ENGL 482: Advanced Fiction Writing (Rev. C2, C3, C4) Report a Broken Link

English 482: Advanced Fiction Writing is the next step for students who have taken English 381 or a similar introductory course in writing fiction. The course provides an option to work on separate short stories or linked stories, or develop a longer narrative, whether a novel, novella, or novel-in-stories. Students read sample fiction with close attention to technique and style; they also read and comment in a properly informed manner on the work-in-progress of their peers and further their own revision.

Textbook


Burroway, Janet, Elizabeth Stuckey-French, and Ned Stuckey-French. Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, 9th edition. Pearson, 2015.

Unit 1: The Writing Process: Why Write?


Unit 1: The Writing Process: Why Write? [video]

Unit 1 video transcript
Heffernan, Colleen. "Peanuts and Ginger Ale." pp. 1–8. © Colleen Heffernan, 2003.
Highsmith, Patricia. "Mainly on Using Experiences." In Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction. Poplar Press, 1983, pp. 14–25.

Unit 2: Reading as a Writer


Unit 2: Reading as a Writer [video]

Unit 2 video transcript
MacLeod, Alistair. "'At the Moment': Notes on Fiction." In The Art of Short Fiction, Brief Edition. Edited by Gary Geddes. Addisson-Wesley, 1999, pp. 361–362.
Munro, Alice. "What Is Real?" In The Art of Short Fiction, Brief Edition. Edited by Gary Geddes. Addison-Wesley, 1999, pp. 362–365.
Messud, Claire. Excerpt from The Last Life: A Novel. Harcourt, 1999, pp. 4–7.
Vassallo, Tim. "Hockey Night in Cape Breton." © Tim Vassallo, 2003. Reproduced with permission.
Ford, Richard. The opening of Independence Day. Little, Brown (Canada), 1995, pp. 3–5.
Vargas Llosa, Mario. The opening of The Feast of the Goat. Translated by Edith Grossman. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001, pp. 3–6.

Unit 3: Creating Character


Unit 3: Creating Character [video]

Unit 3 video transcript
Shields, Carol. "Mrs. Turner Cutting the Grass." In Canadian Short Stories, 4th series. Edited by Robert Weaver. Oxford University Press, 1985.
Carver, Raymond. "Popular Mechanics." In What We Talk About When We Talk About Love: Stories. Random, 1989.
Jin, Ha. Excerpts from Waiting. Vintage International, 2000, pp. 79–80, 190–191.
Edwards, Caterina. Excerpt 1 from Becoming Emma. NeWest Press, 1992, pp. 144–151.

Unit 4: Creating a Structure


Unit 4: Creating a Structure [video]

Unit 4 video transcript
Highsmith, Patricia. "Plotting." In Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction. Poplar Press, pp. 53–59.
Edwards, Caterina. Excerpt 2 from Becoming Emma. NeWest Press, 1992, pp. 201–207.

Unit 5: Style


Unit 5: Style [video]

Unit 5 video transcript
Edwards, Caterina. Excerpt 3 from Becoming Emma. NeWest Press, 1992, pp. 99–101.
Munro, Alice. "Jakarta." In The Love of a Good Woman. McClelland & Stewart, 1998, pp. 79–116.

Unit 6: Revision


Unit 6: Revision [video]

Unit 6 video transcript
Lertxundi, Angel. "This Cold Earth Is Not Santo Domingo." Translated by Michael E. Morris. In The Graywolf Annual: Nine Stories from the New Europe. Edited by Scott Walker. Graywolf Press, 1992, pp. 152–156.
Ford, Richard. "Under the Radar." A Multitude of Sins. Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2001.