Syllabus

Introduction to Creative Writing
Engl 10203, sec. 060
Reed 417
Williams, Spring Semester 2011
Course description:
Introduction to Creative Writing is intended to help students develop their imaginative writing skills. The course will be primarily conducted as a workshop, and students will be expected to submit their creative work in several different styles and forms, including poetry, fiction, and drama. In addition to the workshops, there will also be discussions of literary genres, elements, and techniques, and there will be assigned readings to illustrate the discussions. Previous experience in creative writing is not necessary. Interest and enthusiasm are required.

01/10. M
introduction

01/17, M
MLK Day
“Chapter 1, Getting Started,” Field of Words, 1-24

01/24, M
“Chapter 4, Poetry,” Field of Words, 98-131
Poetry Workshop

01/31, M
“Chapter 4, Poetry,” Field of Words, 131-153
Poetry Workshop

02/07, M
“Chapter 4, Poetry,” Field of Words, 153-199
Poetry Workshop

02/14, M
“Chapter 2, Fiction,” Field of Words, 25-42
Fiction Workshop

02/21, M
Class Cancelled

02/28, M
“Chapter 2, Fiction,” Field of Words, 42-74
Fiction Workshop

03/07, M
“Chapter 3, Creative Nonfiction,” Field of Words, 75-97
Fiction Workshop

03/14, M
Spring Break

03/21, M
Sailing Around the Room (selections)
Fiction Workshop

03/28, M
Sailing Around the Room (selections)
Drama Workshop
[Thursday, 7 PM, March 31, Billy Collins Reading—Required!]

04/04, M
“Chapter 5, Revising,” Field of Words, 200-210
Drama Workshop

04/11, M
Drama Workshop

04/18, M
Student Presentations

04/25, M
Student Presentations

Requirements:

1. Creative Writing Assignments. During the semester you will be required to write and submit a minimum of three original poems, one original short story, and one dramatic dialogue (or one-act play). These must be submitted on their due dates; late submissions will receive only partial credit.

2. Short Writing Assignments. Throughout the semester you will be given creative prompts, such as a quotation, question, or challenge, and asked to write responses. These assignments might be sketches, scene descriptions, character studies, or remembrances, and they will be in prose, poetry, and dramatic dialogue. The short assignments will be written in class, out of class, and online.

3. Workshops. The class will primarily be run as a workshop in which students will help each other improve their creative writing. At different times during the semester you must submit your primary creative writing assignments for peer review. Before the scheduled workshop dates, you must post your story, poem, or dramatic dialogue online for the rest of the class to read.

We will use a course blog for our postings and distributions. In order to do this you must
first create your own individual blog. With the help of technology at Blogger
(http://www.blogger.com?), you will build your own web log, or “blog,” and throughout
the semester when you are scheduled for peer review you will upload your creative work,
which will then be linked to our central course blog.

In addition to posting your creative work, you will also use the course blog to respond in
writing to the work submitted by your fellow students. You do not have to comment on
every poem, story, or dramatic dialogue submitted, but by the end of the semester you
should have responded to a minimum of 10 poems, 5 stories, and 5 dramatic dialogues
(out of the 60 poems, 20 stories, and 20 dramatic dialogues that we will be generating
as a class). What you write is up to you. You do not have to write a long critical analysis, analyzing the placement of different elements and techniques. Your purpose is to offer constructive, supportive help to the writer—that is, you must offer specific suggestions for improving the text. Comment on what you like in the text and then offer ideas for enhancing, developing, or polishing it. Please do not simply write: “I think this is really great as it is. Doesn’t need a thing.” And please do not write: “I just don’t get it. Better start over.” Always be polite and helpful. We are working together as collaborators, and our overall intention is to create a writing community within our class. No one writes alone in a vacuum. Your responses should be from a paragraph to a page in length. At the end of the semester your responses will receive a cumulative grade according to how helpful and constructive they were.

You are also welcome to use your blog to reflect on your experiences throughout the
semester, as a writer, as a student, as an individual living in a complex world, commenting on whatever moves or inspires you. But please remember that a blog is not a personal—and private—diary.

Blogging is a less formal form of writing than an essay, and thus blogs are a good forum to reflect, analyze, vent, explore, and consider. But blogs are also a more public form of writing and, because of the technology, an excellent way of sharing, collaborating, and responding. But please keep in mind that blogs are a public forum, accessible to anyone who has internet access, so please do not post anything that you would not share with the classroom and internet communities. I do not formally restrict or limit subjects or language, but please bear in mind that what you post—as a writer or responder—reflects who you are. By no means do you want to be perceived as ignorant, vulgar, or obscene.

I will immediately take down anything that I consider overtly offensive (anything racist or insulting to others). If you think you want to test the boundaries of decorum and civility, and are unsure if you should post, please see me ahead of time.

The course blog will be our forum for dialogue and exchange.

4. Final Presentations. During the last two class sessions you will be expected to present
what you consider your best work of the semester back to the class. You may choose to
present poetry, fiction, or drama, and you will have a 5 to 10 minute slot for your
presentation. How you present is up to you. You may give a reading, use PowerPoint, create a video, act out a part, stage a dramatization, use props, costumes, puppets . . . The possibilities are numerous, and you may ask the help of your classmates if you need another reader, actor, or stage hand. I ask three things. First, consider carefully what you think is your best work and how best to present it as a reflection of your semester’s work. Second, put some creative thought into your presentation. I would like the presentations be engaging and interesting. And three, please keep in mind the time limit. Though ten minutes seems like a long time, it’s really not. The average page of prose read quickly takes around 2 minutes, so without any gestures or effects a prose reading will max out at 5 pages. You might have to read only a section of a long poem, story, or dramatic
dialogue. Please check your time beforehand.

5. Final Portfolios. At the end of the semester, no later than 4:00 PM on the last day of our
class (April 25) you will be required to submit a final portfolio of your creative
writing texts in their final drafts (three poems, one story, and one dramatic
dialogue). In addition, you will also be required to write a brief self-reflective essay
introducing and reflecting on your writing. This portfolio will showcase your creative
writing skills.

6. Attendance and Participation. You are required to take an active part in this course and
to assume responsibility for its success. Both attendance and participation are required.
Missing more than three classes will result in failure.. Borderline grades will be
affected by participation. Those who actively contribute will always receive the benefit of doubt.

7. An appreciation of irony and a sense of humor are required.

Grading Scale:

3 to 4 Poems Submitted-- 15%
1 Story Submitted-- 15%
1 Dramatic Dialogue Submitted 15%
Responses-- 15%
Final Presentation 15%
Final Portfolios-- 15%
Short Assignments-- 5%
Oral Participation-- 5%

Required Text:
Esstess and McCann, In a Field of Words
Collins, Sailing Around the Room

Notice: due to either natural or unnatural catastrophes, all of the above is subject to change.

Dan Williams
Reed 414D, or TCU Press (3000 Sandage)
Office hours: Friday, 10-12 AM and by appointment
Phone: #6250 (campus office), or #5907 (TCU Press)
Email: d.e.williams@tcu.edu

Course Outcomes:

--gain a familiarity with the craft and techniques of imaginative writing
--develop the basic skills of imaginative writing
--demonstrate strategies of literary analysis through writing about the assigned texts in class
--identify representative authors and works in a particular literary tradition
--produce a final portfolio of original poetry, fiction, and drama that demonstrates a close
attention to language, character, plot, motivation, and/or sound



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If there is a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. --Toni Morrison

As to the Adjective: when in doubt, strike it out. --Mark Twain

Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines, a machine no unnecessary parts. --William Strunk