Sept. 8 Have read Introduction and Paterniti, Sullivan, Goldberg, Cahill, and Smith essays from BAMW ; workshop project plans; hand in folders

Sept. 15   Have read Fadiman, Fallows, Frazier, Pollitt, Bing, and Hitchens articles from BAMW; discussion and exercises; workshop; prep for Fall for the Book

Sept. 18-23 Fall for the Book

Sept. 22 Class attends Fall for the Book Events

Sept. 29 Have read Gopnick, Flanagan, Wolcott, Hall, Gilbert, and Tietz articles from BAMW; reprise of Fall for the Book; workshop; hand in folders

Oct. 1 LAST DAY TO DROP CLASSES WITHOUT DEAN'S PERMISSION

Oct. 6 The Visual and/in the Text: Photos, Drawings, Layout; workshop on new material

Oct. 13 Workshop; Mini "Read Around"

Oct. 20 Writing for Publication--Identifying Markets; have read assigned sections of The Writer's Market and browsed Nonfiction Links; begin Market Identification assignment; hand in folders

Oct. 27 Visiting Writer: Nick Reding (have read assigned handout from his work); workshop new material

Nov. 3 Visiting Writer: Wendi Kaufman; workshop new material

Nov. 10 Brief "Market Identification" reports; hand in folders

Nov. 24-25 Give Thanks

Nov. 31 Workshop; begin Portfolio Read-Around

Dec. 7 - Continue Portfolio Read-Around; submit final portfolio; course evaluation

Assignments

YOUR EVOLVING FOLDER OF WORK IN PROGRESS: This is the heart of the course, your weekly development of one or two projects, representing an average of SIX HOURS A WEEK of conscientious research, drafting, and/or revision. You will hand in your folder every three weeks (see the Schedule of Classes) for my comments, and you will receive feedback almost every week from your fellow writers in the class. Each week's work must be either newly drafted material or substantial revision (NOT just editing) of previous writing (except during the last two weeks of the course, in which you will be fine tuning your projects). Every three weeks, when you hand in your folder, it should be accompanied by a one-page "process log" entry, in which you describe your work during the period and analyze your growth as a writer (e.g., new things you've tried, what's worked, what you want to grapple with next). You will keep all of your work in progress in a two-pocket folder, which will include, in addition to your writing, my summary comments on every three weeks' worth of work. (I will make some comments on the drafts themselves, also.) See "Class Participation" below regarding credit for this ongoing development.

BRIEF "MARKET REPORT" ON A PUBLICATION: In early November (see Schedule), you will give a brief (no more than 10-minute) report to the seminar on a publication of your choice that accepts nonfiction manuscripts. This publication may be the one to which you will direct one of your projects, but it need not be. The intent of this assignment is for you to gain in-depth knowledge of the types and styles of work usually featured in this publication, as well as its policies and procedures regarding review of manuscripts. The secondary purpose of the assignment is for all members of the seminar to increase their knowledge of a range of publishing venues. Your presentation will be oral, should include your handing out of copies of the publication, and should be accompanied by a one-page handout that describes the features listed above. (If some members of the seminar choose on-line publications to review, please let us know the URLs in advance of your giving the report, so that we may view the pages earlier.) (10% of course credit)

YOUR FINAL PORTFOLIO: 50% of your final grade in this seminar will be based on my evaluation of your final portfolio, which will include (1) your revised, edited, and professionally-presented projects from the semester, as based on the work plan we agreed on early in the course, plus (2) a roughly 750-word descriptive-evaluative essay of your progress during the semester. The length and variety of your portfolio will depend on what you have written during the semester and my discussions with you about portfolio contents.

ON-LINE WRITING IN 489: I will be setting up a class forum for 489 on the Townhall server for weekly or b-weekly conversations about writing matters or writing exercises. This will be an ongoing way for you to share bits of your writng with the members of the workshop and your thoughts about issues, technique, etc. I will give a prompt for the week--please feel free to suggest topics as we proceed. You will need to register for Townhall using your GMU USERNAME AND PASSWORD so that I may be able to add you to the discussion. We will meet in a computer lab in Innovation hall for this purpose on Week Two of the semester. Since Townhall is a web-based program, you will be able to link to the forum any web writing that you may wish to do for the course. I define "web writing" for our purposes as true hypertext and/or multimedia work that requires computer technology for composing and reading, not linear or linear/graphic text that can be printed, copied, and brought to class. We'll discuss these issues as you have questions. (10% of course credit)

CLASS PARTICIPATION: 30% of your grade will be based on your consistent, active, enthusiastic involvement in all exercises and activities of the seminar, aside from the Townhall entries, which earn separate credit. You'll note from the schedule that principal elements include your week-by-week substantial development of your projects, the weekly meetings of your 3-4 person "reading/writing" groups, and weekly engagement in exercises, practice sessions, discussions, and "read-arounds" intended to broaden your repertoire of skills and techniques as a writer. Absence from the class will mean that you can't earn this roughly 2% of credit for each class. Participating less than fully, actively, and collegially will cost you 1% of your final grade for each class meeting in which this less than optimum work occurs. Exercises, etc., cannot be made up. 

2005 Writer's Market  (available at the GMU Bookstore and at trade bookstores: Borders, Barnes and Noble, etc.). Ed. Kathryn Brogan. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books, 2004.

The Best American Magazine Writing 2003. Ed. David Remnick. American Society of Magazine Editors. New York: Perennial Books, 2003.

I will expect you to become familiar with and to use for your brief "market report" various magazines (print and online) that publish nonfiction genres. You will need to reproduce for each member of the class at least one article from the publication you choose for this report.

Your portfolio should be kept in a simple two-pocket folder. (If you have a website, you may ask me about keeping your portfolio online. If you don't have a website, but would like to build one, here are some technical instructions you might use. For more support and instruction, check out the services of the STAR center in Johnson 311.)