My class, Creative Writing and Storytelling, will be primarily focused on turning ideas into written work. Grammar and nitpicking details that I personally dislike will not be my main interest. Instead, I plan to hone the content of student stories, helping to flesh out characters and worlds. I believe everyone has potential to be an author of a truly fabulous story, and every detail can make a mark upon readers that lasts a lifetime.
My current plan for the course is to hold seminar-style classes, where students can share their ideas and bounce ideas off of me and each other. With the new ways we can learn online, students will have opportunities to share their work with as many or few people as they feel comfortable with. Together, we will create NDA (non-disclosure agreement) drafts to protect our work and make first drafts of our stories the help of someone who knows exactly how hard it can be! I will do my best to take student ideas and advice on what they want to see from the course, and alter small details of my teaching plan to match what students want or need.
Some of my ideas for classes include crossover stories between students, other forms of collaborative work such as peer editing, one-on-one talks to start and develop the writing process, and activities designed to help develop particular writing skills (the five senses, plot, world-building, etc). This will all depend on what the students want to see; for instance, if the students do not want to share their work with each other, more small group and one-on-one work will be done compared to large group or class-encompassing activities.
