Syllabus

ENG 317 Creative Writing: Fiction
Spring 2006
Instructor: Barbara Drake, Professor of English
Melrose 213, Linfield College.
503-883-2288. bdrake@linfield.edu

Textbook: Writing Fiction, 6th Edition. Janet Burroway. Please be sure that you have the 6th edition. It has been revised considerably and has many more stories than previous editions.

The Course: The course is suitable both for students who simply want to explore the subject and generally improve their writing and also for students who want an introduction to writing fiction in order to make it a long term goal. You should definitely come into this course expecting to have fun and to cultivate your creativity. As part of your assignments, you will read varied examples of modern fiction in order to see how professional authors have made their stories work. You will also use exercises to help you get started writing and work on three short stories to be developed, revised, and polished throughout the semester. The course will be conducted as an online workshop with lots of opportunities for discussion and interaction, both in small groups and as a whole class.

Submitting work: Please submit all work via Web CT. Depending on the assignment, you will receive comments on your writing from me and from either your small group or the whole class. You will also be expected to comment on the reading in the textbook and the writing of other students.

Conferences, lectures, and letters, and one small confession: A lot of the class dialogue will involve everyone or at least the small groups. I will make comments on your work in the general class discussion as I would in a regular workshop class. However, I will also be able to address each of you privately--if you have a question or want to discuss your work or a specific problem, just let me know. I check my email regularly and that will usually be the most efficient way to reach me. If you prefer to call or to come to campus to talk with me about your work, that’s also possible. My office and phone number appear at the top of the syllabus. I will let you know specific office hours when the semester begins.

I will introduce each week with a general letter to the class, calling your attention to things I find particularly interesting in the text and explaining the week’s assignments. These letters will take the place of lectures in a regular classroom. This may be an appropriate place to confess that this is the first time I’ve taught an online class so I hope you’ll be patient as I learn the process. I’ve tried to design the syllabus to support the format as much as I can foresee. If there are things that don’t work I’ll do my best to fix them. I have taught classes in just about every other format imaginable, so I should be able to learn this one.

Discussions and groups: Small group discussions will focus on the writing assignments for the week. Discussion of the reading for the week will involve the whole group. We will divide the class into small groups, probably 5-6 students per group, depending on the number in the whole class. These groups will be where you go for the most thorough discussion of your writing. However, everyone in the class will be able to read everyone else’s writing and even though you may not be in the writer’s group feel free to send comments, compliments, or suggestions for revision. I have also set up some of the writing discussions to involve everyone. Taking part in the discussions is required. As you will see in the calendar, your writing for each week is due no later than Wednesdays at noon. After that you will have until Saturday at noon to contribute to the discussions of both writing and reading assignments. This should give us a pretty good simulation of the way in which workshop courses normally work.

Due dates and schedules: Weekly writing assignments and reading assigned for the week should be completed on Wednesdays by noon unless otherwise specified. Discussions of the reading and writing assignments will take place between that time on Wednesday and noon the following Monday. If you are going to be out of town or there is some similar reason you cannot submit work on a particular date, please submit it early. If you cannot meet a deadline due to illness or a genuine crisis, please let me know so that I can work with you to catch up. Because this is a writing workshop, not an independent study, everyone needs to be on the same schedule, week by week. This is important and will help me work with you smoothly and effectively.

Grades and requirements: It is an almost universal practice not to grade individual assignments in college creative writing workshops. All writing until the final portfolio is regarded as work in progress and grades can be an impediment to risking new subjects and techniques. This is how it will work. Everyone who fulfills basic requirements, i.e. completes writing exercises and assignments on time, keeps up with the reading schedule, contributes to the discussion of the various chapters, gives thoughtful feedback to others in the class and their group, and completes the final portfolio, will get at least a B. Those who show either exceptional effort or exceptional quality of work (or both), will get higher than a B. Those who are lacking in any part of these requirements will get less than a B. I don’t mind giving out high grades as long as they are truly earned. Feel free to ask me about your standing at any time during the semester.

