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Creative Writing
School of Humanities & Sciences
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  1. Home
  2. Programs
  3. Undergraduate
  4. Creative Writing
  5. Minor

Minor

Minor
  • English opens in a new tab
Program Minimum Units
26 Units
University Minimum Units
18 Units
Interests
Writing, Literature & Culture, Experimentation & Discovery
Academic Areas
Humanities & Arts

Overview

The minor in Creative Writing offers a structured environment in which students interested in writing prose or poetry develop their skills while receiving an introduction to literary forms. Students choose a concentration in prose, poetry, or fiction into film.

Requirements

Core Program Requirements

Requirements Overview

Minor in Creative Writing (26-30 units)

Degree Requirements

To graduate with a minor in Creative Writing, students must complete the following requirements:

  • Choose a subplan: prose, poetry, or fiction into film

  • Complete at least 26 units of approved courses in desired subplan

  • Take all courses for letter grades only

  • Take all courses for 5 units only, with the exception of ENGLISH160 - Poetry and Poetics, the short story literature course, and the English literature elective

English Literature Elective

To satisfy this requirement:

  • 3-5 units

  • Lecture (LEC) or seminar (SEM) course only; workshop (WKS) courses do not satisfy this requirement

  • If the course is an ENGLISH course that is 3-5 units and LEC/SEM, then it will satisfy this requirement

  • If the course is not an ENGLISH course but is 3-5 units and LEC/SEM, then request a course substitution

Subplans

Required
Students must select a subplan to complete this program. A subplan is an officially declared and defined set of requirements that provides a way for students to go deeper into a discipline or focus within a program.

Subplan: Prose

Introductory Courses (13-15 units)

Complete all of the following requirements:
Introductory Prose (5 units)

Complete 1 course in either ENGLISH 90 or ENGLISH 91 series

Complete at least 1 of the following courses:
ENGLISH 90

Fiction Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 90A

The Story of a Story: Asian American Fiction (A Creative Writing Workshop)

5 Units
ENGLISH 90AX

Creative Writing: The Magic of Baseball in Film & Fiction

2 Units
ENGLISH 90DC

DCI Sports Writing

3 Units
ENGLISH 90FC

First Chapters

5 Units
ENGLISH 90H

Humor Writing Workshop

5 Units
ENGLISH 90L

Latine Stories

5 Units
ENGLISH 90M

Queer Stories

5 Units
ENGLISH 90Q

Sports Writing

3 Units
ENGLISH 90QN

Quantum Narratives:Writing Fiction about Science, Philosophy and Human Experience in the Quantum Age

5 Units
ENGLISH 90R

American Road Trip

5 Units
ENGLISH 90S

Reading and Writing Science Fiction

5 Units
ENGLISH 90V

Fiction Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 90WM

Writing Mystical, Spiritual, and Altered States: A Workshop

5 Units
ENGLISH 91

Creative Nonfiction

5 Units
ENGLISH 91A

Asian American Autobiography

5 Units
ENGLISH 91AI

Creative Writing & Science: The Artful Interpreter

5 Units
ENGLISH 91DC

DCI Writing the Memoir

5 Units
ENGLISH 91NW

Nature Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 91V

Creative Nonfiction

5 Units
and
Introductory Poetry (5 units)
Complete at least 1 of the following courses:
ENGLISH 92

Reading and Writing Poetry

5 Units
ENGLISH 92BP

Contemporary Black Poetry and Poetics

5 Units
ENGLISH 92L

Poems of Love and Sexuality

5 Units
ENGLISH 92V

Reading and Writing Poetry

5 Units
and
Short Story Literature (3-5 units)
Complete at least 1 of the following courses:
ENGLISH 12C

Introduction to English III: Modern Literature

5 Units
ENGLISH 14N

Stories Everywhere

3 Units
ENGLISH 31N

Love and Death

3 Units
ENGLISH 68N

Mark Twain and American Culture

4 Units
ENGLISH 90L

Latine Stories

5 Units
ENGLISH 125

Virginia Woolf in the Age of #MeToo

3-5 Units
ENGLISH 133B

Storytelling and Mythmaking: Modern Odysseys

3-5 Units
ENGLISH 146CW

Contemporary Women Writers

5 Units
ENGLISH 146F

Fiction Intensive: Crafting a First Book

5 Units
ENGLISH 146N

Native American Creative Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 146SH

