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English 345-001 Writing Fiction |
Dr. Michael Filas |
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Spring 2011 |
Office: Bates 07 |
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TR 11:15-12:30, Bates 214 email: mfilas@wsc.ma.edu |
Hours: TR 9:45-11:00, T 5:00-6:00, and by
appointment on Wednesdays and at other times. |
Course Description:
In this class you will develop your abilities to write, read, critique, revise, and perform your own fiction and the work of others. We will explore the effects of various forms and writing methods as you each develop your individual fiction-writing voice. Each writer must be willing to experiment, to open her or his mind, and to have fun as we explore our imaginations and the various ways to represent ideas in fiction.
Required Texts and
Materials:
¤ Wood, James. How Fiction Works. New York: Farrar, 2008.
¤ Course readings (provided)
¤ Each writer will incur regular copying expenses for workshop submissions, and every person must staple all multiple-page submissions and assignments before class. So, you need a stapler on hand for anything you turn in.
Course Grading and
Requirements:
Participation (10%): Arrive to class on time, prepared with all required workshop copies, critiques, and course materials. Grade is based on active and attentive contribution to class discussions of workshop materials, assigned reading, and other writing as assigned for in-class discussions. This part of your grade also includes your contributions to discussion of the assigned readings. You will not pass this class if you miss more than three classes or if you miss either of the two scheduled (and mandatory) conferences. Students seeking an above-average grade are encouraged to attend all classes.
Workshop Submissions (20%): Each student is required, on two pre-scheduled dates, to submit a selection of original work to the class for workshop. The submission must be between 5-8 double-spaced pages of fiction. The student is responsible for making sure his or her selection is always typed and copied, bound with a staple, and ready at the start of class. Please pre-notify me as soon as possible, by phone, if you must miss on a day when you are scheduled to be workshopped, to critique, or if you are scheduled to deliver workshop copies. Everyone will workshop twice during the semester. Each workshop submission must be original material.
Workshop Critiques (20%): On a minimum of three occasions,
each student will lead discussion on scheduled workshop days and provide two
copies (one for the writer and one for me) of her or his one-page,
single-spaced, type-written critique. My copies are to be stapled together with
the other critiques prepared for that dayÕs workshops and turned in at one
time. Students pursuing an above average grade may have the opportunity to
write and deliver additional critiques. Your original, thoughtful, verbal
contributions to workshop also affect this portion of the grade.
Sometimes in workshop classes, classmates become lazy about providing written feedback to the workshop writers except on those days when it is their turn to turn in typed responses to me and the writer. I want to ensure that everyone contributes regularly and generously with workshop feedback, even when it is not your turn to be a designated workshop respondent. Therefore, I will collect, on unannounced and random occasions, the written feedback from everyone and give credit before the workshop copies are returned to the writer.
Performance (10%): Some fiction lends itself well to being read out loud. You will each have the chance to read your own work and the work of others out loud to the class. This part of your grade measures your willingness and talent for doing this with conviction and authority, for keeping our classroom activities lively and engaged. The shy neednÕt panic, however. Other elements of performance will include submission to a literary journal for publication and public display of your work.
Journal Writing (15%): Throughout the semester, I will assign various one-, or two-page responses to a writing queue, formal exercise, or other provocation. I will also assign responses to readings in Wood. These, and other writings you do over the course of the term will be edited and typed as your formal Òdevelopmental workÓ and submitted with your final portfolio. Some of it may end up being in your revised work final portfolio, and selected for your submission to the workshop portion of class.
Comprehensive Final Portfolio (25%): By design, much of the work you will write this semester will not be workshopped, some not even graded except for credit-no credit. Your final portfolio will include all the assignment and development work you generate, all of it typed and proofread, much of it revised, with some work edited and submitted for publication consideration. The best portfolios will be a product of steady and regular development and organization over the course of the semester rather than last-minute productions.
General Policy and Expectations: You are all individuals with diverse interests and passions. The goal of this course is to help you recognize those passions and combine them with your particular talents of voice, imagination, and narrative inclinations so that you each achieve a new level of writerly maturity and understanding. This cannot be accomplished without substantial independent work on your part. I will give a constant stream of exercises and focused discussion of the elements of fiction, however, it is largely left to you to practice these techniques in your stories and experiments. Your workshop submissions are to be culled from your independent integration of the coursework into finished texts.