Intro to Creative Writing Syllabus

Spring Semester 2017

rm 3220
Instructor:
Office Hours:
Office Location:

Tuesday/Thursday 2 3:15pm Liberal Arts Building,

Tracy Montgomery
Tmontg17@kent.edu
419.571.0619 (cell, please text first)
Monday/Wednesday 1-2pm, Tuesday/Thursday 11am-1pm
*Office hours may be made by appointment as well*
Almony Hall, 3rd floor, 110A

Welcome to Introduction to Creative Writing!

Meet your instructor:
I love writing and teaching almost equally. After teaching high school English
for more than a decade, I went back to school to get my Masters of
Education in Higher Education Administration and Student Personnel. I have
since been an adjunct professor, career counselor, and part-time doctoral
student. (I know what youre thinkingactually, I dont know, but I can
imagine. No one grows up to say they want to be all three of these roles at
once, but Im loving every step of this journey!)
Aside from my academic history, I am a proud wife to my best friend, and
mother to two sons who make up my world. When Im not busy fulfilling all
these roles, I enjoy writing, performing spoken word, riding quads, and
participating in a non-profit organization for local young artists that I helped
start many years ago.
But, enough about me. Im excited to get to know you throughout this
course!
Course Description:
This course will introduce you to the skills and tools needed for a
creative writer. We will explore reading and writing of three genres: poetry,
fiction, and creative non-fiction (switching every five weeks). This is a
process workshop course, meaning quite a bit of experimental work will be
done in class. The assignment types will vary for the purpose of getting you
to try new things, while reading the masters to see what they have done
with creative writing.
This course emphasizes both exposure and practice. Emphasis will be
placed on discussions, re-visioning your work, class critiques, and reading
three books of creative writing. Class critiques in group workshops and, at
times, partner work will provide you with the opportunity to give and receive
feedback.
Course Requirements:
Acquire the required texts:

o Poetry: The Book of Goodbyes by Jillian Weise

o Fiction: Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
o Creative Non-fiction: Fun Home by Allison Bechdel
Bring a notebook to every class for lecture notes and writing
exercises
A Process Folder to contain all typed drafts of your on-going
work, which you will bring with you to every class
A laptop computer with wireless access preferred, but not
required. If you can bring a laptop, be sure to bring a flash drive
for backing up work
Course Objectives:
1. To explore language as a material
2. To explore language as a mode for engagement with the world; to
develop a creative consciousness of languages role in making and
remaking the world
3. To expose ourselves to a wide variety of texts so that we become
aware of an expanding range of possibilities for our own writing
4. To independently engage with texts and use that engagement to
develop our own interpretations of texts
5. To become useful and articulate commentators on colleagues work
6. To know commonly used terms and phrases used in discussion of
writing
7. To become more effective at presenting our own writing in front of an
audience
Course Practices, Procedures, and Responsibilities
PARTICIPATION: Actively participate in class discussion and workshops.
Not everyones participation may look the same, but I will be able to
judge whether or not you are actively a part of creating a learning
environment where all feel comfortable asking and discussing any
topics that may come from class discussion.
o Active listening is just as vital as active discussing. I believe we
learn a lot from each other. We give others the opportunity to
grow when we share our own thoughts and opinions, but we grow
a lot from taking the opportunity to listen to others thoughts and
opinions.
o Preparation is a major part of participation. If you have not read
all the assignments prior to class starting, you cannot actively
participate, so be prepared!
o Workshops: In order for workshops to be effective, you must
participate as someone who constructively criticizes, as well as
welcomes (and, hopefully, eventually seeks) constructive
criticism from colleagues, for the purpose of growth.

o In-Class Writings: Exploring new genres and participating in a

variety of assignments can be difficult at times. I look for effort.
Make this enjoyable! I am not expecting perfection or mastery; I
just expect effort.
ATTENDANCE: Class attendance is of utmost importance, especially
considering that much of the emphasis for this class is based on
exposure and practice. Much of this will take place during class.
o I am a firm believer that class attendance is more than physical
presence. In other words, if you are preoccupied with your cell
phone, or talking to others that are not a part of the class, I do
not consider you to be in attendance.
o Be on time, as late arrivals can be a distraction to the class
environment.
o If you cannot attend class, please notify me as soon as possible.
WEEKLY CREATIVE ASSIGNMENTS: Turn-in a shorter creative text per
week, each 1-4 pages long, depending on the prompt (double-space for
prose). Please submit Word or rich text files, unless your piece is an
audio work or relies on visual impact that cannot be typed (you may
supply a link to a digital or image file).
o Note: the texts you turn in for workshop could consist of one of
these assignments, but need not be the one you turned-in for
that particular week.
o Goal: Provide ample opportunity to explore various strategies
and forms you will be exposed to during the course.
o All weekly assignments are due by 5pm on Sunday.
GENRE PACKETS: Every so many weeks, we will concentrate on a
particular genre, in which you will be asked to include both original
work of your own, along with work from others. You will also turn in
some type of reflection with each packet. Packet requirements will be
distributed in class.
WORKSHOP & PERSONAL PRESENTATION: You will each lead a class
workshop, and will also be presenting one of your finished workshop
pieces at the end of the semester. Your grade for each of these will be
based on preparation, presentation, and final product. More details,
along with a rubric, will be distributed later in class.
GRADING:
o Participation
15%
o Attendance
15%
o Weekly Assignments
25%
o Poetry packet
10%
o Fiction packet
10%
o Creative non-fiction packet
10%
o Personal Presentation/Workshop
15%
SCHEDULE: I have a tentative schedule that I will distribute during the
first class. Though the first several weeks will be planned out, I do not

schedule too much in advance in the case that my tentative schedule

needs to be adjusted to meet the specific needs of the class. This will
be discussed more in class.
Im here to help if you need it! Please feel free to contact me for help
at any point that you feel you may need it.
Like most writing, much of us get inspiration from others. Id like to give credit to
some instructors, from whom I borrowed some information for the construction
of this course and syllabus:

Hosking, Gail. (2015). Intro to Creative Writing [Syllabus]. Rochester, NY:

Department of English, Rochester Institute of Technology.
Ramstetter, Jr., Anthony. (2013). Introduction to Creative Writing
[Syllabus]. Oxford, OH: Department of English, Miami University.