I am always interested in the ways in which point-of-view can be malleable. Although much of this course will examine the interplay between the close and objective 3rd-person point-of-view works of fiction, we will also look at some electric and innovative first-person narratives.
In addition to generating and exchanging work in class, we will focus on grounding the reader in concrete reality via setting and scene—focusing chiefly on treating the mimicking of “real life” as a fun opportunity (rather than a boring or cumbersome obligation). Also, most importantly, we will view revising as a creative and generative act, not as a bland “fixing” of issues that must be “corrected.”
With everything we read for class, we will be keeping in mind what sorts of techniques we can take from various authors to use in our own writing.
The writers in this course will walk away with an improved sense of how to create poignant and realistic scenes, how to harness authentic and unique voices, and how to revise effectively and independently.
WILL BURNS grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. He received his MFA in fiction writing from The New School and his PhD from the UH Creative Writing Program. He is a recipient of an Inprint Brown Foundation Fellowship, and a former Assistant Fiction Editor for Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts. He is currently editing his first book, a magical realist novel set in Arkansas.