ENGL3800W: Intro Creative Writ (28005)

Harding, Lindsey

W 10:10 AM

Park Hall 0067

According to David Foster Wallace, for authors born after 1950’s, “TV's as much a part of reality as Toyotas and gridlock. We literally cannot imagine life without it. We're not different from our fathers in that television presents and defines our contemporary world. Where we are different is that we have no memory of a world without such electric definition.”

In this class, we’ll explore elements of creative writing in electric definition. Over the course of the semester, the class will read and write works that reflect a growing awareness and the increasing presence of technology and media. Students will have the chance to read and compose 

  • works that highlight the substances of writing (language and experience) as mediation, as technology
  • texts that anticipate the influence of electric and digital media
  • texts saturated with media and technology
  • texts that show the influence of visual and digital media in their presentation and structure
  • hypermedia projects and digital works that are beyond text

Most classes will follow a similar two-part format.

Part 1: a blend of reading discussion, craft talk, small group work, and writing exercises

Part 2: workshop of peer manuscript drafts (more on this to follow)

We’ll also have four Hackshops this semester, during which you’ll learn some programming and then plan, build, and design a digital creative work.