10-Session Creative Writing Program

Goal: Completion of a short story for publication

Class Structure: 90-minute sessions

30 minutes - Lecture on writing topic (e.g. character, dialogue, setting, etc…)

30 minutes - Activity to practice the lecture topic (e.g. develop a character, writing a setting, etc…)

30 minutes - Discussion about assigned short stories and progress on personal short story with classmate and full class

Lecture Topic Activity Discussion

Session One: Short Story Structure & Getting Started Brainstorm story ideas Share your story idea

Session Two: Character Development Building characters Introduce your characters

Session Three: Plot Models & the Short Story Arc Designing your plot Explain your plot

Session Four: Character Portrayal Digging deeper on characters Show your characters

Session Five: Setting, Time, Mood, & Place Create your setting & mood Describe your setting

Session Six: Point of View & Narration Test different points of view Defend your point of view

Session Seven: Voice, Sentence Structure, & Word Choice Define your voice & style Practice your voice

Session Eight: Dialogue & Scene Development Write dialogues Test dialogue with classmate

Session Nine: Beginnings (hooks/leads) & Endings (close) Write a hook and a close Present hooks and closes

Session 10: Final Edits & Publishing Practice editing Discuss edit decisions

Assigned Short Story Reading

Each week the students will be assigned and be expected to read a short story written by one of the master fiction writers. Each short story will be relevant to that week’s lecture topic and class activity. The class will discuss this story the following week during the class discussion session. Some of the stories to be assigned will include the following though others might be added: 

The Short Happy Life of Francis McCumber by Ernest Hemingway

The Ransom of Red Chief by O’Henry

To Build A Fire by Jack London

The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe

Broke Back Mountain by Annie Proulx

Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler

The Killers by Ernest Hemingway

Fetching Raymond by John Grisham