Richard Fliegel

"No one but a blockhead ever wrote except for money," said Samuel Johnson, but that's not the end of the story. There is after all a reader or an audience, expecting something. This is a seminar for writers or for people who are trying to be. We will focus on the question, "How does it change what I write when I'm determined to affect my readers?" Writing to express yourself accurately is hard, but it's like falling off a log compared to writing things that succeed in stirring other people's emotions.

Students will be expected to read other writers' work in several genres and to share with the class what they themselves have written, sometimes on the spot. We promise not to laugh unless it's funny--and if that isn't scary, the devil knows what is.

Richard Fliegel is the Director of the Freshman Seminar program and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs in USC College. He has published seven detective novels and tried his hand at some other forms, from poetry to episodic television.

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