Getting ideas for stories: Whenever and wherever you are, keep a pen and notebook handy to write down story ideas. You never know when you will think of something that might make a good story and if you don’t make a note of it the idea can just float away. This means literally all the time, whether you are at a meeting, eating lunch, watching television, reading the textbook, or responding to someone else’s writing. Someone else’s creative work can often give us ideas for our own. You may also get writing ideas in the shower and while driving. I do. Make a note of them as soon as you can. I’m not a fan of multi-tasking while behind the steering wheel, but I do keep a small hand-held tape recorder in the car, one I can easily turn on or off without looking at it, for the occasional thought that needs to be captured immediately. Another important use for a notebook when you’re away from your desk is to jot down interesting things such as overheard conversation, odd signs, or descriptions of places and people you might use in a story. Sometimes I overhear dialogue that is so good I don’t think I could ever make it up so I just write it down and work it into my own writing. Such material can give verisimilitude and atmosphere to your fiction. I am thinking of a small notebook here, something that would fit in a pocket or a small purse and not be burdensome. If you fill it up, you can always get another one.

You will always have a free choice of topics for your stories in this class. You may already have lots of ideas but if not remember that the textbook offers suggestions at the ends of most of the chapters and the short writing exercises can be developed into whole stories. On pages 403-407 in the textbook you’ll find a section in which several of the authors tell where they got the ideas for the stories they wrote. Read those pages the first or second week of class and then later after you’ve read all the stories in the book read them again. The writers’ remarks will help you see the way a writer starts with some small seed of an idea that turns into something much larger. You might get an idea from a news story or from something you overhear someone saying on a public telephone. You might remember an old family story about a relative you never met and use that as a beginning point. You might just put yourself into the mind of someone who is the complete opposite of yourself, a mean, dishonest, sneaky person, quite unreliable, or someone much older or younger than you, or a person in another time, and let that person tell his or her story. You might write a story as a series of letters, from one person, from several people writing about the same event, or between two people in love, in conflict, meeting over the internet... Think about your childhood and a time when something changed in your life. Or the first time you became aware of something: death, your parents’ relationship, the smell of dirt or cotton candy. Could you fictionalize it? Or pull together several independent events or characters that catch your attention and combine them to all be in one story. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finding subjects.

Using the textbook: I expect you to read the whole textbook and all the stories in it. Although I’ve assigned the chapters week by week, I recommend that you read all the short stories once quickly early in the semester to see which ones give you the best ideas for your own work, and then go back and read them again with the instructive material in each chapter according to our schedule. They are exciting and inspiring stories, fun to read. That said, remember that you will not be reading the textbook the way you would read a text for economics, history, or even a literature class. Read quickly for what you can use, not as if you are going to be given a true-false test on the material. Janet Burroway addresses this difference and asks you to read as a writer. Notice how the stories work. Ask yourself what you admire about them or what bothers you. What entertains or touches you. Notice conflict and character development, dialogue, setting, and point of view. Who is telling the story and in what sort of voice? Ask yourself what you can learn or borrow from the writer’s techniques.

Besides the textbook: Look for and read fiction outside the textbook, in current publications such as The New Yorker. When you find something you especially like tell the class about it. If you’re reading a good novel, or if you read a good story in a magazine or on a website, tell the class about that too. A bulletin board for reading suggestions, news about writers, or other things you’d like to announce will be available for this purpose.

A group story: I would like to set up a site where we can all work on a group story. The idea will be to let your imagination go in a different way than when you are wholly responsible for a work. This should be purely fun but it can also be a place to try out some of the writing principles from the textbook. The order in which people contribute will be up to you, as long as that seems to work. At the end of the semester or when the story comes to an end, whichever comes first, we can all comment on how this works as a process.

The Calendar—Writing assignments due by noon on Wednesday of each week. Discussion of reading and of other people’s writings to be completed by noon on Saturdays.

Week #1: Feb 13-18

Writing Assignments due 2/15 noon
Write: a) A short autobiography (1-2 pages) that helps us understand who you are and what and why you want to write; b) a few words about the fiction you like to read; c) an anecdote from your life (under one page) which is essentially true but might be turned into fiction.

