English 143C

Book List

Forster, E.M.: Aspects of the Novel

Description

The purpose of this course is to begin writing a novel. None of us will finish writing a novel in the three months we spend together. Novels take time, notwithstanding NaNoWriMo. There are some reported exceptions to this—Jack Kerouac wrote the first draft of On the Road in three weeks, Jonathan Safron Foer drafted his first novel in two months. But, given that the work is in the revision, we will restrict our goal this semester to “a start.” We'll read each other's efforts. We'll read some published novels along the way to explore the various shapes a narrative can take. We’ll also read E.M. Forster’s Aspects of the Novel (1927). We may as well have some notion of what we’re trying to do.

Only continuing UC Berkeley students are eligible to apply for this course. To be considered for admission, please electronically submit no more than 5 pages of your fiction, by clicking on the link below; fill out the application you'll find there and attach the writing sample as a Word document or .rtf file. The deadline for completing this application process is 4 P.M., FRIDAY, APRIL 17.

Also be sure to read the paragraph concerning creative writing courses on page 1 of the instructions area of this Announcement of Classes for further information regarding enrollment in such courses.