Advanced Fiction Writing
Stephen D. Gibson
LA 114 G (12:00-1:00 & by appointment), 863-6287, stephen(dot)gibson(at)uvu(dot)edu
Texts and Materials:
George, Elizabeth. Write Away. New York: Perennial Currents, 2004. (0-06-056044-4)
A willingness to plan, write, and revise between twenty and forty thousand new words
A functioning email account
Access to Canvas
Course Goal:
By the end of the semester, you will have written a novella.
“Basically, the Novella is a fictional narrative of indeterminate length . . . restricted to a single event, situation or conflict, which produces an element of suspense and lead to an unexpected turning point . . . so that the conclusion surprises even while it is a logical outcome. Many contain a concrete symbol which is the steady point, as it were, at the heart of the narrative. . . . There has been a good deal of debate and theory ever since as to what precisely a Novella is or should be.”
–Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory
“A work of prose fiction of intermediate length, longer than a short story and shorter than a novel. In general [it] displays the compact structure of the short story with the greater development of character, theme, and action of the novel.”
–A Handbook of Literature
“The British author Gabriel Josipovici once startled me by observing that the first draft of a novel could be written in a month: ‘Ten pages a day for thirty days gives you three hundred—and then you rewrite it seventeen times.’”
–Janet Burroway
Reaching the Goal:
In order to successfully reach these goals, you must take responsibility for your own learning and participate as an active learner. The best way to learn what writers do is to try doing what writers do. This course gives you the opportunity to draft and revise your novella, to join a community of writers engaged in similar tasks, and to receive feedback from a range of readers.
You’ll also have the chance to write in class almost each time we meet. In-class writing provides an opportunity to report word counts, record ideas, try out some of the techniques we’ll discuss, and actually rough draft parts of your fiction. Usually I’ll collect in-class writing. Evaluations of in-class writing include zero points (if it’s not completed), three points (completed poorly), and five (completed well). By the end of the semester, in-class writing will total approximately one hundred points. Since in-class writing will often grow out of in-class events, it can’t be made up. The in-class writing you’ve completed also documents your attendance, punctuality, and participation.
One of the most important things writers do is actually finish (after revising) texts they start. You’ll have the chance to do this by completing three assignments, one a “plan” and then a rough draft, then a revised draft. It’s possible to earn as much as one hundred points from each. We will talk more about each of these assignments in greater detail during class, but here is some basic information:
- The “plan” assignment will consist of some of the prewriting necessary for writing at length. Your plan needs to work for you, so it could take the form of an outline, character sketches, an idea map, a list, a catalog of desires and dangers, a draft, a daily writing/task calendar, a “dust jacket/back of the paperback” description, several pages of your thoughts on what you’d like to write and/or a combination of the preceding. Whatever form it takes, your plan needs to indicate a healthy degree of premeditation. At the same time, as you write, your plan will almost certainly change. I’ll encourage you to plan using Jane Smiley’s five criteria: character, action, theme, setting, and language.
- Rough drafts need to be both tentative and complete. In other words, they should have both a tentative beginning and tentative ending. Because the goal of the class is to draft a novella, your rough draft should reach or exceed the word count conventionally associated with novella-length manuscripts. We will devote some class time to this, but you should expect to write outside of class as well. Finally, and most importantly, rough drafts should be rough. They may include poorly plotted events, flat main characters, boring and rambling and meaningless paragraphs, clichés, numerous misspellings, and generic locations. Rereading or sentence-by-sentence revision is not a part of the rough draft assignment in this class.
- A revised draft moves a text dramatically closer toward (but not yet to) publishable form, as the result of obvious decisions by its author. New material is written in and old material is cut. Summaries may be expanded into scenes and scenes may be summarized, or cut, or rewritten to increase stress on characters, drawing them towards some sort of crisis. Characterization improves, clichés of plot and language disappear or are revised away, themes and settings come into focus. A revised draft isn’t final, but it is radically different than the rough draft.
After completing the plan, rough draft, and revised draft assignments you should not wait for my feedback to begin the next assignment or draft. Waiting will cost you valuable time.
Students should attend each class prepared to write. This means, at least, having access to your plan and/or earlier drafts (through a flash drive, or email, or Google Docs, for example). We will peer review the plan assignment and the revised draft assignment, perhaps by comparing rough and revised drafts side by side.