Discussion
"Student Autobiographies"

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Write: As an exercise in fictionalizing reality, choose one paragraph from your autobiography or anecdote and rewrite it using the third person (he or she). Feel free to change the gender of your main character.
Discussion
Week 1
" Writing Exercise"

Complete discussion by noon 2/18:
Read WF Preface pp xiv-xvi, Appendix A: “Kinds of Fiction” p 411, and Ch 1 “Whatever Works: the Writing Process” p 1. Here are some things we might discuss. In the preface, she talks about how workshop members should begin to respond to the writing. What are the important points to remember here? In Appendix A the author compares literary fiction with genre fiction. This is a course in literary fiction. Do you have any questions or reservations about the points she makes? Can science fiction, adventure, or romance also be literary? Reading Chapter 1, how do you think her ideas for getting started will work for you? What else would you like to discuss in the reading?
Discussion
Week 1
"Question"

Make general comments on autobiographies and anecdotes. Address the whole class or the writer. How do you relate to what others have written? Do you like to write more from personal experience, found ideas, or pure imagination?
Discussion
Week 1
General Comments

Week #2: Feb 20-25

Writing assignment, Story #1, due by noon 2/22.
Story #1 - A short short story based on a true experience but definitely fictionalized. For example, see suggestion #3 p. 28, or suggestion 4c (music you associate with your high school years). Note: A “short short story” is usually no more than 2 or 3 pages and may be as short as 1⁄2 a page. “Girl” p 67 and 20/20 p 70 are examples of “short short” stories. Think about how you can get a lot into such a short story.
Discussion
"Short Story #1"

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Complete discussion by noon 2/25:
Continue to discuss and review Chapter 1 “Whatever Works: the Process.” Now that you have written a story, consider whether you used any of the techniques for getting started suggested by Burroway. What do you find most interesting or useful in what we have read in the textbook? Do you have any questions or reservations about the textbook or the class so far?
Discussion
Week 2
"Question"

In small group workshops, workshop story #1 and suggest ways in which the stories might be further developed. Review Burroway’s recommendations for how to give workshop feedback in the preface.
Discussion
Week 2
"Small Group Workshops"

Week #3: Feb 27-Mar 4

Writing assignment due by noon 3-1:
a) Make a list of 10 story ideas, one sentence each. Each one should have a character and a conflict. Don’t let yourself take a lot of time with this. Instead, free associate quickly and see what you come up with.
b) Your choice of one of the writing exercises p. 71-72.
Discussion
"10 Story Ideas"
"Writing Exercise"

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Discussions and workshops: Complete by noon 3-4.
Read and discuss WF: Ch 2 “The Tower and the Net: Story Form, Plot and Structure” 30. Suggestions for discussion: Tell us about your favorite story in this chapter. Your least favorite story in this chapter. What can you take from one or more of the stories to apply to your own work? What else would you like to say about the stories here?
Discussion
Week 3
"Question"

Small groups discuss story ideas and writing exercises. Where do you think the writer might go with one of the ideas or the writing exercise in developing a full story?
Discussion
Week 3
"Small Group Discussion"

Week #4: Mar 6-10

Writing assignments due by noon Mar. 8:
Short story #2, your choice of topics due by noon 3-8. Remember, you will have a chance to revise before the end of the semester.
Discussion
"Short Story #2"

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Exercise: Freewrite 1⁄2 to 1 page of improvised narrative alternating long and short sentences. How does sentence variety influence the writing?
Discussion
Week 4
"Freewrite Exercise"

Discussion and workshop completed by noon 3-11:
Read and discuss WF: Ch. 3 “Seeing is Believing: Showing and telling” 74. Do you have any questions about the various categories Burroway discusses (The Active Voice, Prose Rhythm etc.)? Compare the three stories in this section and how each one comes alive for you, or does not. How do “Linoleum Roses” and “The Things They Carried” fit your idea of the short story? I think you will find it interesting to see the movie based on Oates’s “Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?” if you can find it on video: it’s Smooth Talk with Laura Dern and Treat Williams. It’s a good adaptation but they are strikingly different. Be sure to read the story before seeing the film. Also notice Oates’s comments about where she got the idea for the story and how it changed in the process of writing, p. 406.
Discussion
Week 4
"Question"

Workshop story #2 with writing group. Give particular attention to showing and telling. Do the stories “play” for you or are you conscious of the author’s presence? What else is particularly interesting or needs attention in the stories?
Discussion
Week 4
"Small Group Workshops"

Week #5: Mar 13-18

This week you should start your story #3 due Week #8 in order to have plenty of time to develop this story and make some revisions before handing it in. Try to make the writing exercises feed into the story. Experiment with starting the story in different ways. Workshop early drafts with your group over the next two weeks.
Discussion
"Short Story #3"

