Creative Writing Commons^™

Westbound, Genevieve Nicolow

Honors Theses

Westbound is a twenty-five chapter novella that aims to demonstrate ways in which creative writers can use climate fiction to overcome psychological barriers to act on climate change. The narrative follows Cassie, a character loosely based on a relative of its author, living in a future version of the United States that has been ravaged by climate change and its indirect consequences.

In the novella, Cassie and her mother Nia set out on a cross-country road trip as a climate disaster looms. The narrative explores their relationship and that with Cassie’s estranged father, the implications of projected ecological changes under …

Cold Snap, Skylar Beauregard

Master’s Theses and Projects

For my Master’s Thesis project, I will be writing an original piece of realistic fiction inspired by the “dirty realism” literary movement of the 20th century. This piece of fiction, at the end of these two semesters, will resemble a novella in length and style while focusing on execution and maintenance of profluence as an element of narrative craft. My first semester will be spent conducting topical research on female urban youth and modern sex work in the form of short interviews and field research, closely reading some relevant contemporary “dirty realism” pieces of fiction, and using craft-based handbooks to …

Billion-Dollar Bride: Book 1—Godric's Academy For Young Ladies, Kaylin N. Stickley

MSU Graduate Theses

This thesis contains the first five chapters of a young adult romance novel featuring a young woman named Theadosia Lee. The plot is heavily influenced by Cinderella, and the biblical braiding technique is heavily influenced by that of Kiera Cass and C. S. Lewis. The piece was inspired by my desire to create more young adult romance novels that contain the biblical values that are sorely lacking in most modern young adult literature. I seek to write a love story that is based on mutual respect, a strong foundation of friendship, and an intentional decision to avoid sexual activities …

Kind King Or Tyrannical Ruler? An Analysis Of Hilary Mantel’S Henry Viii In Wolf Hall And Bringing Up The Bodies, Amanda S. Nicholson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) served as King of England from 1509 until his death in 1547. A melancholic character, Henry was known for his many marriages, his temper, his bouts of tyranny, and his break with the Catholic Church. Most authors, even those writing contemporary accounts, portray Henry as a villain. Hilary Mantel paints Henry differently. In Wolf Hall and Bringing up the Bodies, the King is as he has always been; argumentative, sardonic, and excessive. However, Mantel chooses to augment these parts of his character with some of his better traits, giving the …

Challenging The Traditional Narrative: A Discussion On Ntzake Shange’S For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Enuf And Beyoncé’S Lemonadex, Nadia Yonan

Canterbury Scholars

This paper discusses Beyonce’s Lemonade, a visual album released in 2016, and Ntzake Shange’s famous choreopoem, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf. The paper will seek to put in conversation the two works and analyze their commentary on redefining the traditional narrative while also working to understand Black Womanhood and the pain, trauma, reconciliation, and healing that comes with it. My Canterbury project will look at the ways in which Shange’s For Colored Girls and Beyonce’s visual text Lemonade merge arts and literature to create a space of healing and renewal for Black women today.

We Are Also Home, Mustafa Abubaker

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

In the opening scenes of “We Are Also Home,” the novel’s symbolic character Farishtay Mahdi allows a man by the name of Syed Janmohamed into her house. He pays her for sex and counseling. She does not love him. Instead, she loves what he gives her. Syed is not only after Farishtay for sex. He is also driven mad by the commanality found in both Farishtay and his daughter: invisibility. He has heard of Farishtay’s hushed-up condition through the grapevine. His performance, initially informed by societal norms, is almost instantly seen for what it really is by Farishtay. Irony plays …

My Ribcage Makes Eye Contact, Erika Rasmussen

Canterbury Scholars

Erika Rasmussen's "My Ribcage Makes Eye Contact" is a collection of poems completed during her time as a Canterbury Scholar at Santa Clara University. The poems address questions, experiences, and images that speak to spirituality, family, loss, uncertainty, hope, the body, and love.

"Strong Female Characters"? An Analysis Of Six Female Fantasy Characters From Novel To Film, Valari Westeren

Honors Projects

This project is twofold. The first section analyzes six female fantasy characters in their literary and filmic incarnations—Dorothy Gale (The Wizard of Oz), Susan Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian), Arwen Evenstar (The Lord of the Rings), Princess Buttercup (The Princess Bride), Hermione Granger (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone), and Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief)—noting adaptational changes made to each and placing the twelve incarnations in conversation with each other. This conversation centers around the concept of the “strong female character,” …

Serious Men, Michael Jesse Bass

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a Fiction story collection written in fulfillment of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of New Orleans.

