Friends,

This course will focus on 1) the generation and invention of material (writing notebooks, journals, exercises, and writing across the literary genres of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction) and 2) craft/art/structure (reading and discussing literature, reading and discussing craft, studying form, studying presentation, grammar, publishing, and the writing life).

This is because, as William Gass said:

Writers whose grasp of esthetic principles is feeble, or whose minds are shallow and perceptions dim, give us stories which are never objects of contemplation, but arguments; they give us, at best, dramatized philosophy, not philosophically significant drama.

That is to say that stories, poems, and literary essays are first and foremost works of art, not just vehicles for morals, politics, or philosophy. They are (gasp!) a pleasure to read, both for the mind and the heart. Doing exercises, reading closely, and studying craft will tighten our grasp of aesthetic principles (principles of beauty and artistry), deepen our minds, and enliven our perceptions, thus enabling us to create works worthy of contemplation (thoughtful observation/meditation), not just interpretation (critical explanation).

These are my assumptions entering a course like this: First, that you are serious about writing, as serious as a student who studies violin or painting at a university. Second, that you read stuff, something, anything, and enjoy it. Third, that you have some mastery of the basics of grammar, punctuation, spelling and mechanics. These are matters of clarity and can affect the way your work is received and even, in some cases, your grade. Fourth, that you are writing for a general audience and want to present your work in a professional manner. (On this last note: If your attitude towards your writing is, “I write only for myself, or for my best friends, so it doesn’t matter what other people think,” then this may not be the best class for you.)

I invite you, for at least this semester, to think of yourself as a writer, albeit an emerging one, but a writer nonetheless, and devote yourself to your art. I promise if you do, you will see your horizons expanded, your talents refined, and you may even leave the course with a clearer vision of who you are and what mysteries live within your own immortal soul. (But, hey, no guarantees. Except for the first part.)

• Janet Burroway, Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft, Fourth Edition
• Mark Budman and Tom Hazuka, Sudden Flash Youth: 65 Short-Short Stories
• Judith Kitchen, In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction, First Edition
• Steven Peck, A Short Stay in Hell (purchase new or used online at Amazon or in the bookstore)

Other Materials

A bound writer’s notebook (about 5x8 in). I’ll call this your “Life Book,” and for the semester it will be the receptacle of all your thoughts, musings, errands, notes, lists, story ideas, observations, etc. At the end of the semester, you will submit portions of this book for points.

• Critical Thinking: Students will demonstrate an understanding of various forms and structures of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, and a familiarity with a variety of professional writers’ styles and voices in order to develop their own individual styles. (QUACS, TAP)
• Critical Thinking: Students will become familiar with and practice the elements of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry: character, point of view, narrative structure, imagery, symbol, diction, and theme. (TAP, Writing Exercises)
• Lifelong Learning: Students will demonstrate the habit of consistent writing. (Writing Exercises)
• Creative Thinking: Students will demonstrate the application and practice of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry craft and aesthetics in their writing. (TAP, Writing Exercises)
• Communication, Interactive Learning: Students will demonstrate knowledge of editing and revision techniques, the world of publishing, and other career-related aspects of writing. (Submission Letter)
• Communication, Creative Thinking: Students will produce a revised portfolio of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. (Portfolio)
• Civic Engagement, Lifelong Learning: Students will attend and write about three cultural events. (Cultural Events)

Short Out-of-Class Writing Exercises

Each out-of-class assignment will be worth 5 points. They should be typed and proofread. Unless I state otherwise, you will upload these to Canvas.

In-Class Writing Assignments

Sometimes we will write in class. Periodically, I will collect this writing and count it as part of your participation grade.

1,000-word Short Story (flash fiction)

This will be graded initially on completeness and whether it’s turned in on time (50 points). Late drafts and half-finished drafts will not receive full credit.

Story Requirements:

• A story written for this class.
• No more than 1,000 words
• High stakes, consequence, collisions, and conflict: death, love, hate, infidelity, murder, broken hearts, doubt, faking it, disillusionment, environmental destruction, growing up, getting old, etc., etc.
• An interesting perspective, a new angle.
• A small cast of complex characters, like two or three people. Center the gravity of the story in two people.
• The story must be told chronologically, with no flashbacks. The short story is well suited for chronological narratives. Novels, films, and TV are better suited for non-chronological narrative structures.
• Stands alone as an independent work with a beginning, middle, and end (not a section or chapter of a larger work)
• Set in the contemporary world.
• No speculative or generic elements. No dragons, fairies, witches, magic, or talking wolves. Learn to tell a story first before you enter the realm of genre writing.
• No twists, tricks, gimmicks, or surprise endings (or if you do, it better be good). Rule of thumb: don’t withhold vital information from your reader.

1,000-word Creative Nonfiction Essay

(50 points).

One Poem

While you’ll write several poems this semester, you will only turn in one: a poem of at least fourteen lines that’s your best work (50 points).

Readings and Quizzes

I expect you to buy the class texts and to come prepared to each class session by having done the readings. In a small class, the unprepared are readily recognized. Consistent lack of intelligent preparation tells the professor you are not very interested in or committed to the class. I don’t hesitate to elicit your responses by calling on people. A portion of your grade depends on your preparation and insights.

Also, I will give periodic reading quizzes to encourage and reward you for fully preparing for class. These quizzes are usually worth about 5 points on average.

QUACS

More on these below. Basically, the QUACS is a reading framework you’ll apply to the short stories we read and discuss for this class. QUACS are worth six points and are due by the beginning of class.