Writing Assignments due by noon 3-15:
Write: a) a one page revealing dramatic monologue by a character (see #1 p. 155); b) write 1⁄2-1 page presenting a character in terms of objects or an object in his or her life; c) 1⁄2-1 page in which one character talks about another.
Discussion
Week 5
"Writing Exercises"

Complete discussion by noon 3-18:
Read and discuss WF: Ch 4 “Building Character: Characterization part I” p. 118 (credibility, purpose, complexity, change, indirect character presentation). Choose short quotes from the stories that you feel exemplify the ideas Burroway outlines in her chapter, especially “Indirect Mehtods of Character Presentation.” How do you feel about the characters in these stories? Do your feelings about the characters change in the course of each story? What do you admire about these stories and what would you like to emulate in your own work?
Discussion
Week 5
"Question"

Whole class discuss the writing exercises. Did you enjoy the writing exercises? Why or why not? Did you get a start on something you might use in a full story?
Discussion
Week 5
"Class Discussion"

Week #6: Mar 20-25

Writing due by noon 3-22:
Write: your choice of two or more of the writing exercises pp 195-6, as they might appear in your next story (due week #8). (You are only required to do two but I think these exercises sound so interesting you might well want to try them all.)
Discussion
"Writing Exercises"

Complete discussion by noon 3-25:
Read and discuss WF: Ch 5 “The Flesh Made Word: Characterization part II” (Direct presentation—appearance, action, dialogue, thought; conflict between methods of presentation; reinventing character; creating a group or crowd, character: a summary ) p 157. How do you feel about the characters in the two stories? Do you sympathize with one character more than others? How do the authors influence your feelings about the characters? Both of these stories depend on dialogue. How do the writers distinguish the characters by the way they speak? Are they distinguishable, aside from content?
Discussion
Week 6
"Question"

Small groups discuss the writing exercises and story #3 in progress.
Discussion
Week 6
"Small Group Discussion"

Week #7: Mar 27-31

Continue to work on story #3 on your own.
Discussion
"Short Story #3"

Writing assignment due by noon 3-29:
Rewrite one or two paragraphs from the beginning of your story in progress in the style of three of the writers in the textbook. Let us see the original and the three revisions.
Discussion
Week 7
"Writing Exercise"

Write: your choice of one of writing exercises 1-5 p. 252—choose one that most fits your story in progress.
Discussion
Week 7
"Writing Exercise"

Complete discussion by noon 4-1:
Read and discuss WF: Ch 6 “Long Ago and Far Away: Fictional Place and Time” 198 (Setting and Atmosphere, symbolic setting, alien and familiar setting, summary and scene, flashback, slow motion). Discuss beginnings and endings. What kind of beginning pulls you in? When do you know that a story ends? Someone has said that when a writer presents us with troubling material he or she has to give us a way to deal with that material. Does this apply to any of the stories here? For example, how does Tobias Wolff’s story “Bullet in the Brain” affect us differently than a newspaper story about a local bank robbery and killing?
Discussion
Week 7
"Question"

General class discussion of three style rewrites. How do you like the revisions? Do you feel that it’s your writing when you imitate someone else’s style? Is it hard to define “style”? What is it? Do you feel that you have a writing style of your own?
Discussion
Week 7
"Class Discussion"

Small groups discuss your choice of writing exercises.
Discussion
Week 7
"Small Group Discussion"

Week #8: April 3-7

Writing Assignment short story #3 due 4-5:
Write short story #4, your choice of topic. Consider point of view carefully. If it is a first person narrative, does the voice inform our understanding of the character? Is the narrator reliable? If it’s in third person, how much does the narrator know? Is your narrator omniscient or limited? Does the narrator stay with one main character or go from one character to another? You should also pay close attention to setting (physical setting, time, weather, time span of the story etc.). Setting should reflect or support what’s going on in the story.
Discussion
"Short Story #4"

Complete discussion by noon 4-8:
Read and discuss WF: Ch 7 “Call Me Ishmael: Point of view part 1” (1st, 2nd, 3rd person, to whom speaking, what form) p 254. Which of the stories interested you the most? What did you learn from them about point of view?
Discussion
Week 8
"Question"

Workshop story #3 with small group.
Discussion
Week 8
"Small Group Workshop"

