Courses, Creative Writing | Northwestern University School of Professional Studies - Northwestern School of Professional Studies

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English literature courses carry humanities credit. 

ENGLISH 208-CN : Reading and Writing Creative Nonfiction

Description

This course is for students who want to improve their writing skills and explore the fundamentals of creative nonfiction. Creative nonfiction borrows techniques from fiction—strong characters, captivating narration, and compelling scenes—and bears a certain allegiance to journalistic practices—a faithfulness to “the facts,” sharp descriptions, and dialogue that rings true. By learning the craft of creative nonfiction, you’ll discover how to interest, amuse, entertain, move, persuade, and instruct your readers.

In this course, students can take their writing to a new level. The focus will be on three forms of creative nonfiction: the personal essay, think pieces (which is most of the nonfiction you encounter on the internet), and the lyric essay. Students will learn how to read as writers, learning from the old masters and new voices, and will experiment with a new form and submit a written assignment each week. All classes will be conducted in seminar and workshop formats.

May not be audited or taken P/N. Advanced composition course and strong basic writing skills highly recommended.