NEW THIS TERM
Learning from the Masters: Techniques of the Literary Greats
X425 (2 semester units in English)
Designed especially for aspiring writers, this course gives you the opportunity to develop your skills at creating fiction by closely studying the work of great writers. You examine how these authors draw the reader in, introduce tension and sustain momentum, and use vivid details and specific incidents to create settings and characters so full of life they are never quite forgotten. Each week the course focuses on exemplary works of fiction to deepen your understanding of core craft elements and how the skillful use of these elements contributes to success. You experiment with these techniques through brief and inventive writing exercises. The methods of writers as diverse as Raymond Carver, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, James Baldwin, Ernest Hemingway, and Alice Munro are explored. Time and careful attention are also dedicated to your own writing projects and manuscripts.
Enrollment is limited.Note: Reader will be distributed in class.
There are currently no sections open for enrollment.
Sections closed for enrollment
Wed. Feb. 6, Berkeley
LAURIE ANN DOYLE, M.F.A., has taught writing at the UC Berkeley College Writing Program and served as a writing coach at the University of San Francisco. She is the author of Their Beautiful Bodies, a collection of short stories, as well as a variety of personal essays published in Bay Area publications. Her stories have been nominated for Best New American Voices and other national awards. For many years, Doyle led a dual life as a freelance writer and educator in the healthcare field; she also holds a master of public health degree from Yale University. Currently at work on her second book, she is quite familiar with pleasures and pitfalls that writing can bring.Revised class schedule in red.
- 10 meetings
- Feb. 6 to April 16: Wed., 6:30-9:30 pm (no meeting April 2)
- Berkeley: 240 Mulford Hall, UC campus
- $470 (EDP 013680)
Courses begin every month. A new edition of our catalog is published
three times a year in early April, July and December.