Children's Track
YOU WANT TO WRITE FOR CHILDREN, but it’s a bewildering, multi-faceted world. What format? What genre? What age? In this track you’ll learn from beginning to end: book formats, writing for childhood stages and genres.
Children change as they grow and so do their books. Study the story design of the various children’s book formats: board book, picture book, easy reader, chapter book, middle grade and young adult. Select a format for your own children’s book and begin writing. Bring your five favorite children’s books to the first session. (Library books allowed.) Prerequisite: Creative Writing Introduction.
Explore the many nuances of the poetry, fiction and nonfiction genres for children and young adults. Delve into fantasy, historical, and realistic fiction. Rediscover the comic book (now known as a graphic novel). Find your niche as you write and revise your children’s book manuscript. Prerequisite: Children’s Track: Formats.
For those building chapters, at any point of the writing experience, in any genre, this class offers weekly deadlines and accountability while helping you brainstorm what to write next. For all students, anywhere in the creation process – a class of allies, critique partners and deadlines. Feel free to take it until you’ve completed your first draft – and again when you are working on your second/third, etc.! Prerequisite: Completion of one of the program’s three tracks.
You’ve completed a first draft. Where do you go from here? Revision offers hard-core analysis of structure, character and pacing while preparing you to write a stronger, cleaner draft, no matter which draft it is. This final “story” class helps you deepen what you’ve already created while giving insight to what still needs to be done. Prerequisite: All Tracks: Chapters and manuscript approval.
ALL TRACKS: POLISH (Offered spring, 2010)
Polish covers the minutiae, details, trimming and edits that will help you perfect the words on the page – the difference between “done” and “finished.” It also includes synopsis writing, logline pitches and every step up to the query letter. Be sure your book is as good as you can make it. This class is spit and polish, not rewriting. Prerequisite: All Tracks: Revision and manuscript approval.
SMU
Writer's Seminar in New York
For four days, in the extraordinary setting of an Upper East-side
mansion, students will have the opportunity to live the literary life.
Hear an honest and full critique of your manuscript from publishing
professionals, enjoy meals and lectures with those in the business, and
learn firsthand the intricacies of the publishing world. Prerequisites:
please visit smu.edu/newyork for complete prerequisite listing.
Register now to secure your place, and get an "early registration" discount!
*Formula For Success:
The SMU Writer’s Seminar in New York serves as a culmination of the SMU Continuing Education Creative Writing Program, and as such, carries several prerequisites. These prerequisites help our students move from course to course within the program along pre-determined “paths” that contribute to their success and help to ensure that students gain certain skills before moving on to the next level. In addition, following these prerequisites helps to ensure the highest level of quality for the SMU Writer’s Seminar in New York applicants.
For complete program information, including program “paths,” course dates and times, and New York Seminar prerequisites, please visit www.smu.edu/creativewriting.