This is not a course for beginning fiction writers.It is presumed, then, that you are familiar with the fundamentals of fiction writing, of dramatizing experience, and creating a 'fictional moment'. For although we will pay attention to all dimensions of fiction, emphasis will be placed on those problems which arise from length — how one orders a longer sequence of events, how one manipulates a larger cast of characters, how one retains a sense of unity and identity within the diversity which characterizes most novels. Note: no conventional genre novels (fantasy, sci-fi, romance) recapitulating rote formulas or material that has been sitting in a trunk since high school: only your best current work that aims to explore and illuminate the human circumstance.

Other than student mss., the one text that we will using at the start: The Secret Agent by Josef Conrad (Oxford's World Classics series)

Prerequisites:

ENGL 383 or 484