Proseminar: Elements of the Writer’s Craft

This is an intensive course in the craft and analysis of prose from a writer's perspective. The focus of this course is to teach prose writers how to read well. Students explore the potential and possibilities of different approaches to writing, and, by the end of the course, apply their close reading to their own fiction and nonfiction. The goal of this course is to build a deep understanding of key elements of craft through close reading and textual analysis of the work of master prose writers. We analyze the work of these writers, discussing how they employ structure, character, setting, dialogue, point of view, and other aspects of craft. Students write critically and creatively, both in class and out of class, about the works under discussion and about possible applications to their own creative writing. Students examine the conscious choices about craft that published writers make in order to fully realize a piece of writing.