INTRODUCTION TO FICTION

Course Description

A work of fiction is a work of imagination, but W&L CS 12: Introduction to Fiction will take seriously Hemingway’s idea that “a writer's job…should produce a truer account than anything factual can be.”

So, how do fiction writers—liars, all—turn imaginary events into something rigorous, into the truth? Together, through immersive, active in-class discussion of a broad array of short fiction and select novellas, participants in Introduction to Fiction will examine how individual authors choose to frame their fictional narratives and formally contain their imaginations so as to best serve the integrity of their work. Introduction to Fiction aims to prove just how expansive the fiction form is and, as such, the texts assigned will challenge our traditional ideas of story. Some of them, rather than containing rising and falling action, will (in the words of Jane Alison) meander, spiral, and explode. Some will engage with zoology and myth. Others will take place over the course of a single day or even within a single room. Together, participants will use a craft lens—scene setting, pacing, characterization, bathos, over/under story, and more—to explore the commonalities between these vastly different works and, most importantly, attempt to distill exactly how each narrative is framed.

This course will also be generative, and students will have the opportunity to directly practice these different framing devices and craft techniques in their own work, resulting in the submission of two original pieces—ideally, a complete short story and the beginning of a novella—that show a rigorous engagement with craft. These original submissions will be workshopped by the entire class.

Required Text

TBA, pending finalization of booklist

If price is an issue for you, then do not sign up for this class until the booklist is finalized.