Have a good Break

Follow the syllabus. Readings for the week after the break are posted on myemich (Goldberg and Essay Introduction).

Write your blog post response on either or both of these.

Also of Interest:

http://murielrukeyser.emuenglish.org/welcome/rukeyser-symposium-2013/

Fiction Workshop Guidelines

Read the work and give feedback in terms of the elements of poetry and fiction that we’ve talked about. You can offer suggestions, comments, positive feedback, and critique (what’s working and what could be stronger, etc?). Write on the work and mark places in the text that you want to address.

Language (mark places where the language used is dynamic and interesting, and places where it

could be revised to be stronger, etc)

Concrete and sensory detail

Description

Imagery

Metaphor/simile

Sound (of language, sound that is evoked through the language

Visual (line breaks, stanza breaks, use of white space on the page, etc)

Syntax

Look out for abstract, cliché, “overused” language and offer suggestions to make these

places stronger

Think about all of the above elements of poetry in terms of the fiction writing. Also, comment and give feedback on the elements of fiction writing:

  Plot (situation, conflict, “drama”)

  Setting

  Character(s)

  Dialogue

  Narration, point of view, verb tense and general writing style, etc.

  “resolution” or ending

Feb 26 - 28

Follow the syllabus for Thur!

If you missed the in-class writing exercise, talk to someone in class and have them tell you about it.


Fiction Exercises you should be doing to include in the portfolio; if you don't know what it is, ask someone in class:

Rewrite paragraph:

 1. Rewrite 1-2 paragraphs of a story word by word, replacing each with another word of the same type/part of speech

2. Continue and/or finish the story by writing 1-2 more paragraphs which maintain the same sound/tone/sentence structures as the previous paragraphs.

Other Fiction Exercises:

Dialogue à story

Postcards story

500 word story from description of place, emotion, or etc

200 word description of a place à story

4 qualities (show a character with these qualities in a story but don’t use the words for the qualities)

For Next Week

We are continuing to talk about fiction writing and reading.

Bring fiction packets 1, 2, & 3 back to class with you on Tue. 

Write your blog for Tue on any stories from the packets that you haven't written about previously. Also, write about any elements of fiction writing from Goldberg and Lamott that you have found interesting or helpful to think about.

Continue to work on the postcard exercise. Turn it into a story that includes character(s), plot (situation), and dialogue.

Listen to some real dialogue in the world somewhere (in the student center, in the library, at a McDonald's, etc), then transcribe it (write it down) and bring this to class on Tue also.

This Week

Follow syllabus: You should be reading Fiction Packet 3, writing about that on your blog, reading Lamott for Thur., and working on your fiction stories (see 2 exercises in previous posts below).


Fiction Exercise for this week:

Description

Format:           

Under 500 words. Double-space if writing prose, using 12-point Times Roman font.

The Assignment:

1.      Write a description of a place, thing, or emotion, aiming to provide unique detail, without giving away the name of what it is that you are describing:

Place, Thing, or Emotion

Describe a place, but without naming the place. E.g., a place you know very well in Ypsilanti or in your home town.

Describe an emotion, but without naming the emotion.

Describe a thing, without naming the thing.

The aim in all three cases is to avoid abstraction and cliché and to pay attention to vocabulary.

Note #1: Try to avoid writing a riddle or making a puzzle where the reader is put in the position of guessing at what the identity is of the described place, thing or emotion.

Note #2: Do not describe a person or character.

2.      Put a character into that place or emotion (emotional state) to whom, or in which place, something happens.

3.      Turn this into a work of “Microfiction”:

Very short stories are variously referred to as microfiction, sudden fiction, flash fiction, postcard fiction, palm of hand fictions, among other terms.  Word counts vary as well, though most examples of these genres run under 500 words.  Also in productive dispute are the requisite features of a successful short short fiction.  Some writers call for a clear sense of beginning/middle/end and a conflict/resolution.  Others allow for stories that are akin to portraits, slice-of-life vignettes, or works of prose poetry.  Feel free to explore any of these options when writing your own microfiction.  

Feb 13 Fiction Exercsise

*Write a 200-word description of a place. You can use any and all sensory descriptions but sight: you can describe what it feels like, sounds like, smells like and even tastes like. Try to write the description in such a way that people will not miss the visual details. Put a character in that place and have her/him do something.

Fiction Exercise + stuff for next week

*Make a list of four qualities/characteristics that describe a character real or imagined. Place that character in a scene and write the scene so that the qualities are conveyed through significant detail. Use no generalizations and no judgments. No word on your list should appear in the scene. Use detail and description to SHOW the qualities through the scene and the actions of the character.

For next week: follow syllabus for reading assignments (posted on Myemich) and write a blog response on the readings before class time on Tue. Check myemich to make sure you have the most current syllabus; some folks may have had an earlier version. 

Feb assignments:

12: Burroway (myemich): Writing Fiction

Fiction Packet 2 (myemich): read, come to class prepared to discuss stories

14: Goldberg readings (myemich); Fiction Packet 2 con’t