Advanced Fiction: Writing the Novel

This is an intensive course focused on the elements of craft required to master the novel form: narration, plot, structure, chronology, and characterization. We look closely at various genres (auto-fiction, the bildungsroman, the comedy of manners, science fiction, and thriller) and explore the elements of craft by examining the work of contemporary writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Meg Wolitzer, and Megha Majumdar, as well as classics ranging from Jane Austen to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Our central aim is on how to apply the lessons we draw from readings and short writing exercises to our own novels. Using what we learned as a lens, we devote ourselves to workshopping new writing by students.