The Spinners' Tales, Sierra N. Offutt

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

“The Spinners’ Tales” is a loosely connected story collection exploring the lives of a variety of supernaturally gifted characters, referred to within their own community as Spinners.

The Seven Temptations Of The Sea And Eight Other Tales, Greta C. Hayer

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This short story collection is a thesis in fiction written in fulfillment of the Master in Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of New Orleans.

Palisadia: A Novel Byte, Gretchen Amanda Adams

University Honors Theses

A creative writing thesis which uses the lens of fiction to explore femininity, sexual violence, and the nature of artificial consciousness.

Time Machine Research And Approach, Tarek Bouraque

Theses and Dissertations

Time Machine is a hybrid documentary that explores the logics of enslavement, colonialism, eurocentrism and their interconnectedness in our globalized world. Mustapha Azemmouri, born in 1502, undertakes a journey to the 21st century to recount his own story of enslavement and exploration, and reflects on a collective puzzle of 500 years of hidden history.

Carpenters: A Short Story Collection, Grace Keir

English Honors Theses

This collection of four short stories explores the interfamilial dynamics and internalized traumas of womanhood across three generations of mothers, sisters, and daughters. In doing so, these stories confront the raw, painful, and beautiful lives and experiences of women and girls.

Encumbered By Stage Fright Or I’M Not Sure Why I Did That, Chris Scott

Graduate School of Art Theses

I hope to be as honest as possible. I’m hoping to be the star of the show. This is a series of onanistic musings, a rambling narrative that oscillates between truth and fabrication. There are instances of earnestness paired with ostentatious exaggeration. The frequent leaps from subject to subject, often seemingly unrelated to one another, reflect the ineluctably scatterbrained headspace that dictates how I operate in the studio, in every facet of life. Through this lens of storytelling I delve into a few artists, like Bruce Nauman, and rock and roll musicians, like Lou Reed, who I have been unable …

Social Justice: A Catholic Autistic Perspective, Rebecca Schneider

Honors Projects

This is a collection of short stories about social injustices impacting the autistic community and how Catholic Social Teaching supports a more just approach. It is written from an autistic perspective and informed by the stories of people who are actually autistic. Each story is followed by an analysis that explains the choices made, which are backed by both research and the experiences of the autistic writer and the autistic community. This collection also includes information on how justice can be attained on the individual level by allies and on the institutional level by organizations.

Another Perspective: Telling The Hero’S Story Without The Hero, Renee Hopper

Honors Projects

Can a YA story be effectively told through the lenses of side characters that typically exist to further the main character’s plot? What gives a side character agency? How do you make a hero without ever getting close to them through the narrator? This Honors Project seeks to answer those questions through a YA-style novella in which four different "side characters" tell their stories, and the hero's point of view is never followed.

You Were There : An Exploration And Analysis Of The Filmmaking Process, Regan Emfinger

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the process of writing, shooting, and editing my short film You Were There. My process involved scriptwriting with several revisions, shooting with a cast and crew, and editing the raw footage. This paper will not only serve as a timeline leading up to the final product of the film but also will explain the function of each artistic choice. This paper will also outline the biggest lessons I learned about fictional narratives, and discuss the successes and failures of the film as a whole. I also plan on discussing how those lessons will further my academic and …

That Belongs To Me, Ellie Anne Greenberger

Honors Theses

A collection of fictional short stories and a novella that explores family relationships, specifically female family relationships that span across generational lines and what we inherit from our families whether intentional or unintentional. (Under the direction of Tom Franklin)

The Marduk Archives: A Take On Thresholds, Christopher Melton

Honors Theses

A fictional screenplay exploring the relationship between absurdity and convention as it pertains to the shifting cultural paradigms of our society. (Under the direction of Beth Spencer)

Exploring Mythology Through Writing, Jayce Rubel

Honors Projects

The following work is a creative adaptation of a series of Greek myths found in Ovid's Metamorphoses. In the project I attempt to replicate the virtual idea of the original author in a retelling of each story. I also make use of stylistic elements known in the epic tradition as well as major themes found commonly found in these myths.

