Teaching writing
11:19 PM PDT, March 30, 2008
I'm very excited about teaching a creative writing class this summer at UNLV. It's Honors Seminar 1 in summer session 2 (mostly in June). I've decided to call it "The Craft of Creative Non-Fiction," even though I know many people disagree with the term. If it's too creative, they say, it's fiction, and if it's just well-written, why not just call it non-fiction? I think that "creative non-fiction" is appropriate, though, because it is a very different kind of writing from academic and journalistic non-fiction.
We're going to be doing some reading, some discussing, lots of writing, and more workshopping than you can imagine. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, people looking on this site for books about gambling (if they read this blog on one of my book pages) probably know more about this class than UNLV students. I'm going to have to ramp up my recruitment efforts if I want a full class. What qualifies me to teach writing? After all, I haven't written a best-seller yet. But I'm willing to wager that I've published 3 more books than any of my students, which makes me something of an authority. But I don't see the class as a place for me to lecture students about the One True Way to write. Instead, I see it as a group effort that I'm leading, like a conductor leads an orchestra. So hopefully I can play Duke Ellington to a few aspiring Johnny Hodges, Harry Carneys, and Tricky Sam Nantons out there, gently prompting them to excellence with a few well-placed notes. Students will learn a little about the genre and explore their own writing. They'll all finish a "Big Project" during the class--this is a serious piece of writing that they can try to get published or just be proud of. So if you are a UNLV student or know one, take a look at this class. |
Bio
I love how "writer, historian" is in quotes next to my name. I really am one of each--I've got a Ph.D. in US History from UCLA and I've written three books so far.
My website has a ton of info about my writing, professional, and creative work. So feel free to check it out at www.dieiscast.com. Oh yeah, there's more photos of casino carpets than you ever thought existed there, if you're into that sort of thing. As far as the writing goes, I'm hard at work on my fourth book, and regularly write shorter non-fiction pieces as well. |
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