About this course: Everything comes together in the Capstone. You will draft a complete story, narrative essay, or memoir of 8–15 pages. With the advice of your peer readers, you will revise, rewrite, and complete it. The skills you’ve learned of plotting, setting, physical description, characterization, and stylistic clarity and innovation will culminate in an original work of art all your own. We’ll discuss the steps that professional writers take to bring their work into the public world. Along the way you’ll learn the patient habits of revision that make up the writer’s life.
Created by: Wesleyan University
Taught by: Salvatore Scibona, Frank B. Weeks Visiting Professor of English
| Basic Info | Course 5 of 5 in the 创意写作 Specialization |
| Commitment | 7 weeks of study, 3-5 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Introduction to the Capstone and Gathering Materials
This week we lay out the agenda of the Capstone—seven weeks of structured work in which you’ll proceed from your accumulated notes and exercises to a finished piece: Your Story. We discuss the upcoming sequence of critiques of your fellow students’s work and you assemble the materials for your first draft.
3 videos, 2 readings
- Reading: Specialization Survey
- Reading: Specialization Promo Codes
- Video: The Elements of Story
- Video: Gathering Materials
WEEK 2
Composition Strategies
Having gathered all your scraps, notes, research, exercises into one place, you now get moving on the first draft. Through interviews with Jaimy Gordon and Amy Bloom, we discuss composition strategies—the different ways different writers have approached the blank page and how they get moving toward a coherent whole.
5 videos
- Video: Interview with Amy Bloom, pt. 1
- Video: Interview with Amy Bloom, pt. 2
- Video: Interview with Jaimy Gordon
- Video: Working on a First Draft
WEEK 3
Finishing the First Draft
Compose, compose, compose. This week is devoted completely to pushing through that crucial deadline: finishing your first draft by the end of the week. As you compose, you’ll get some advice from successful Wesleyan alumni writers who have gone from where you are to published books out there in the world.
6 videos
- Video: Una LaMarche
- Video: Lin-Manuel Miranda
- Video: Ayelet Waldman
- Video: Becky Albertalli
- Video: First Draft
Graded: First Draft
WEEK 4
Peer Review
Now that you’ve finished your first draft, it’s time to get ready for the first big peer review. This week we’ll talk about how to give good critique, and we’ll present a sample story and sample workshop. At the end of the week, you’ll write critiques of three of your fellow students’ work while they are busy critiquing yours.
4 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: Manuscript for Workshop Demonstration
- Video: Workshop Demonstration, pt. 1
- Video: Workshop Demonstration, pt. 2
- Video: Three Peer Reviews
WEEK 5
Using Critique and Sanding
Some of the critiques you’ve received will seem immediately right, some more challenging, some may seem averse to your goals. This week we discuss the “Dear Workshop” Letter: a way of settling your thoughts and making decisions about what to do with all that sometimes conflicting advice as you proceed toward the final draft. We also take a moment to do a shorter critique focused more closely on the word-level decisions that you and your fellow-writers have made. You’ll perform a “sanding revision” on a single page of three of your fellow writers’ stories—you’ll report to the writer all the places her language or punctuation could use clarifying, and, just as important, where they’re already working at their best.
6 videos, 1 reading
- Video: What is a Debriefing?
- Video: Debriefing Example: What The Conversation Looks Like
- Reading: Manuscript for Sanding Demonstration
- Video: What Is Sanding?
- Video: Sanding Demonstration
- Video: Milestone for This Week: Sanding Submission
Graded: Sanding
WEEK 6
Rewriting and Publication
If the theme of Week Three was Compose, compose, compose, this week’s theme is Revise, rewrite; revise, rewrite. We’ll discuss different ways of reading and approaching your draft to catch the action and the language and the characterization from different angles. Through a conversation with Brando Skyhorse, we’ll also take a moment to discuss what to do after the class if you hope some day soon to publish your work.
5 videos
- Video: Introduction to Publication
- Video: Brando Skyhorse on Publishing, pt. 1
- Video: Brando Skyhorse on Publishing, pt. 2
- Video: Making Progress
WEEK 7
Where to Go From Here?
By the end of this week, you will finish the final version of your story. We’ll discuss ways of continuing the creative momentum that’s brought you this far—whether through writers’ groups or conferences, or just through a daily writing practice. Once you turn in the final version of your piece, you’ll perform final critiques of the stories of three of your fellow writers and will likewise receive their evaluations of your work. Congratulations: you will have completed the Specialization.
4 videos, 1 reading
- Video: Interview with Anne Greene about Conferences
- Reading: Online Writing Workshops
- Video: Final Draft
- Video: Congratulations!
Graded: Final Draft
FAQs
How It Works
Coursework
Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.
Help from Your Peers
Connect with thousands of other learners and debate ideas, discuss course material, and get help mastering concepts.
Certificates
Earn official recognition for your work, and share your success with friends, colleagues, and employers.
Creators
Wesleyan University
At Wesleyan, distinguished scholar-teachers work closely with students, taking advantage of fluidity among disciplines to explore the world with a variety of tools. The university seeks to build a diverse, energetic community of students, faculty, and staff who think critically and creatively and who value independence of mind and generosity of spirit.
Pricing
| Purchase Course | |
|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Available |
Ratings and Reviews
I really enjoyed the capstone. I received some great feedback regarding my story but I was disappointed because most time I only received two instead of three reviews. I feel the reviews are the most informative because they are the reader responses to the lessons covered each week so I think it should be a goal that is met each week even if a mentor must step in to provide that final review.
The reviews are also an opportunity for me as a writer to improve my editing skills. It is also an opportunity that forces me to make sure there is a positive in the critical reviews of the pieces. I make sure i review my words to be sure they are not negative but offer guidance and words that will make the writers want to continue writing and improve. As students we all came to this specialization for skills and a chance to publicly share those lessons within our pieces not negativity.
I am glad Coursera provided me with this opportunity to take advantage of this specialization because I am a better writer because of these five courses and their instructors. Thank you.
Amazing, great tutors, for everyone who's looking to expand the horizons. Highly recommended.
I enjoyed the whole specialization. Capstone was a way to put it in motion. I guess I miss teacher's presence but also writer is a solitary job. I had the sensation many of the students never wrote a text before. I think it's a very good training camp for writers but maybe not so good for absolute beginner writers. But I enjoyed it a lot. I would like to know what are the next steps you propose in your mail giving me the good news. Thanks anyhow. It bettered my writing even in latine language such as French or Spanish.
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aj
Pacing just right; helpful assignments; solid, constructive teaching; tough yet encouraging peer review