Welcome+to+Advanced+Creative+Writing+-+Read+Me+First

Welcome to Advanced Creative Writing.

Presumably you are in this class because you are: A) Self-directed in your pursuit of writing B) Eager to grow the skills you learned in Creative Writing C) Responsive to feedback from peers and teachers D) Eager to uncover the craft/style of published writers

Okay. I have high expectations for Adv. Creative writing students. This class will largely be run through our Adv. Creative Writing Wiki-space; it is your responsibility to check it nightly and to meet the deadlines I have set for you. It is basically an independent study course, although you will be working with each other and periodically with students in my regular Creative Writing class. I will also expect you to enter several writing contests along the way. Do know that wiki-discussion amounts to about half of your grade. That means your comments are thoughtful, specific, developed and ON TIME. Failure to meet deadlines will have severe implications for your grade, especially considering that the assignments will be posted well ahead of time. If you know you’ve got other homework, consider working ahead when possible.

This class is run like a college seminar course which means it requires you to be a) independent and b) exhibiting growth as both a reader and writer throughout the semester. Additionally, it means that I likely will not be giving you writing assignments like the kind you had in your Creative Writing class last semester. You need to come up with the ideas yourself. Additionally, you will be expected to enter contests periodically and provide feedback to students in regular Creative Writing.

Since you both have access to iPads, bring them every day to class. Feel free to work with each other as you complete the reading assignments and craft your own pieces.

First 6 weeks: Fiction Writing We will begin by focusing intensively on fiction writing; you will be reading several pieces of short fiction and responding on Wiki to questions regarding craft. (The reading assignments will be on Wiki, which, again, you should check nightly.) Your focus will NOT be to explain what you liked or didn’t like about the piece; you will provide evidence for your assertions about the writer’s techniques instead. You will respond to specific questions that I have laid out for you and you will also be expected to respond to the ideas of your fellow class members.

As far as the texts are concerned, you will be borrowing some from me; in other cases, I will make copies of stories for you to examine or scan them in electronically. Please be diligent in returning all borrowed texts; anything Xeroxed you may keep, unless I say otherwise.

After reading all this fiction, you will turn in your own piece of short fiction. This fiction piece should be a minimum of 8 pages—max. 20. It should be complete (in other words, a beginning, middle and an end.) No genre fiction, please—that means, no science fiction, detective fiction, fantasy fiction, romance novel stuff, etc. Good writers work from their own lives. You will turn in a rough draft which you will workshop on Wiki. Your final draft will be due shortly after that.