Creative Writing

This course invites students to explore the possibilities of creative writing. In the Fall semester, we will draw from the NaNoWriMo curriculum that introduces students to creative writing craft elements—character, plot, dialogue, imagery, and scene—while also scaffolding students as they pursue a long-form creative writing project of their own design. In the Spring semester, students will engage in various writing workshops that feature writing exercises and prompts and methods for research and revision. Students can expect weekly writing and reading assignments. They will be asked to purchase In a Field of Words: A Creative Writing Text (a used copy should be relatively inexpensive); the rest of the readings will be offered online. Students should have access to their writing in class. This course is intended for students who have an interest in learning more about creative writing. Students need not have prior creative writing experience, only curiosity and a willingness to explore and imagine.

Instructor: Margaret McKinnis

Instructor Bio: Margaret McKinnis is a graduate of Ithaca College where she received her bachelor’s degree in writing. While at IC, she worked as a writing center tutor and the student director of the college’s literary festival, New Voices. Margaret has served as a teaching assistant for the Ithaca Young Writers Institute where she taught poetry and creative nonfiction and designed two craft workshops — “Research and Creative Writing” and “Image-Text”. She also completed an apprenticeship with novelist and memorist Eleanor Henderson, which allowed her to shape her own writing pedagogy. Margaret currently works as a freelance writing tutor while pursuing her master’s degree in library science.

Required Materials: pencil; notebook and folder or looseleaf notebook; In a Field of Words: A Creative Writing Text