What follows is one example poetry, fiction, and nonfiction assignment. These assignments have been adapted from an in-person, undergraduate, introductory multi-genre creative writing class of 20 students at a Midwestern R1 institution. Each assignment related to the course material in some way, and was generally started, or at least introduced, by the last class period of the week and given to students to complete at home and turn in online before the class’s next meeting. 

The assignments were posed as weekly “Writing Experiments” and were intended to be low-stakes and graded for completion, encouraging exploration and experimentation over “right answers” and perfection.

Pedagogical Goals for Writing Experiments

Engaging

The assignments arouse curiosity on the part of the student by having them think through creative “problems” they may never have had to think through before (i.e., condense a personal essay to just 33 words) or by challenging them to do something they wouldn’t do otherwise.

Flexible

The assignments offer students choice, commonly in a choose-your-own adventure format (i.e., picking between discrete options) so as to maximize the potential for student autonomy and interest.

Generative

The assignments center around the student creating a piece of written work (a poem, a scene, a micro-essay)—something that could be built upon beyond the context of the assignment and potentially turned in for workshop within the context of the course.