writers to make friends, network with others in the literary community, and pursue their dreams while polishing their craft.
For more information on this and other creative writing courses, visit the Phoenix College Creative Writing Program:
http://www.pc.maricopa.edu/index.php?page=29&subpage=619&sublink=621&mod=news&newsID=1600521
Cheers,
Carol
Carol Test received her MFA from the University of Arizona in 2005 where she served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the literary magazineSonora Review. Her fiction has appeared in Red Rock Review, Swink, Night Train, The Normal School, and Other Voices: Journal of Literary and Visual Arts, among others. She is a 2006 recipient of an Arizona Commission on the Arts Award for her novel project, OTHER DESERT CITIES, and a 2008 Pushcart Prize nominee. She teaches creative writing at Phoenix College.
