IMF 51639 Fiction: Contemporary Fiction Craft

Instructor

Mary Anderson

Class Type

Craft

Course Description

It is hard to describe. I have an idea of the beginning. I write the first line and continue to the last. I correct a great deal, work hard and write several drafts, but I never question the finished work. – Alain Robbe-Grillet

Producing fiction, let alone defining its process, can be difficult. There are so many paths to the top of that mountain. But what is less shrouded in mystery is the equipment a writer needs – Stephen King famously calls them tools for the toolbox.

This course provides the tools that all writers need to get the words on the page. Acquiring these tools means exploring the expansive boundaries and the foundational principles of current long and short prose fiction in order to prepare writers for today’s art form.

Fundamentals include:

How to establish a strong and regular writing practice
Exploring the principles of fiction
Mastering the power of details
Developing rich characters
Discovering the tricks of plotting
Creating effective dialogue
Structuring prose for maximum effect
Establishing and using point of view
Serving to launch the writer out into the larger community of fellow writers and readers

And throughout all of this exploring, developing, and establishing – writing of course; and remember, “you don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great,” wrote Joe Saba.

So let’s start.