Blue Harbor (A Linked Story Collection), Sam Florsheim

English Honors Theses

Blue Harbor is a series of linked stories about the lives of people from a fictional town on the coast of Maine. These stories focus on the strangeness of small town life and the emotional, human moments that lead to personal growth.

Explorations Of Liminality And Intersectionality In Tabletop Games, Alyna Kim

Honors Thesis

In fantasy role-playing games (RPGs), especially tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), participants are required to collaborate to create not only fantasy personas in the shape of characters, but also the world and space that makes up the game itself. Participants therefore create a sense of both time and space that exist outside of basic reality. The created space and time––referred to as a world or a story––exists as a liminal space that participants and characters use as a tool to both exist and explore. While the participants exist physically in the real world, the game space allows them to go beyond …

The Lantern And The Sword, Michael Chisholm

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

A creation myth of a new universe where brother deities of light and darkness battle for dominance. Light creates a Lantern to illuminate all reality and Darkness creates a Sword to help control the extent of the light. The god of light then creates a champion to lead his forces against his dark brother and the war intensifies. In his struggle the champion discovered he could control not only light but the darkness as well. He created a dark fire with great power to match the deities. Light and darkness come together and create peace and a balance. The champion …

Chasing Destiny: A Novella, Kassandra Kim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chasing Destiny tells the story of Lyric Angel de la Cruz. She is the only daughter of five-time world heavyweight champion and three-time tag team champion Manuel de la Cruz and the oldest granddaughter of Julio de la Cruz, a legend in the wrestling world. For as long as Lyric can remember, her life has been surrounded by wrestling, and she wants to be involved with the business. But unlike her family that came before her. Lyric wants to create her own way in the business, however, when she tells Manuel her career path, he is furious that she would …

Initiate, Becca Anderson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

After the sudden death of her father, sixteen-year-old Cal Townsend is sent to live with her estranged maternal grandmother on one of Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands. She soon learns that she is descended from a long line of practicing witches.

The Criterion Collection, Mackenna Finley

Honors Projects

The Criterion Collection is an examination of truth in fiction and poetry. The goal of this project is not to create truth that is absolute, but instead to allow for the experience of its subjectivity. The interplay between fiction and poetry, reader and author illuminates the subtle warping of truth through human experience.

A Path Unfolding, Sarah Lucille Parris

MSU Graduate Theses

A selection from A Path Unfolding, an original young adult fantasy novel about a girl named Al, who strives to fulfil a prophecy in order to restore the natural order in the magical land of Anthe. Preceded by a critical introduction detailing the genre and craft influences on the work. The novel explores themes of truth and deception, and asks the questions of what, exactly, it means to be a ‘chosen one’.

Skin: Stories, Poems, And Essays, Amanda G. Hadlock

MSU Graduate Theses

This thesis begins with a critical introduction which analyzes the use of objective correlative and varying points of view in creative writing in order to generate dialogue on cultural issues. I relate theories from Edward T. Hall, T.S. Eliot, Mikhail Bakhtin, and Lubomír Doležel to my own writing. Additionally, I situate my own multi-genre writing with work of contemporaries such as Maggie Nelson and Claudia Rankine. My hypothesis is that writers can use an objective correlative (Eliot) from the top of the cultural iceberg (Hall) as an entry point to representing deeper, more fraught cultural issues. Additionally, by experimenting with …

Prism Of Time, 1950-2020: A Collection Of Short Stories, Rosalie Marcovecchio

Master of Arts in Humanities | Master's Theses 1936 - 2022

This collection presents a variety of literary styles including pure fiction, auto fiction, historical fiction, biographical fiction, and creative non-fiction. Racism, abortion, political and societal events are addressed by way of the Viet Nam era Anti-war Movement, Feminism, Art, immigration, mid-century inter-racial attitudes, and individual responses to sexist behavior, fire, war, and death. Also serving as vehicles are adult behavior through a child’s eyes, and in some cases, humor. The stories are set in the 1950s and1960s in Cleveland and Chicago; also in pre-Soviet Belarus, 1920s Paris, Renaissance and 1970s Venice, and 2016 United States. Characters fictionalized in the stories …