Week #9: April 10-15

Writing assignment, sketch, due by noon 4-12:
Write a sketch for a story using your own ideas but modeled on one of the stories we have read so far. A sketch is a short very rough draft. Some of it may simply be notes. To model doesn’t mean to copy but rather to look at something you admire and imagine how you might use what you admire to make something of your own. Your aim here is to get a start on your fourth story, due April 26.
Discussion
Week 9
"Writing Exercise"

Complete discussion by noon 4-15:
Read and discuss WF: Ch 8 “Assorted Liars: Point of View part 2” p. 287. Do you have questions about Burroway’s discussion of point of view? This chapter is particularly full of stories. Look at each story and notice how the author is handling point of view. Choose one of the stories and tell us what interests you about it.
Discussion
Week 9
"Question"

Discuss sketch with your group.
Discussion
Week 9
"Small Group Discussion"

Week #10: April 17-21

Continue to work on story #4, due next week.
Discussion
"Short Story #4"

Writing exercises due by noon 4-19:
Write: a) one paragraph allegorical narrative; b) one paragraph in which a first person narrator playfully describes someone or something in an over-the-top series of metaphors and similes; c) one paragraph in which objects or actions (or both) convey a mood or emotion which is never named; d) one paragraph in which setting symbolizes human conflict.
Discussion
Week 10
"Writing Exercise"

Read and discuss WF: Ch 9 “Is and Is Not: Comparison” (metaphor and simile, metaphoric faults to avoid, allegory, symbol, objective correlative) p. 325. Why did Burroway choose these particular stories for this chapter?
Discussion
Week 10
"Question"

Discuss with whole class: any problems or questions related to your story in progress? What do you find most difficult in writing fiction? What comes most naturally?
Discussion
Week 10
"Class Discussion"

If you wish, workshop your story in progress with your group.
Discussion
Week 10
"Small Group Workshop"

Week 11: April 24-28

Write: Story #4 due by noon 4-26:
Short story #4 , your choice of topic but somehow modeled on one of the stories in the text. We don’t necessarily need to know which story you take as your model. I am simply asking you to make a serious effort to analyze the techniques of at least one story, perhaps your favorite, and to apply them to your own work.
Discussion
"Short Story #4"

Complete discussion by noon 5-3. We are taking more discussion time as this time I would like the whole class to offer comments on everyone’s story #4. Start thinking about which two stories you will revise for your final.
Read and discuss WF: “I Gotta Use Words When I talk to You”
Discussion
Week 11
"Question"

The entire class should read and comment on all of the stories.
Discussion
Week 11
"Class Exercise"

Week #12: May 1-5

Writing, the final stretch:
No new writing assignment this week. We will use the next three weeks for discussion and revision of two stories to be turned in as your final. These should be major revisions, not just editing. Work at deepening your characters, refining the point of view, developing plot, theme, setting, voice, and other elements of fiction. Although you may work most intensely with your small group I would like everyone in the class to be available if need be to give feedback. Of course I will help you review your work and make suggestions.
Discussion
"Writing Revisions"

Complete reading and discussion by noon 5-6:
Read WF and discuss: “Play it Again Sam: Revision”
Discussion
Week 12
"Question"

Whole class discuss revision process. Semester review. What did you find most helpful? Most difficult? What would you like to accomplish with your final revisions? What can the class do to help you at this point?
Discussion
Week 12
"Class Discussion"

Week #13: May 8-12

Write and Revise
First major revision of one of your previous stories due by noon 5-10. Workshop with small group. Continue to revise.
Discussion
"Writing Revisions"

Week #14: May 15-19

Write and Revise:
Major revision of another of your previous stories due. Workshop with small group. Continue to revise.
Discussion
"Writing Revisions"

Week #15: May 22-25 (DCE classes end May 25)

Final assignments due:
a) Two revised and polished stories due May 23.
b) 1-2 pages about your work in this class. What you set out to do. What you have learned. Comments on the process of learning to write fiction. Comments on your two final stories. Future plans for writing or other thoughts on the subject you would like to share.
Discussion
"Writing Exercise"

