Syllabus
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Course Description Welcome to the introductory workshop in creative writing. This class is a writing-intensive (be warned) exploration of the works we, as individuals, can create through language. The aim of the course is two-fold. First comes discovery, our investigation of what we can write about, what we need to write about and what we never imagined we would write about. Throughout the semester we shall work in class and between classes on the generating of this new material. Second comes the craft of writing: the skills and, just as important, the writing habits necessary to shape raw material into finished poems, plays, screenplays or prose you are eager to show to an audience. By the end of the semester, the two processes should run in tandem. Discovery leads to more writing; writing leads to ever-more intriguing discovery. As a fellow writer, I plan to participate in writing assignments and exercises throughout the semester. I look forward to your feedback on my work just as much as I look forward to reading your own. A critic once wrote of the French philosopher, novelist and feminist, Simone de Beauvoir, that she looked at the world with such pity tears fell from her eyes, but that each tear froze as it ran down her cheek. This course explores our many routes to that moment when the tear freezes, when we as writers turn private perception into public performance and transmute life into art. Course Requirements Portfolio The portfolio consists of the work you choose to represent your work as a writer this semester. You should plan to submit a minimum of twenty pages on the last day of the semester. You must include one piece of work from each of the genres covered (poetry, drama and prose). You should also include a two-page, typed, self-assessment which might, but need not, include the following: your strengths as a writer; your writing strategies; your 'areas for further work', and your plans for future writing. You may submit your portfolio in a folder, publish it on your web page, print it up as a booklet or..? We shall talk about the building of a portfolio in more detail in class. Writer's Journal Your journal is the anchor to this course, your haven and your library, your source of inspiration. If you have never kept a writer's journal before, do not worry. Are you haunted by a childhood memory? Does a TV program remind you of a relative or friend you no longer see? Do you carry an image from the news you can never forget? Are you obsessed by a painting or a song? Or by a phrase your mother has used for the last twenty years? Write it down. And keep writing. The journal is your place to write without worrying about spelling, grammar or what your parents and friends would think if they read what you had written. You can try out new ideas, experiment with words or syntax, transcribe 'real life' and assemble the 'raw' material that will fuel and enrich your writing. Wherever you are, your journal should be there, too. You should write for at least twenty minutes every day. I plan to distribute each week a sheet of exercises to help you try new ways of writing, and you should attempt three new exercises every week. You should always bring your journal to class. In the first three weeks, we shall work intensively on building up that store of 'raw' material. Thereafter, each class will begin with a warm-up writing exercise you should enter into your journal. As the keeping of a journal is so important to this class, I shall collect journals every three weeks. Good writing often stems from very private experience. Before submitting the journal, you should fold over any page you do not wish me to read. If you want specific feedback on particular entries, mark the pages accordingly. As I read, I shall be looking at the process of journal keeping, not assigning an abstract 'quality' to each entry. Workshops Workshops provide writers with an audience for both works-in-progress and works near completion. But a good audience is hard to find. Each writer should be prepared to respond generously to others' work all semester. Responding requires preparation and hard work. Over a fifteen-week period we have a unique chance to discuss changes and developments in each others' writing, and you may well learn as much from your responding as you do from your writing. To maximize the works exposed to audience feedback, this course includes three workshops: informal, small-group workshops, weekly, full-class workshops, and an electronic workshop. The latter two workshops will begin in week three. The weekly full-class workshop is the most formal. Writers will distribute work scheduled for discussion one week in advance, and each member of the class should type a half-page response to each work prior to class. You should bring two copies of your response to class: one for the writer and one for me. You should be prepared to participate fully every week. Each small group will choose the method of working that best suits its members. Experiments and very early drafts, changes of direction and subject matter are all good materials for a small group. You should capitalize on the informality to take risks. I shall allocate class time to small groups, but you should also think of meeting between classes, whether in person or over e-mail. Finally, an on-line interactive workshop will allow us to consider in depth additional works. Writers will submit work scheduled for posting one week in advance, and each piece will be posted for a week. Each writer should take time to log a considered response. The beauty of the electronic workshop is its flexibility: you can return at any time to add to your initial response. This is not a replacement for the in-class workshops but a supplement to them, a way of keeping ideas circulating between classes. Only class members will have access to the workshop and I shall explain how to use it in class. Class Participation In addition to workshop participation (graded separately), I shall be looking for evidence that you have completed and thought about the assigned readings, an active response in class discussions, and the completion of in-class exercises and writings. Should you need to miss a class through illness or legitimate emergency, please contact me beforehand. You are responsible for any work you have missed. Grading This class is not a race to produce the 'best' poem or to be the 'best' writer. Nor is a competition to produce most work. Each writer will start the semester in a unique place and end it in a unique place. Your grade will be based on how you, as an individual, undertake that journey. Conferences and Office Hours One-to-one conferences constitute your time: bring a list of questions, a new piece of work, reading requests, etc. I schedule some conferences formally but I am also available in my office every week, and on e-mail every day. If you do not understand an assignment, are encountering problems with your work, or want some feedback on an idea, please do not wait for an official conference time. Contact me. Most of my enjoyment in this class comes from my encounters with your ideas. I look forward to talking to you. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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