Writing the New Journalism - Creative Nonfiction


REVISED

Fall 2015 and Winter 2016 quarters

Taught by

journalism, writing

Writers have come to realize that the genre of nonfiction writing can be as colorful and gripping as any piece of fiction. The difference is that nonfiction writers are not burdened with inventing characters, dialogue, plot and description because everything they write about actually happened. Creative nonfiction writers assemble the facts and events and array them artistically and stylistically, using the descriptive techniques of the fiction writer. They immerse themselves in a venue, set about gathering their facts while demonstrating scrupulous accuracy, and then write an account of what happened in their own voice. The Greyhound Bus Company advertised, “getting there is half the fun.” In the genre of creative nonfiction, getting there is all the fun because the reader already knows how the piece ends before it begins. Students will become proficient with the form through intensive fieldwork, research and writing.

We will begin by studying field research methodology in preparation for observational studies in the field designed to teach the difference between looking and truly seeing. Students can’t write and describe something they can’t see clearly. Betty Edwards in Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain writes, “drawing is not really very difficult. Seeing is the problem, or, to be more specific, shifting to a particular way of seeing.” Edwards teaches that if you could see it, you could draw it. Students in this program will do a lot of looking with the goal of eventually seeing what they’re looking at. Like documentary filmmakers, we will pay particular attention to visual metaphor.  Students will conduct field research to learn to pay attention to detail, read and discuss representative examples of the form, and meet weekly in regularly scheduled writing workshop. Following a period of redrafting and corrections, students will present their final piece to the group in the last week of fall quarter. They will submit this polished piece for publication in a magazine or journal.  We will read and discuss creative nonfiction pieces written by noted authors. A partial book list includes Into the Wild by John Krakauer, The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, and Number Our Days by Barbara Myerhoff. Other readings will be added.

In winter quarter, we will continue our study of creative nonfiction and sharpen our sensitivity to literary techniques through reading and discussing representative pieces by noted authors such as Susan Orlean and Mitch Albom.  Students will spend much of their time working on their individual major nonfiction narrative. This form allows the use of first-person narration, demands careful attention to detail, and requires the writer to be immersed in a subject area over an extended period of time. Students will immerse themselves in a venue of their choice, subject to approval by the faculty, which will provide the subject matter for their narrative. We will also use the ethnographic field research techniques of analysis and interpretation to add depth to the narrative. Following a period of redrafting and corrections, students will polish the final piece and send it out for publication.

Program Details

Fields of Study

Preparatory for studies or careers in

creative writing, creative nonfiction, the humanities, and journalism.

Location and Schedule

Campus location

Olympia

Schedule

Offered during: Day

Advertised schedule: First winter class meeting: Tuesday, January 5 at 9am (Lib 1005)

Books

Buy books for this program through Greener Bookstore.

Online Learning

No Required Online Learning: No access to web tools required. Any web tools provided are optional for students.

Revisions

Date Revision
July 20th, 2015 New opportunity added.

Registration Information

Credits: 16 (Fall); 16 (Winter)

Class standing: Freshmen–Senior; 25% of the seats are reserved for freshmen

Maximum enrollment: 23

Fall

Course Reference Numbers

Fr (16 credits): 10377
So - Sr (16 credits): 10378

Go to my.evergreen.edu to register for this program.

Winter

Accepting New Students

Conditions

Students wishing to join this program should be prepared to meet the challenge of producing a creative nonfiction piece suitable for publication by the end of the quarter.  Incoming students will need to learn how to get the reader's attention using metaphor, simile, detailed description and other literary devices which help drive the narrative. They should expect some additional work in the first few weeks to help integrate them fully into the program.

Course Reference Numbers

Fr (16 credits): 20192
So - Sr (16 credits): 20193

Go to my.evergreen.edu to register for this program.

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