Online and Remote Learning

If you've completed 0579 Spanish: Level III or have an equivalent level of grammar and speech, this course will build on your knowledge. Whether you want to do business or take a holiday in Latin America or Spain, you'll improve your speaking skills and your ability to handle real-world situations. You'll be able to describe in simple terms your family, living conditions, educational background and job. You'll learn more about Spanish music and culture too. Become more fluent in oral and written communication in areas of immediate experience. Adhere better to social and cultural etiquette in communications.

If you've completed 1008 Chinese (Mandarin): Level II or have equivalent Mandarin skills, this course will continue your development in the world's most widely spoken language. Become more confident speaking in a range of settings and learn more grammar and etiquette. Show goodwill, handle more transactions in Mandarin and learn more about Chinese culture. This course will help you learn how to handle short social exchanges, discuss your work and shop. Express original thought using an expanded vocabulary. Understand social and cultural etiquette better in spoken and written communications. Learn more characters, and understand better the relationships among them.

If you're just getting started as a writer and haven't yet decided on a literary direction, this course gives you the opportunity to try a number of different genres. Half of each class is devoted to a workshop where constructive and supportive feedback will help you focus, polish and deepen your writing. The other half is devoted to discussing an aspect of literary technique such as character, setting, plot, point of view, structure or revision. Understand fundamental literary techniques.Develop your own voice.Analyze the content and style of your work.Use exercises as possible springboards into new work.Find a literary community where you can share feedback and draw support.

If you want to write a novel but have no idea how to begin, this course will help you get going. You'll review literary technique with respect to the novel, and spend lots of time writing - and reading - to help you discover your own style. We'll cover basic skills, tips and techniques to improve and polish your writing. By the end of the course, you will have written and edited the opening of your novel. Understand the basic skills and techniques for writing prose fiction. Develop and refine your own writing style. Analyze the methods and styles of writers you admire. Write and edit the opening of a novel.

If you want to write short stories, meet other writers and learn basic literary technique, this course is for you. You'll learn the building blocks of the writing process by writing and reviewing stories. You'll emerge with at least one story that has been critiqued constructively by your instructor and your peers. You'll discover a larger community of writers working in your genre. No previous creative writing experience is necessary. Understand the building blocks of fiction. Improve your skills and craft as a writer. Complete a draft of a short story. Get advice on sending your work to publishers.

This is the final component of the Certificate in Creative Writing. Working with an SCS instructor for a maximum of five months, you'll revise and polish a work in your chosen genre: poetry, drama, screenplay, children's picture book, fiction or non-fiction. The supervisor will take you through two detailed revisions. The final manuscript will be evaluated by a certificate panel (the program head, your supervisor and a prominent writer who knows your genre). You must complete it within five years of taking your first Creative Writing course, after you have completed all other requirements. Once you have a complete draft, you may register at any time of year. Once you register, you will receive an email confirmation with further details and instructions. Get detailed feedback on your project from an SCS supervisor. Work through two rounds of revisions. Emerge with a significant portion of a polished manuscript. Build on your strengths in your genre. Prepare for evaluation by a certificate panel.

Designed for those who have completed 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction, this course is a more intensive fiction workshop to help you further develop your voice, often with the same instructor and students as in 1664 Creative Writing: Introduction. You'll complete longer and broader exercises and assignments, either short stories or novel excerpts, and use the feedback to polish your writing. The group will analyze published fiction to understand how their writers constructed them. Learn how to establish and maintain a regular writing practice. Understand what makes a compelling novel or short story. Get instructor and peer feedback on your creative work-in-progress. Emerge with a draft of a short story or chapter of a novel.

This advanced prose workshop is for the writer of fiction, creative non-fiction or memoir who wants an in-depth workshop experience with both their classmates and an instructor. During the eight week course, students will receive feedback on two pieces of writing of up to 1500 words each, as well as participate in lessons, discussions, exercises and providing feedback to classmates on their work. Prerequisite: At least one creative writing course at SCS. Editorial feedback to revise two pieces (up to 1500 words each) of prose - fiction, creative non-fiction, or memoir. Identify and refine the shape, sound, feel and arc of the story you are writing. Develop your skills of revision to find and amplify the resonance of your work.

Available for all genres, this e-mail based course will help writers who require feedback on artistic craftsmanship and who need guidance on shaping and polishing a manuscript-in-progress. Students may register at any time. Once assigned a mentor from the Creative Writing program, students have up to 12 weeks, including time for rewrites, to work on up to a maximum of 25,000 words of prose, 40 pages of poetry, or 90 pages of a drama or screenplay. To determine acceptance, submit a 10-page excerpt from the manuscript you wish to workshop to scs.writing@utoronto.ca, along with the name of your mentor-of-choice from the list of Creative Writing program instructors. Mentorship from a prominent writer who knows your genre. Editorial feedback on up to 25,000 words of a manuscript, 40 pages of poetry, or 90 pages of a drama or screenplay. Emerge with a keener sense of where to go next.

If you want to earn a Certificate in Creative Writing through the poetry stream, this course is the first step. You'll examine poetic form, metre, imagery and language and the relationship between form and content. You'll emerge with a few completed and polished poems of your own. Write formal or free verse. Explore how to use language and metaphor for maximum aesthetic impact. Each session will include time for discussion of famous poems and of your own work. Understand the structure and content of formal and free verse. Grasp the dynamics and aesthetics of poetic composition. Discuss and critique celebrated poems. Workshop your poetry and build a portfolio of poems. Discover a community of writers working in your genre.