Important Notes: Creative Writing is a wonderful subject that lends itself to a multitude of forms and content. While worksheets and quizzes are provided to enhance and assess learning of concepts, it is the writing itself that makes a writer a writer! I go over all worksheet and quiz answer keys. The only thing parents need to do is make sure the student is:
- writing in the Journal every day
- daily personal entries
- prompts from the course
- taking notes
- doing the exercises
- doing the writing assigned (which will require the student to apply what was learned in that lesson)
The student's work will culminate in a creative Anthology of his/her work to showcase the creativity developed, devices mastered, and variety of genre endeavored. I highly advise parents to provide position feedback on this project and encourage the student to keep it forever as a testament to his/her growth and development as a writer and to enjoy revisiting it over the years.
This Course Contains:
- An Introduction
- 8 Sections/Units
- S1: Let's Get Started
- S2: Poetry
- S3: Prose
- S4: Genre Study
- S5: Advanced Poetry
- S6: Advanced Prose
- S7: Publishing
- S8: Final Project and Exam
- A list of multiple valuable general resources
- X warm-up writing prompts
- X worksheets
- X answer keys
- X unit-related resources
- X warm-up writing prompts
- 7 quizzes
- one final exam
Course Goals:
Upon completion of this course, students will have
- engaged with diverse forms of self-expression
- multiple methods from which to choose to generate ideas
- learned the value of personal experience as a source
- learned to generate a positive attitude toward the process of creative writing
- experimented with a wide variety of activities and approaches to creative writing
- an understanding of various literary genres in for self-expression
- learned and worked with a large number of tools for effective revision
- engaged in purposeful, playful learning experiences
- learned that creative writing can be a life-enhancing activity for personal growth
- learned the balance between writing for him/herself and writing for an audience
Target Audience:
This course is intended for any high school age students who have not already taken a course in creative writing and who want to learn and strengthen their creativity and skills by writing in various genres.
Course Requirements:
Students will be required to
- watch the video lessons (more than once if necessary)
- keep a daily personal Journal
- complete short creative warm-ups for each lesson
- review and study all resource material with me
- do all exercise worksheets and make corrections if necessary when I go over them
- do the assigned writing according to directions to apply knowledge and skills covered in the lessons
- take and pass all 7 quizzes
- take and pass the final exam
- compile their writing in an illustrated Anthology as the final project
COURSE TOPICS (please see individual course descriptions for more information)
Introduction:
- Materials required
- The nature of creativity
- The benefits of creativity
- You ARE creative
- Course objectives
- Course overview
Unit/Section 1: Let's Get Started
- Lesson 1: Creativity and How to Tap Into It
- Lesson 2: Journaling
- Lesson 3: Process and Genre
- Lesson 4: Prewriting-Generating Ideas
Unit/Section 2: Poetry
- Lesson 5: Creative Manipulation of Language
- Lesson 6: Poetic Models 1
- Lesson 7: Poetic Models 2
- Lesson 8: Figurative Language Part 1
- Lesson 9: Figurative Language Part 2
- Lesson 10: Observation and Description
Unit/Section 3: Prose
- Lesson 11: Elements of Fiction
- Lesson 12: Elements of Plot
- Lesson 13: Character Development
- Lesson 14: Point of View and Dialog
Unit/Section 4: Genre Study
- Lesson 15: Short Story
- Lesson 16: Memoir
- Lesson 17: Hero/Villian Story
- Lesson 18: Horror Story/Thriller
- Lesson 19: Mystery
- Lesson 20: Myth
- Lesson 21: One-Act Play
- Lesson 22: Writing for Children
Unit/Section 5: Advanced Poetry
- Lesson 23: Rhyme
- Lesson 24: Meter
- Lesson 25: Free Verse
Unit/Section 6: Advanced Prose
- Lesson 26: Archetypes
- Lesson 27: Incorporating Symbols
- Lesson 28: Working with Theme
Unit/Section 7: Publishing
- Lesson 29: Getting an Agent
- Lesson 30: The Publisher
- Lesson 31: Self-Publishing
Unit/Section 8: Final Assessments
- Lesson 32: The Anthology
- Lesson 33: The Final Exam
