Creative Writing: The Craft of Setting and Description
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Creative Writing: The Craft of Setting and Description
This course is part of Creative Writing Specialization
Instructor: Amity Gaige
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There are 4 modules in this course
In this course aspiring writers will be introduced to the techniques that masters of fiction use to ground a story in a concrete world. From the most realist settings to the most fantastical, writers will learn how to describe the physical world in sharp, sensory detail. We will also learn how to build credibility through research, and to use creative meditation exercises to deepen our own understanding of our story worlds, so that our readers can see all that we imagine.
Writing a great short story is like conveying a dream. As we will see from studying one famous master, a "persuasive" setting is necessary in order to build mood, character, and even plot.
What's included
7 videos4 readings1 peer review
7 videos•Total 39 minutes
- Why Do We Write?•7 minutes
- The Power of Persuasion•4 minutes
- Moving Through Time and Space•4 minutes
- Nothing Can Happen Nowhere•9 minutes
- Shop Talk with Brando Skyhorse•11 minutes
- Feedback Expectations for the Specialization•2 minutes
- Assignment Overview: Slow-Motion Moment•1 minute
4 readings•Total 40 minutes
- "The Power of Persuasion" by Mario Vargas Llosa•10 minutes
- "The Odour of Chrysanthemums" by D.H. Lawrence•10 minutes
- A Note on Assignments•10 minutes
- Promo Codes•10 minutes
1 peer review•Total 60 minutes
- Slow Motion Moment•60 minutes
Pack your fiction with "vitamin-rich" detail. Looking at the work of both masters and students, we will discuss how funny, meaningful, and powerful details can be.
What's included
4 videos3 readings1 peer review
4 videos•Total 25 minutes
- What Is Significant Detail?•6 minutes
- "Things That Suck"•4 minutes
- Shop Talk with Salvatore Scibona•14 minutes
- Assignment Overview: Habitual Ritual•1 minute
3 readings•Total 30 minutes
- Text of "How to Write About Africa" by Binyavanga Wainaina•10 minutes
- "How to Become a Writer" by Lorrie Moore•10 minutes
- "Forever Overhead" by David Foster Wallace•10 minutes
1 peer review•Total 60 minutes
- Habitual Ritual•60 minutes
Create settings both familiar and unfamiliar to you, while avoiding common missteps. You will be guided through several meditation exercises as you practice "imaginative research".
What's included
4 videos1 peer review
4 videos•Total 37 minutes
- Three Phases of Research•12 minutes
- Meditation Exercise•7 minutes
- Shop Talk with Amy Bloom•14 minutes
- Assignment Overview: Strange Lands•3 minutes
1 peer review•Total 120 minutes
- Strange Lands•120 minutes
Setting and description works in realist and non-realist fiction, as well as across literary genres. Consider how to write about your own "primal landscape".
What's included
4 videos1 peer review
4 videos•Total 35 minutes
- Looking at a Student Example•7 minutes
- What Is Genre? (including Shop Talk with Amy Bloom on Noir Fiction)•10 minutes
- Visiting Writer: Historical Fiction with Valerie Martin•14 minutes
- Assignment Overview: Primal Landscapes•4 minutes
1 peer review•Total 120 minutes
- Primal Landscapes•120 minutes
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Reviewed on Oct 28, 2019
I enjoyed this course very much; Amity was a great instructor, and I loved how she incorporated some readings into it. I found the course very useful, and only wish it could have been longer.
Reviewed on Jan 19, 2021
This was such a wonderful course. I got to learn a lot about strange lands, imaginative description etc. Generally how to set my world and describe it in a convincing manner. I totally recommend it.
Reviewed on Jan 26, 2018
The course was very well organized and quite challenging. Each week gave me the opportunity to develop a piece which I have further developed into longer pieces which I am looking at publishing.
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