Creative Writing Minor

Faculty Advisor:  Jessica Richardson
Associate Professor | EHFA 234 | 843-349-2532 | jliebeck@coastal.edu 

The Creative Writing Minor is dedicated to helping students develop the skills necessary to write high-quality poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Courses within the minor offer intensive study of the craft of poetry and prose writing, while focusing on the elements common to all literature, regardless of genre: specificity in detail and description, precision with regard to diction, clarity of thought, and the development of a strong and unique voice. Most classes are taught in a workshop setting, where students generate their own poems, stories, and essays in addition to reading and critiquing pieces written by their peers and by published authors. By learning to make, discuss, and defend writing choices, students will become artful writers, analytical readers, and thoughtful critics.

Requirements (18 Credits), Course Catalog

*Area 1 (3 Credits)

ENGL 301 Creative Writing Workshop

*Area 2 (15 Credits)

Choose five creative writing workshops at the 300 level and above

• ENGL 362 – Fiction I
• ENGL 365 – Creative Nonfiction I
• ENGL 368 – Poetry I
• ENGL 462 – Fiction II
• ENGL 465 – Creative Nonfiction II
• ENGL 468 – Poetry II

***Note:

• Students must consult with the coordinator of Creative Writing in the English Department.
• Up to two courses from a student's major requirements may be applied towards the Creative Writing Minor requirements.
• A grade of C or better is required in each course to be applied toward the minor.

Student Learning Objectives

1. Increase students’ understanding of various forms and techniques associated with creative writing.
   
   
2. Develop students’ ability to respond critically to contemporary creative writing.
   
   
3. Assist students in applying what they learn about elements of creative writing to their own work.
   
   
4. Facilitate peer workshops of student work in which students practice and hone their critical reading/responding skills.
   
   
5. Help students achieve a deeper understanding of formal elements in order to improve one’s own creative writing.
   
   
6. Develop students’ understanding of the revision process so that final pieces reflect conscious and reasoned choices on the writer’s part as well as input from peer critiques.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this program students will be able to:

1. Analyze and evaluate works of creative writing by published writers.
   
   
2. Make sophisticated authorial choices regarding content, audience, tone, style, and diction.
   
   
3. Discuss and defend authorial choices in their own writing.
   
   
4. Produce written and oral critiques of others’ writing to illustrate the effectiveness of their choices.
   
   
5. Apply the devices, techniques, and forms of particular creative writing genres.
   
   
6. Utilize various strategies for brainstorming, drafting, and revising original work.