Precapstone: Building the World of the Book: Fiction or Nonfiction

Harvard Extension School

CREA E-597

Section 4

CRN 17289

View Course Details
In this course, students engage in a series of structured creative writing exercises that make it possible for them to delve deeply into their characters—what they look like, what they want and need, and how they interact with the world in which they live—as they structure the imaginative world of their fiction or nonfiction. Students draft the first chapter of their capstone novel, memoir, or nonfiction book, or the first story or essay in their capstone collection (15-20 pages). Students also write a plan for their projects (5-10 pages) in which they create a roadmap of their book, bringing the narrative arc and key characters into focus and defining the audience for their work.

Instructor Info

Thomas Wisniewski, PhD

Associate of the Department of Comparative Literature, Harvard University


Meeting Info

T 5:30pm - 8:30pm (9/3 - 12/21)

Participation Option: Online Synchronous

Deadlines

Last day to register: August 29, 2024

Additional Time Commitments

Course meets roughly every other week. See syllabus for specific meeting dates.

Prerequisites

Registration is limited to officially admitted candidates in Master of Liberal Arts, creative writing and literature, who are in their penultimate semester. Prospective candidates and students with pending admission applications are not eligible. Candidates must be in good academic standing and in the process of successfully completing all degree requirements except the capstone, CREA E-599, which they must enroll in the upcoming spring term as their one and only final course with the same instructor (no other course registration is allowed simultaneously with the capstone). Candidates are allowed to complete the summer residency after the capstone. Candidates who do not meet these degree requirements are dropped from the course.

Notes

This course meets via web conference. Students must attend and participate at the scheduled meeting time.

Syllabus

All Sections of this Course

CRN Section # Participation Option(s) Instructor Section Status Meets Term Dates
16990 1 Online Synchronous Katie Kohn Open M 7:40pm - 10:40pm
Sep 3 to Dec 21
16821 2 Online Synchronous Leah De Forest Open W 5:30pm - 8:30pm
Sep 3 to Dec 21
17275 3 Online Synchronous Elizabeth Staudt Open Th 2:00pm - 5:00pm
Sep 3 to Dec 21
17289 4 Online Synchronous Thomas Wisniewski Open T 5:30pm - 8:30pm
Sep 3 to Dec 21