Week #1: Feb 13-18
Writing Assignments due 2/15 noon Write: a) A short autobiography (1-2 pages) that helps us understand who you are and what and why you want to write; b) a few words about the fiction you like to read; c) an anecdote from your life (under one page) which is essentially true but might be turned into fiction.	Discussion "Student Autobiographies" Attach Paper to your message
Write: As an exercise in fictionalizing reality, choose one paragraph from your autobiography or anecdote and rewrite it using the third person (he or she). Feel free to change the gender of your main character.	Discussion Week 1 " Writing Exercise"
Complete discussion by noon 2/18: Read WF Preface pp xiv-xvi, Appendix A: “Kinds of Fiction” p 411, and Ch 1 “Whatever Works: the Writing Process” p 1. Here are some things we might discuss. In the preface, she talks about how workshop members should begin to respond to the writing. What are the important points to remember here? In Appendix A the author compares literary fiction with genre fiction. This is a course in literary fiction. Do you have any questions or reservations about the points she makes? Can science fiction, adventure, or romance also be literary? Reading Chapter 1, how do you think her ideas for getting started will work for you? What else would you like to discuss in the reading?	Discussion Week 1 "Question"
Make general comments on autobiographies and anecdotes. Address the whole class or the writer. How do you relate to what others have written? Do you like to write more from personal experience, found ideas, or pure imagination?	Discussion Week 1 General Comments

Week #2: Feb 20-25
Writing assignment, Story #1, due by noon 2/22. Story #1 - A short short story based on a true experience but definitely fictionalized. For example, see suggestion #3 p. 28, or suggestion 4c (music you associate with your high school years). Note: A “short short story” is usually no more than 2 or 3 pages and may be as short as 1⁄2 a page. “Girl” p 67 and 20/20 p 70 are examples of “short short” stories. Think about how you can get a lot into such a short story.	Discussion "Short Story #1" Attach Paper to your Message
Complete discussion by noon 2/25: Continue to discuss and review Chapter 1 “Whatever Works: the Process.” Now that you have written a story, consider whether you used any of the techniques for getting started suggested by Burroway. What do you find most interesting or useful in what we have read in the textbook? Do you have any questions or reservations about the textbook or the class so far?	Discussion Week 2 "Question"
In small group workshops, workshop story #1 and suggest ways in which the stories might be further developed. Review Burroway’s recommendations for how to give workshop feedback in the preface.	Discussion Week 2 "Small Group Workshops"

Week #3: Feb 27-Mar 4
Writing assignment due by noon 3-1: a) Make a list of 10 story ideas, one sentence each. Each one should have a character and a conflict. Don’t let yourself take a lot of time with this. Instead, free associate quickly and see what you come up with. b) Your choice of one of the writing exercises p. 71-72.	Discussion "10 Story Ideas" "Writing Exercise" Attach Paper to your Message
Discussions and workshops: Complete by noon 3-4. Read and discuss WF: Ch 2 “The Tower and the Net: Story Form, Plot and Structure” 30. Suggestions for discussion: Tell us about your favorite story in this chapter. Your least favorite story in this chapter. What can you take from one or more of the stories to apply to your own work? What else would you like to say about the stories here?	Discussion Week 3 "Question"
Small groups discuss story ideas and writing exercises. Where do you think the writer might go with one of the ideas or the writing exercise in developing a full story?	Discussion Week 3 "Small Group Discussion"

Week #4: Mar 6-10
Writing assignments due by noon Mar. 8: Short story #2, your choice of topics due by noon 3-8. Remember, you will have a chance to revise before the end of the semester.	Discussion "Short Story #2" Attach Paper to your Message
Exercise: Freewrite 1⁄2 to 1 page of improvised narrative alternating long and short sentences. How does sentence variety influence the writing?	Discussion Week 4 "Freewrite Exercise"
Discussion and workshop completed by noon 3-11: Read and discuss WF: Ch. 3 “Seeing is Believing: Showing and telling” 74. Do you have any questions about the various categories Burroway discusses (The Active Voice, Prose Rhythm etc.)? Compare the three stories in this section and how each one comes alive for you, or does not. How do “Linoleum Roses” and “The Things They Carried” fit your idea of the short story? I think you will find it interesting to see the movie based on Oates’s “Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?” if you can find it on video: it’s Smooth Talk with Laura Dern and Treat Williams. It’s a good adaptation but they are strikingly different. Be sure to read the story before seeing the film. Also notice Oates’s comments about where she got the idea for the story and how it changed in the process of writing, p. 406.	Discussion Week 4 "Question"
Workshop story #2 with writing group. Give particular attention to showing and telling. Do the stories “play” for you or are you conscious of the author’s presence? What else is particularly interesting or needs attention in the stories?	Discussion Week 4 "Small Group Workshops"

