CCOG for WR 249 Winter 2025
- Course Number:
- WR 249
- Course Title:
- Advanced Creative Writing, Editing & Publishing II
- Credit Hours:
- 4
- Lecture Hours:
- 40
- Lecture/Lab Hours:
- 0
- Lab Hours:
- 0
Course Description
Intended Outcomes for the course
Upon completion of the course students should be able to:
- Solicit and then read a variety of literary and artistic submissions, and use appropriate critical language, in increasingly sophisticated ways, to define an aesthetic to guide the evaluation process and the decisions to accept or reject manuscripts.
- Work cooperatively and communicate effectively with co-editors and contributors to edit and publish a small literary publication, applying critical thinking and complex problem-solving to address the multitude of mechanical and strategic problems and possibilities in publishing.
- Respond fairly, intelligently, and professionally to a variety of literary and artistic submissions, showing respect for themselves and others as writers.
- Facilitate a complete publication cycle, engaging constructively in the mechanics of keyboarding, design, layout, and proofreading; and communicate effectively with the professionals who handle other aspects of publication, such as the printing and binding.
- Write original creative writing with greater knowledge of genre and technique.
Integrative Learning
Students completing an associate degree at Portland Community College will be able to reflect on one’s work or competencies to make connections between course content and lived experience.
General education philosophy statement
English and Writing courses align with the PCC General Education philosophy by providing an appreciation of writing and literature from global and personal perspectives. Students in English courses engage the imagination, critical inquiry and self‐reflection, and in the process of doing so, cultivate a more complex understanding of their own culture(s), linguistic/communication practices, and perspectives in relation to others. Because the literary arts lie at the heart of most human cultures, they are essential for understanding ourselves and each other and navigating our differences. Like all artistic practices, Creative Writing allows us to process experience and, in doing so, discover and create meaning. In Creative Writing courses, students produce and revise original writing, workshop their writing and the writing of others, study literature, and learn about editing and publishing. Courses in creative writing empower students to realize themselves as writers. In the process, students nurture and harness their creativity, develop their unique writing voices, and explore interdisciplinary aspects of their craft — connections with art, music, and science, for example. Writing and Literature courses foster a stronger sense of engagement with history, culture, and society. Writing and Literature students develop an awareness of themselves as readers and writers in a global world, and an enlarged understanding of the relationships between language, identity, ideas, scholarship, communication, and transformation.
Course Activities and Design
Course Activities and DesignOutcomes for this course require working through multiple drafts of several pieces ofwriting with time to separate the acts of writing and revising; in addition, the readingoutcomes require time to read, reread, reflect, respond, interpret, analyze, and evaluate.Students meet for four hours in class during the week as well as for special sessions ifworkload or deadline necessitate them. In addition to reading and workshopping their ownwork, students will solicit and review manuscripts and artwork for inclusion in the literaryand art magazines (Alchemy, Alembic, Rock Creek Review, and Pointed Circle).Classroom methods vary as necessary to prepare for the publication of the quarterly and annual literary and arts magazines. These methods may include lectures, conferences, demonstrations, assigned readings or field trips to learn about printing, graphic arts, photography, typesetting, marketing, layout, and small-press operation. Students may be required to attend and participate in public readings that they will organize for contributing writers in conjunction with marketing the magazine. The instructor should spend approximately an hour of conference with each student outside of class.
Outcome Assessment Strategies
The course grade is determined by appraisal of the student's participation and contribution to the group effort of producing the literary and arts magazine. Evaluation is based upon effectiveness, dependability and timeliness in carrying out responsibilities; contribution of imaginative and workable ideas; application of critical values as developed in this and other classes; successful completion of any other assigned work, such as a personal chapbook and creative writing; willingness to accept a fair share of drudgery; and acceptance of responsibility for editorial choices. Attendance policies vary with instructors.
Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)
• Desktop publishing• Desktop publishing software, such as? InDesign? Photoshop? OmniPage Direct? MS Word• Book design and typography• Self-publishing• Online Publishing• Designing and producing a small chapbook• Producing a campus literary magazine• Cooperation, collaboration, mentorship, apprenticeship• Furthering creative writing skills• Publishing and the business of literature• Editing and proofreading skills• Sharpening critical skills