A Short History of the Short Story

3 Units
ENGLISH 146W

Iconic Short Stories

5 Units
ENGLISH 161

Narrative and Narrative Theory

5 Units
ENGLISH 169D

Contemporary Asian American Stories

5 Units
ENGLISH 177B

Contemporary American Short Stories

4-5 Units
ENGLISH 187

Zora Neale Hurston

3-5 Units
ENGLISH 190S

Short Story Salon

5 Units
  • Lecture (LEC) or seminar (SEM) course only; workshop (WKS) courses do not satisfy this requirement

Intermediate or Advanced Prose Courses (10 units)

Complete 2 intermediate/advanced prose courses worth 5 units each, 10 units total. Acceptable course combinations include:

  • 2 courses from ENGLISH 190 series (e.g., 190 and 190V)

  • 2 courses from ENGLISH 191 series

  • 1 course from 190 series and 1 course from 191 series

  • 1 course from 190/191 series and ENGLISH290

  • 1 course from 190/191 series and ENGLISH291

  • ENGLISH290 and ENGLISH291

Complete all of the following requirements:
Intermediate Prose Writing

Students may choose up to 2 courses from the following course sets.

Complete any of the following course(s):
ENGLISH 190

Intermediate Fiction Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 190A

AAPI Fiction Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 190E

Novel Writing Intensive

5 Units
ENGLISH 190F

Fiction into Film

5 Units
ENGLISH 190G

The Graphic Novel

5 Units
ENGLISH 190H

The Graphic Novel

5 Units
ENGLISH 190HO

Creatures of the Dark: Ghosts and Ghouls of Horror Fiction

5 Units
ENGLISH 190L

Levinthal Tutorial in Fiction

5 Units
ENGLISH 190LC

Levinthal Tutorial in Graphic Novel/Comics

5 Units
ENGLISH 190NS

Novel Salon

5 Units
ENGLISH 190QN

Quantum Narratives

5 Units
ENGLISH 190S

Short Story Salon

5 Units
ENGLISH 190SW

Screenwriting Intensive

5 Units
ENGLISH 190V

Reading for Writers: Obsession as Muse

5 Units
ENGLISH 190YA

Young Adult Fiction

5 Units
ENGLISH 191

Intermediate Creative Nonfiction

5 Units
ENGLISH 191DC

DCI Intermediate Memoir Workshop

5 Units
ENGLISH 191L

Levinthal Tutorial in Nonfiction

5 Units
and
Advanced Fiction Writing or Advanced Creative Nonfiction
Complete any of the following course(s):
ENGLISH 290

Advanced Fiction Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 291

Advanced Creative Nonfiction

5 Units

Literature Elective (3-5 units)

Complete 1 elective course in English literature

Lecture (LEC) or seminar (SEM) course only; workshop (WKS) courses do not satisfy this requirement

Subplan: Poetry

Introductory Poetry Course (5 units)

Complete at least 1 of the following courses:
ENGLISH 92

Reading and Writing Poetry

5 Units
ENGLISH 92BP

Contemporary Black Poetry and Poetics

5 Units
ENGLISH 92L

Poems of Love and Sexuality

5 Units
ENGLISH 92V

Reading and Writing Poetry

5 Units

Introductory Courses (8-10 units)

Complete all of the following requirements:
Introductory Prose (5 units)
Complete at least 1 of the following courses:
ENGLISH 90

Fiction Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 90A

The Story of a Story: Asian American Fiction (A Creative Writing Workshop)

5 Units
ENGLISH 90AX

Creative Writing: The Magic of Baseball in Film & Fiction

2 Units
ENGLISH 90DC

DCI Sports Writing

3 Units
ENGLISH 90FC

First Chapters

5 Units
ENGLISH 90H

Humor Writing Workshop

5 Units
ENGLISH 90L

Latine Stories

5 Units
ENGLISH 90M

Queer Stories

5 Units
ENGLISH 90Q

Sports Writing

3 Units
ENGLISH 90QN

Quantum Narratives:Writing Fiction about Science, Philosophy and Human Experience in the Quantum Age

5 Units
ENGLISH 90R

American Road Trip

5 Units
ENGLISH 90S

Reading and Writing Science Fiction

5 Units
ENGLISH 90V

Fiction Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 90WM

Writing Mystical, Spiritual, and Altered States: A Workshop

5 Units
ENGLISH 91

Creative Nonfiction

5 Units
ENGLISH 91A

Asian American Autobiography

5 Units
ENGLISH 91AI

Creative Writing & Science: The Artful Interpreter

5 Units
ENGLISH 91DC

DCI Writing the Memoir

5 Units
ENGLISH 91NW

Nature Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 91V

Creative Nonfiction

5 Units

Complete 1 course in either ENGLISH 90 or ENGLISH 91 series

and
Poetry and Poetics (3-5 units)
Complete all of the following course(s):
ENGLISH 160