Week #5: Mar 13-18
This week you should start your story #3 due Week #8 in order to have plenty of time to develop this story and make some revisions before handing it in. Try to make the writing exercises feed into the story. Experiment with starting the story in different ways. Workshop early drafts with your group over the next two weeks.	Discussion "Short Story #3"
Writing Assignments due by noon 3-15: Write: a) a one page revealing dramatic monologue by a character (see #1 p. 155); b) write 1⁄2-1 page presenting a character in terms of objects or an object in his or her life; c) 1⁄2-1 page in which one character talks about another.	Discussion Week 5 "Writing Exercises"
Complete discussion by noon 3-18: Read and discuss WF: Ch 4 “Building Character: Characterization part I” p. 118 (credibility, purpose, complexity, change, indirect character presentation). Choose short quotes from the stories that you feel exemplify the ideas Burroway outlines in her chapter, especially “Indirect Mehtods of Character Presentation.” How do you feel about the characters in these stories? Do your feelings about the characters change in the course of each story? What do you admire about these stories and what would you like to emulate in your own work?	Discussion Week 5 "Question"
Whole class discuss the writing exercises. Did you enjoy the writing exercises? Why or why not? Did you get a start on something you might use in a full story?	Discussion Week 5 "Class Discussion"

Week #6: Mar 20-25
Writing due by noon 3-22: Write: your choice of two or more of the writing exercises pp 195-6, as they might appear in your next story (due week #8). (You are only required to do two but I think these exercises sound so interesting you might well want to try them all.)	Discussion "Writing Exercises"
Complete discussion by noon 3-25: Read and discuss WF: Ch 5 “The Flesh Made Word: Characterization part II” (Direct presentation—appearance, action, dialogue, thought; conflict between methods of presentation; reinventing character; creating a group or crowd, character: a summary ) p 157. How do you feel about the characters in the two stories? Do you sympathize with one character more than others? How do the authors influence your feelings about the characters? Both of these stories depend on dialogue. How do the writers distinguish the characters by the way they speak? Are they distinguishable, aside from content?	Discussion Week 6 "Question"
Small groups discuss the writing exercises and story #3 in progress.	Discussion Week 6 "Small Group Discussion"

Week #7: Mar 27-31
Continue to work on story #3 on your own.	Discussion "Short Story #3"
Writing assignment due by noon 3-29: Rewrite one or two paragraphs from the beginning of your story in progress in the style of three of the writers in the textbook. Let us see the original and the three revisions.	Discussion Week 7 "Writing Exercise"
Write: your choice of one of writing exercises 1-5 p. 252—choose one that most fits your story in progress.	Discussion Week 7 "Writing Exercise"
Complete discussion by noon 4-1: Read and discuss WF: Ch 6 “Long Ago and Far Away: Fictional Place and Time” 198 (Setting and Atmosphere, symbolic setting, alien and familiar setting, summary and scene, flashback, slow motion). Discuss beginnings and endings. What kind of beginning pulls you in? When do you know that a story ends? Someone has said that when a writer presents us with troubling material he or she has to give us a way to deal with that material. Does this apply to any of the stories here? For example, how does Tobias Wolff’s story “Bullet in the Brain” affect us differently than a newspaper story about a local bank robbery and killing?	Discussion Week 7 "Question"
General class discussion of three style rewrites. How do you like the revisions? Do you feel that it’s your writing when you imitate someone else’s style? Is it hard to define “style”? What is it? Do you feel that you have a writing style of your own?	Discussion Week 7 "Class Discussion"
Small groups discuss your choice of writing exercises.	Discussion Week 7 "Small Group Discussion"

Week #8: April 3-7
Writing Assignment short story #3 due 4-5: Write short story #4, your choice of topic. Consider point of view carefully. If it is a first person narrative, does the voice inform our understanding of the character? Is the narrator reliable? If it’s in third person, how much does the narrator know? Is your narrator omniscient or limited? Does the narrator stay with one main character or go from one character to another? You should also pay close attention to setting (physical setting, time, weather, time span of the story etc.). Setting should reflect or support what’s going on in the story.	Discussion "Short Story #4"
Complete discussion by noon 4-8: Read and discuss WF: Ch 7 “Call Me Ishmael: Point of view part 1” (1st, 2nd, 3rd person, to whom speaking, what form) p 254. Which of the stories interested you the most? What did you learn from them about point of view?	Discussion Week 8 "Question"
Workshop story #3 with small group.	Discussion Week 8 "Small Group Workshop"

