WRIT 8230 - The Successful Story: Fiction Through the Lens of Editor and Writer (Water~Stone Review)

What moves a story beyond first cut? What does it take for a story to beat out hundreds of others on the path to publication? What’s the quality of fiction being submitted to national literary journals? Where does our own work fit into the wide range of publishing possibilities? How does editorial work change your fiction forever? In this dynamic, hands-on class, students will take on the role of fiction editorial board for the next issue of Water~Stone Review. Working as a team of editors and writers, we will ask the same questions of our own work that we ask of others: What does it take to succeed? Is quality simply a matter of taste? Is publication purely subjective? Class work will include submission screening, short writing exercises, and the study of national literary journals with an eye toward future placement of our own fiction. Students will revise and workshop at least one selection of their own work in this course as they prepare their journal submissions.

Prerequisite: WRIT 8130 or permission of the instructor

Credits: 4

Note: MFA writing/elective