Fiction Writing for Law, University of Baltimore

This class is designed for students who wish to develop story­telling skills and explore and reflect on their thoughts about the law and their new career. Students will study the basics of fiction writing­­ plot, characterization, narrative, dialogue and theme­­ through seven graded exercises, then produce a completed short story which must go through two full drafts. In addition, the class will read three novels with legal themes, ranging from Kafka's THE TRIAL to Grisham's THE FIRM. The only subject­ matter requirement for assignments is that the short story relate in some way to the law or legal themes. Past short stories have explored trial strategy and preparation, legal ethics at the individual and corporate levels, crime, the lives of lawyers and law students, sexual abuse and assault and many other themes. This information has been collected for the Post-Discipline Online Syllabus Database. The database explores the use of literature by schools of professional education in North America. It forms part of a larger project titled Post-Discipline: Literature, Professionalism, and the Crisis of the Humanities, led by Dr Merve Emre with the assistance of Dr Hayley G. Toth. You can find more information about the project at https://postdiscipline.english.ox.ac.uk/. Data was collected and accurate in 2021/22.