Poetry and Poetics

5 Units

Intermediate or Advanced Poetry Courses (10 units)

Complete 2 intermediate/advanced poetry courses worth 5 units each, 10 units total. Acceptable course combinations include:

  • 2 courses from ENGLISH 192 series (e.g., 192 and 192V)

  • 1 course from 192 series and ENGLISH292

Complete all of the following requirements:
ENGLISH 192 Series

Students may choose up to 2 courses from the following course sets.

Complete any of the following course(s):
ENGLISH 192

Intermediate Poetry Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 192B

Poetry Is Not a Luxury

5 Units
ENGLISH 192L

Levinthal Tutorial in Poetry

5 Units
ENGLISH 192V

The Practice of Poetic Erasure

5 Units
and
Advanced Poetry Writing
Complete any of the following course(s):
ENGLISH 292

Advanced Poetry Writing

5 Units

Literature Elective (3-5 units)

Complete 1 elective course in English literature

Lecture (LEC) or seminar (SEM) course only; workshop (WKS) courses do not satisfy this requirement

Subplan: Fiction into Film

Core Courses (15 units)

Complete all of the following course(s):
ENGLISH 90

Fiction Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 190F

Fiction into Film

5 Units
ENGLISH 190SW

Screenwriting Intensive

5 Units

Intermediate or Advanced Prose Course (5 units)

Complete any of the following requirements:
ENGLISH 190 Series
Complete at least 1 of the following courses:
ENGLISH 190

Intermediate Fiction Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 190A

AAPI Fiction Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 190E

Novel Writing Intensive

5 Units
ENGLISH 190F

Fiction into Film

5 Units
ENGLISH 190G

The Graphic Novel

5 Units
ENGLISH 190H

The Graphic Novel

5 Units
ENGLISH 190HO

Creatures of the Dark: Ghosts and Ghouls of Horror Fiction

5 Units
ENGLISH 190L

Levinthal Tutorial in Fiction

5 Units
ENGLISH 190LC

Levinthal Tutorial in Graphic Novel/Comics

5 Units
ENGLISH 190NS

Novel Salon

5 Units
ENGLISH 190QN

Quantum Narratives

5 Units
ENGLISH 190S

Short Story Salon

5 Units
ENGLISH 190SW

Screenwriting Intensive

5 Units
ENGLISH 190V

Reading for Writers: Obsession as Muse

5 Units
ENGLISH 190YA

Young Adult Fiction

5 Units
or
Advanced Fiction Writing
Complete all of the following course(s):
ENGLISH 290

Advanced Fiction Writing

5 Units

Short Story Literature Course (3-5 units)

Complete at least 1 of the following courses:
ENGLISH 12C

Introduction to English III: Modern Literature

5 Units
ENGLISH 14N

Stories Everywhere

3 Units
ENGLISH 31N

Love and Death

3 Units
ENGLISH 68N

Mark Twain and American Culture

4 Units
ENGLISH 90L

Latine Stories

5 Units
ENGLISH 125

Virginia Woolf in the Age of #MeToo

3-5 Units
ENGLISH 133B

Storytelling and Mythmaking: Modern Odysseys

3-5 Units
ENGLISH 146CW

Contemporary Women Writers

5 Units
ENGLISH 146F

Fiction Intensive: Crafting a First Book

5 Units
ENGLISH 146N

Native American Creative Writing

5 Units
ENGLISH 146SH

A Short History of the Short Story

3 Units
ENGLISH 146W

Iconic Short Stories

5 Units
ENGLISH 161

Narrative and Narrative Theory

5 Units
ENGLISH 169D

Contemporary Asian American Stories

5 Units
ENGLISH 177B

Contemporary American Short Stories

4-5 Units
ENGLISH 187

Zora Neale Hurston

3-5 Units
ENGLISH 190S

Short Story Salon

5 Units
  • Lecture (LEC) or seminar (SEM) course only; workshop (WKS) courses do not satisfy this requirement

Literature Elective (3-5 units)

Complete 1 elective course in English literature

Lecture (LEC) or seminar (SEM) course only; workshop (WKS) courses do not satisfy this requirement