Advanced Fiction

Anything we read for pleasure, we read because it interests us.
~John Gardner

Imagination and fiction make up more than three quarters of our real life.
~Simone Weil

You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are.
~Joss Whedon

Course Outline

Course Instructor: Dr. Tony Morris
Course: Advanced Fiction
Title: ENGL 5780
Credits 3: Semester Hours
Prerequisites: Engl 2100
School College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Writing and Linguistics

Contact:
Phone: 912-344-3123
email: tonyraymorris@gmail.com

Required Resources

  • Art of Fiction, by John Gardner. ISBN: 978-0679734031
  • Making Shapely Fiction, by Jerome Sterm. ISBN: 978-0393321241

Recommended Resources

Course Goals
This course will explore fiction in its many variations as we critically read the assigned essays to understand the form and the craft of the genre. We will also read to critique the writing of our peers to help us find ways to improve our own writing. And as students of fiction, we will also compose our own works for publication. Memory, observation, self-discovery, and research—these are the main tools of writing that will help us to investigate various traditional and non-traditional forms of writing about people, places, and things.

Course-level objectives

  1. To demonstrate a high-level of proficiency in the practice and craft of writing fiction.
  2. To exercise and practice the art of fiction writing and effective workshop methods for improving approaches to the craft.
  3. To acquire skills experience pertaining to the “business” of fiction publication, including familiarity with various outlets and approaches to publication.
  4. To develop polished, ready-to-publish manuscripts for submission to graduate programs and/or agents.

Grading Response Time/Communication

The Instructor will make every effort to acknowledge email within 24 to 48 hours.

  • Grading response time for written homework prompts: four days
  • Grading response time for copy assignments: two weeks

I look forward to seeing you all in workshop. Let’s have fun!