QUACS: Responses to Readings

One skill we’ll be working on developing this semester is metacognitive awareness, which is a fancy way of saying “noticing what you’re noticing.” Rather than just letting a text wash over us while we read, we want to pay attention to precisely how we experience that text. What parts leave us confused? Which passages are particularly beautiful, and what characteristics of the text make us feel that beauty? Making notations on the page (underlining, jotting notes) while we read is one good way of practicing metacognitive awareness. Another is keeping a reading journal, wherein we can reflect on the text at more length than in our on-the-page notations but at less length than we would in a full essay. QUACS are worth six points, and, to avoid late penalties, must be uploaded to Canvas before the beginning of class.

For this course, you will produce reading responses to our texts. Each response should be between 250 to 350 words long, or so, and be single-spaced. Rather than focusing on length, though, you should concentrate on adequately responding to each of the following:

• Questions: First, present at least two questions (or sets of interrelated questions) that you have about things that come up in the text. Your questions might be big-picture theoretical or critical questions about ideas, concepts, or themes, or they may relate aspects of the text to another text or idea we have read or discussed in class (or that you have encountered elsewhere). You might ask one or more close-reading questions that focus on something curious or confusing that is happening in the language of the text. Or, you might ask a question that seeks to clarify or better understand something that is happening in the narrative, with a character, or with a situation. (Feel free to ask a variety of kinds of questions. Your questions do not have to be related to one another. You do not need to answer your questions.)
• Understanding/Analysis: In this section, you will quote something small from the text—a line, a sentence, a keyword—and provide a close-reading of it. The close reading can be used to argue a particular point, or it can be a series of detailed observations about the text that could lead to an interesting discussion.
• Comment: Assert an opinion or personal response to the text—to anything in the text that strikes you, moves you, delights you, bothers you, interests YOU—emotionally, culturally, politically, aesthetically, thematically, stylistically.… I think of this as the “book club response” portion of the QUACS, because it’s a chance for you to share gut feelings about and reactions to—rather than analysis of—the text.
• “Steal”: Steal isn’t the right word, but it will do. For this section, find an idea, technique, theme, scenario, conflict, etc. you might want to use from the text and incorporate into your imaginative writing.

How I grade QUACS:

• -2 points: Two questions
• -1 point: A direct quotation from the story
• -1 point: Your thoughtful analysis and understanding of that quotation
• -1 point: A thoughtful comment
• -1 point: Something from the next you’d like to “steal”: borrow, imitate, etc.

Total point possible: 6

TAPs

TAPs stands for Take and Practice. This will be an opportunity for you to apply what you learn in class and from our course texts to the short story you’re writing. You’ll upload these to Canvas, where I can read and comment on them. They are always due by the beginning of class. TAPs are worth five points. To earn full credit for your TAPs, I need to see that you’re writing a story and building on it with each TAP. I need to see an investment of time and thought.

Cultural Events

Over the course of the semester, you must attend two campus cultural events. After attending the event, you’ll write a short paragraph on what ideas you found interesting and what you learned that might help you become a better writer. Another cultural event might be a play, a museum visit, film, an art exhibit, etc.

Final Portfolio

You will turn in a portfolio with your best work (one piece) from each unit (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama). I will grade these pieces on your efforts to revise them and on overall quality. 150 points.

Grade Breakdown (Approximate)

Portfolio 60%

Drafts 20%

Ancillary Work: QUACS, Writing exercises, TAPs, Attendance/Participation/discussion, etc. 20%

THE NASTY BUSINESS OF GRADES

I will grade your assignments on labor, completion, and thoughtfulness. Your work, I believe, must reflect an investment of time and energy; otherwise, I will not accept it. If this happens, I will provide a reason why I won’t accept the work and allow you the opportunity to revise. However, there are some assignments due at the end of the semester, like the final portfolio, attendance/participation points, and cultural events, that I will not allow you to revise—you either did them or you didn’t.

As for the final drafts (portfolio draft) of your flash fiction, creative essay, and poems, I will provide a grade based on your thorough revision of the pieces, an approach that will free you up to take chances in your work without fear of a penalty. Not revising, however, will result in a lower score. Also, you will receive an automatic C on your portfolio if you submit it without the workshop drafts. One last point about your final drafts: invest time and energy, take imaginative and creative leaps, but please provide work free of spelling, punctuation, grammar, and mechanical errors. For me, this is an issue of courtesy. Utilize the Writing Center and friends and family to check your work for these errors. On your final drafts, I will dock a point for each spelling, punctuation, grammar, and mechanical error, up to fifteen points. It’s that important to me!

M/W/F TENTATIVE SCHEDULE (subject to revision)

Late Work: I will penalize late work twenty percent. After a week, I will no longer accept it.

Technology: No texting during class, no surfing the Internet. To eliminate paper waste, I will often ask in class that you access your assignments on Canvas via your phone or laptop to share them with your classmates.

Attendance/Participation: It’s no secret (and a well-researched fact) that students who come to class learn more, perform better, and score higher. I will allow two excused absences, no questions asked. For each unexcused absence after two, I will dock five points from your final participation grade. Also, please note that when you are absent you may miss a quiz or an in-class writing assignment, or both. These cannot be made up. If you are having a problem attending class, please talk to me. Each tardy will be a two-point reduction from your attendance/participation grade.

For a creative writing class to usefully improve your abilities, you must be willing to participate, accept criticism, give a helping hand to your peers, turn in your work for evaluation, and work hard. Your attitude and contributions will affect your final grade. Participation does not necessarily mean talking a lot or showing everyone else what you know. Good participation involves people trying to build on, and synthesize, comments from others, and on showing appreciation for others’ contributions. It also involves inviting others to say more about what they are thinking. So, there are multiple ways quieter learners can participate. What, then, is good class participation? Ask questions or make comments to show your interest in what a classmate has said. Encourage another to elaborate on a point. Bring a resource that adds to the discussion. Use body language to show interest. These are only a few ways. 120 points.