Term: Term 1, September, 2025

Type: Online / Asynchronous

Time: Synchronous events (draft days, guest speakers) are held on Zoom and are attendance optional. Relevant content will be recorded so you’ll be able to watch at your convenience.

Instructor: Tariq Hussain (he/him)

Instructor Bio: As someone who has worked as a professional artist for some time, I bring my practical experience to the classroom as a songwriter/recording artist and non-fiction writer. My background as a South-Asian, first generation child of parents from Fiji and Pakistan has provided me with insight, empathy, and an understanding of the challenges we all face trying to figure out where we belong. I believe the value of writing and creating goes beyond a single class, and it is my hope that students end the term feeling excited by stories, songs, poems and that they see the act of writing as a source of lifelong growth, comfort and companionship.

Course Description:

This course is designed for students looking to develop their writing skills through an exploration of a variety of creative genres. Using a combination of in-person lectures, writing exercises, peer sharing as well as larger writing assignments, students will be given the chance to explore a variety of topics and concepts designed to elevate their craft such as how to construct story arcs, handling structure, character development, image building, point of view and creating effective dialogue, to name a few. Genres to be explored include fiction, creative nonfiction (including memoir, personal essay, profile), poetry, songwriting, screenwriting, and playwriting. This course is an inspiring and fun introduction to the world of creative writing and is sure to get your creative juices flowing.

This course is an online asynchronous class with support from modules on Canvas containing all course material week to week.

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites for this class.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• write a piece of short fiction (short story) with tension and conflict

• thoughtfully implement elements of fiction such as character and setting description, dialogue, and point of view in a short story

• identify the critical craft techniques in a variety of genres from fiction to poetry to screenwriting to songwriting

• experiment with vivid language and detail in the poetic form

• differentiate between a variety of creative non-fiction genres from memoir to personal essay to profile

• demonstrate creative achievements through the creation of a portfolio of original work

Learning Activities:

Classroom lectures, short writing exercises, required readings, longer writing assignments, quizzes, guest speakers.

Assignments & Quizzes:

You will have 3 major writing assignments over the term as well as a series of weekly smaller writing exercises to complete. The idea is to help you maintain a regular writing practice as well as to experiment with the material discussed in the video lectures. As well, there will be  2 quizzes (multiple choice / true or false) which will be based on the content of the lectures as well as the readings that you will be doing over the term. Here is a breakdown of the grading percentages:

Assignment 1: 25%

Assignment 2: 25%

Assignment 3: 25%

Writing Exercises: 5%

Quiz 1: 10%

Quiz 2: 10%

Required Texts:

There are no textbooks or course materials to purchase for this course.

Instead, required readings / listenings following fair dealing will be posted in UBC Canvas in the modules and will also be available via the Library Online Course Services (link on Canvas).

Weekly Writing Exercises:

On Canvas you will find weekly writing exercises each worth 1 point which accompany the content of the lectures. Please check the due dates for these assignments carefully. You will always have one week to complete each one, so please be sure to complete and submit on time as no extensions or concessions will be allowed beyond the one-week allowance, which should allow more than sufficient amount of time for you to complete them. Upload your documents and or files to Canvas (PDF, DOCX, MP3) in the correct module and note that submitting garbled or unreadable/unlistenable documents or items, incorrect formats, or material that doesn't coincide with the requirements of the exercise will render your submission unacceptable. These will be graded as complete (1 point) incomplete (0 points) and TAs will not provide written feedback on this work. On the positive side, you are allowed to miss 4 of these smaller assignments over the term with no effect on your grade.

Longer Length Assignments:

In addition to the shorter weekly writing exercises, you will complete three longer writing pieces for this class. Please see your Assignment modules on Canvas for full assignment descriptions as well as the “Genre Formatting Guidelines” module for clarification on length, font, spacing, and other specific requirements for each genre.

Assignment Content:

While we encourage creativity and taking risks in this class, please be aware that some types of writing DO NOT fulfill the requirements of assignments for this course. They include, but are not limited to: fan-fiction, personal journaling, writing about your TAs and instructor, writing about fellow students, writing about your grades. As well, please do not write stories about school shootings or other forms of violence taking place on school grounds or violence against faculty or students fiction or otherwise. Such assignments will receive a grade of zero.

If you plan to submit work that depicts sexualized, racialized or gendered violence, please arrange to speak with your TA or instructor well ahead of starting your draft to discuss your intentions. If you are unsure whether the content or approach of your assignment is appropriate, again,  please contact your instructor or TA well ahead of the deadline.

Submissions containing gratuitous violence, outright misogyny, racism, or disrespect of individuals based on race, gender or sexual orientation are unacceptable and will receive a grade of zero.

As well, borrowing text, storylines or characters from existing books, tv shows, movies, legends, folk tales, song lyrics, music videos, etc. or re-telling that story in your own words is not allowed as a submission and you will receive a grade of zero. This is also considered academic misconduct and more serious action may be taken. Same goes for getting a friend to write your story for you or seeking outside help to write the story. Language learners may seek outside help for matters pertaining to grammar and syntax however others should not be writing your story for you or feeding you creative ideas to write the story as this is considered academic misconduct.

All the stories that you turn in must be written by you and specifically for this course. You should be generating new creative work for this class. You may not submit any work that was substantively begun outside of the class at an earlier date.

Use of any kind of AI like Chat GPT etc. to complete your assignments or weekly writing exercises is prohibited unless permission is granted by the instructor to use it for a particular exercise or exploration. If you have questions about this, please see your instructor before proceeding with your work.

All fiction and nonfiction pieces should be complete stories unto themselves and no novel excerpts will be accepted.

We care about your well-being so should your work deal with subjects around self-harm, or anything that might arouse our concern, please be aware that either a TA, the instructor, or someone from UBC’s Early Alert program will be in touch with you for a check-in to assure that you’re okay. If we feel there are reasons for greater concern, we will arrange to meet with you to discuss further steps. Should you know in advance that the subject matter of your piece might raise some concerns, please contact your TA team or instructor ahead of time. Also, including a disclaimer is strongly encouraged for certain types of assignments.

Disclaimers:

If you feel that the content of your assignment may cause us reason for concern for your personal health, safety, or well-being, or the health, safety and well-being of others, please include a disclaimer with your assignment to contextualize any concerning material readers may come across.

Your disclaimer should do the following:

—Be specific about the nature of the content

—Explain what your intentions were in writing about this subject

—Outline your personal relationship to the subject matter and indicate any steps you've taken to nurture your own health well-being

—Address any potential concerns readers may have after reading this piece

Example of what a disclaimer might look like, specific to this author's situation:

This piece deals with a traumatic event perpetrated against someone without the power to defend themselves from it. It is my intention in this piece to explore the lasting effects of trauma and how its victims move past it. This is in no way drawn from my own personal life experiences nor do I  in any way condone the kind of abusive behaviour dealt with in this story.

As well, in addition to putting the disclaimer on your assignment, it's recommended that you send a note to your TA team regarding your intentions for the assignment. That way if there's anything to discuss, it can be done in advance of you submitting your work.

Quizzes:

There will be 2 quizzes for this class. Quizzes cover all course content including video lecture material, assigned readings, and content from guest speakers. Quizzes are conducted online on Canvas. Quizzes are not cumulative, in other words, once material has been covered on Quiz 1, there won’t be questions about that same material on Quiz 2.

Final Exam:

There is no final exam in this course.