Week #9: April 10-15
Writing assignment, sketch, due by noon 4-12: Write a sketch for a story using your own ideas but modeled on one of the stories we have read so far. A sketch is a short very rough draft. Some of it may simply be notes. To model doesn’t mean to copy but rather to look at something you admire and imagine how you might use what you admire to make something of your own. Your aim here is to get a start on your fourth story, due April 26.	Discussion Week 9 "Writing Exercise"
Complete discussion by noon 4-15: Read and discuss WF: Ch 8 “Assorted Liars: Point of View part 2” p. 287. Do you have questions about Burroway’s discussion of point of view? This chapter is particularly full of stories. Look at each story and notice how the author is handling point of view. Choose one of the stories and tell us what interests you about it.	Discussion Week 9 "Question"
Discuss sketch with your group.	Discussion Week 9 "Small Group Discussion"

Week #10: April 17-21
Continue to work on story #4, due next week.	Discussion "Short Story #4"
Writing exercises due by noon 4-19: Write: a) one paragraph allegorical narrative; b) one paragraph in which a first person narrator playfully describes someone or something in an over-the-top series of metaphors and similes; c) one paragraph in which objects or actions (or both) convey a mood or emotion which is never named; d) one paragraph in which setting symbolizes human conflict.	Discussion Week 10 "Writing Exercise"
Read and discuss WF: Ch 9 “Is and Is Not: Comparison” (metaphor and simile, metaphoric faults to avoid, allegory, symbol, objective correlative) p. 325. Why did Burroway choose these particular stories for this chapter?	Discussion Week 10 "Question"
Discuss with whole class: any problems or questions related to your story in progress? What do you find most difficult in writing fiction? What comes most naturally?	Discussion Week 10 "Class Discussion"
If you wish, workshop your story in progress with your group.	Discussion Week 10 "Small Group Workshop"

Week 11: April 24-28
Write: Story #4 due by noon 4-26: Short story #4 , your choice of topic but somehow modeled on one of the stories in the text. We don’t necessarily need to know which story you take as your model. I am simply asking you to make a serious effort to analyze the techniques of at least one story, perhaps your favorite, and to apply them to your own work.	Discussion "Short Story #4"
Complete discussion by noon 5-3. We are taking more discussion time as this time I would like the whole class to offer comments on everyone’s story #4. Start thinking about which two stories you will revise for your final. Read and discuss WF: “I Gotta Use Words When I talk to You”	Discussion Week 11 "Question"
The entire class should read and comment on all of the stories.	Discussion Week 11 "Class Exercise"

Week #12: May 1-5
Writing, the final stretch: No new writing assignment this week. We will use the next three weeks for discussion and revision of two stories to be turned in as your final. These should be major revisions, not just editing. Work at deepening your characters, refining the point of view, developing plot, theme, setting, voice, and other elements of fiction. Although you may work most intensely with your small group I would like everyone in the class to be available if need be to give feedback. Of course I will help you review your work and make suggestions.	Discussion "Writing Revisions"
Complete reading and discussion by noon 5-6: Read WF and discuss: “Play it Again Sam: Revision”	Discussion Week 12 "Question"
Whole class discuss revision process. Semester review. What did you find most helpful? Most difficult? What would you like to accomplish with your final revisions? What can the class do to help you at this point?	Discussion Week 12 "Class Discussion"

Week #13: May 8-12
Write and Revise First major revision of one of your previous stories due by noon 5-10. Workshop with small group. Continue to revise.	Discussion "Writing Revisions"

Week #14: May 15-19
Write and Revise: Major revision of another of your previous stories due. Workshop with small group. Continue to revise.	Discussion "Writing Revisions"

Week #15: May 22-25 (DCE classes end May 25)
Final assignments due: a) Two revised and polished stories due May 23. b) 1-2 pages about your work in this class. What you set out to do. What you have learned. Comments on the process of learning to write fiction. Comments on your two final stories. Future plans for writing or other thoughts on the subject you would like to share.	Discussion "Writing Exercise"