By Dominic Arthur, Staff Reporter.
Are you a writer that’s looking to gain more experience? An English course that’s being offered in the winter 2015 semester may be right for you.
Lauren Smith, Assistant Professor of English, is offering an ENG 256: Creative Non-Fiction writing course on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 11:25 a.m. that will use a “variety of artistic techniques” to help you “explore a fascinating subject: yourself.”
Students joining non-fiction can expect to love “writing more than what they already do. It doesn’t have to be limited to non-fiction,” Smith said. At the end of the day, she wants students that join the class to “love themselves more.”
“I feel that this course has the potential to inspire people who don’t define themselves as writers. It has the chance to invite even more people to the creative writing party.”
The class typically only runs in the winter semester. They’re looking to potentially offer the class at different times of the year, but it all depends on how the class fills up this semester.
“Just running it in winter is a good idea,” said Smith, who’s been an instructor at Delta since 2010.
Students from any field at Delta can join the class.
“Because its an elective, usually people [who join] have some interest in writing and have developed their writing. But thats not to say that people in the class are experts. The only prerequisites are a composition course.”
Smith is dedicated to writing non-fiction.
“In non-fiction, you’re allowed to balance show and tell, and the art is blending the two together.”
She also loves it because, “there’s something different and visceral about writing things that are real and not hiding behind a character or plot. And maybe not being as mysterious as some poetry may be.”
For students nervous about joining the class, Smith said, “We’re all scared. I’m scared every time I write anything and I’ve been doing it for years. I think it’s a bad sign actually to not be scared.”
And for students who have no writing experience: “You’ve gotten into college which means you lived a life, which means you have a story to tell somewhere. All we’re trying to do is tell a story to see what they mean and we can all do that.”
