14875 - A Story with History: Writing Historical Fiction
Course Overview
Historical fiction is experiencing a revival but remains a challenging genre for us writers. We will focus on the narrative framework of storytelling and how to deliver our ‘story with history’ via our characters’ physical and emotional journey through plot and setting, facts and details. We will tackle issues of research, anachronism, presentism, sensitivity readers, and cultural appropriation in our quest for our story’s accuracy, authenticity, plausibility, and credibility. Voluntary participation in short ‘assignments’ is offered to those who wish to put into action the information we share in class.
What You'll Learn
- Gain skills to navigate the challenging genre of historical fiction.
- Understand the importance of research and tackle the issues of anachronism, presentism, sensitivity readers, and cultural appropriation as you strive for accuracy, authenticity, plausibility, and credibility within your story.
- Participate in voluntary writing assignments in support of information covered in class.
Who Should Attend
Appropriate for beginning and intermediate writers with interest in the genre of historical fiction.Prerequisites
Suggested reading: Christopher Vogler, The Writer’s Journey, Mythic Structure for Storytellers & Screenwriters (1992 or later editions), Lisa Cron, Wired for a Story (2012)UNM Tuition Remission
UNM Staff, Faculty, and Retirees: This course is Tuition Remission eligible under Professional Development. For more information, visit the UNM Tuition Remission information page.