The last way you’ll show how well you understand the techniques the course identifies will be the final exam. I can’t give it to you early. Your work on it can earn you as many as twenty-five points.
Approximately four hundred and fifty points are possible in the class. Earning more than 93% of the total points possible in the class will result in an “A” grade, 90%-92.9% an A-, 86%-89.9% a “B+,” and so on. As the UVU Catalog indicates, “The letter grade ‘A’ is an honor grade indicating superior achievement; ‘B’ is a grade indicating commendable mastery; ‘C’ indicates satisfactory mastery and is considered an average grade; ‘D’ indicates substandard progress and insufficient evidence of ability to succeed in sequential courses; ‘E’ (failing) indicates inadequate mastery of pertinent skills or repeated absences from class” (19).
In order to protect their privacy, students must come to see me privately in my office if they wish to discuss a grade on an assignment or for the course. It is your responsibility to periodically check your grade on Canvas.
Late Work Policy:
If for some good reason you won’t be able to turn something in, try to contact me (preferably in advance). You’ll be able to develop the habit of meeting deadlines by emailing assignments in class on their due dates. In order to discourage procrastination, I’ll take ten points away from the total points earned each day (not class period) an assignment is late. For example, an assignment due on Friday but not turned in until Monday would have thirty points deducted from the total points it earns. An assignment is turned in on the day when I personally receive it, when I can print a hard copy, not when it is left in my box, office, or in the English department. I don’t plan on grading papers faxed to me, and I encourage you to always make and keep a copy of all the work you turn in. You can, of course, turn things in early.
Peer Review:
“The purpose of a writing workshop is to give and receive constructive feedback . . . This is not a time to show off your polished work; it is a time to test out material you’re working on, a time to receive suggestions on how it might be improved, a time to ask a receptive audience specific questions about your work. The spirit of these workshops must be cordial and helpful. As the writer, you are not there to defend or explain your work; you merely need to find out, from others’ viewpoints, what works and what doesn’t. As a reader, you are there to help a fellow writer improve a specific piece of writing.”
–Chris Crowe
Students with Disabilities:
If you have any disability which may impair your ability to successfully complete this course, please contact the Accessibility Services Department (room WBU146). Academic accommodations are granted for all students who have qualified disabilities. Services are coordinated with the student and instructor by the Accessibility Services Department.
Academic Honesty:
“Plagiarism, or the use of others’ words or ideas without proper attribution, is an impediment to your education and to the educational mission of Utah Valley University. Under the policy of the English and Literature Department of UVU, work that has been plagiarized must receive a failing grade. A distinction is made between unintentionally plagiarized work, which must be corrected in order to be considered for a passing grade, and intentional plagiarism, which will be forwarded to the Office of the Dean of Student Life as a disciplinary matter in accordance with UVU’s statement on Student Rights and Responsibilities. Evidence of intentional plagiarism will cause you to fail this course.”
–Utah Valley University English and Literature Department Homepage
Tentative Schedule:
Complete the reading assignments listed below before coming to class on the specified dates.
Jan 9 Introduction to the class, students, and instructor
Jan 11 “Tidbits from Q& A,” “The Value of Bum Glue”
Jan 13 Characterization, “Story Is Character,” “All About Character”
Jan 16 Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jan 18 Characterization, “Yes, There’s More About Plot. But First . . .”
Jan 20 Characterization, “Dialogue: Speak the Speech, If You Will,” “Tricks of the Dialogue Trade”
Jan 23 Action, “Onward from Idea,” “Plotting: ‘It Is the Cause, My Soul’”
Jan 25 Action, “The Start: Decisions, Decisions”
Jan 27 Setting, “Setting Is Story,” “Nothing Without Landscape,” Peer review new material (i.e. a draft of the plan)
Jan 30 Setting, “Gimme a Map, Please,” “The Scene: Okay, So It Is Rocket Science”
Feb 1 Theme, “Knowledge Is Power, Technique Is Glory”
Feb 3 Language, “As There Is Viewpoint, So Is There Voice,” “Voice: You Gotta Have ‘Tude,” Peer review new material (i.e. a draft of the plan)
Feb 6 Plan due
Feb 8 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Feb 10 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Feb 13 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Feb 15 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Feb 17 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Feb 20 President’s Day
Feb 21 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Feb 22 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Feb 24 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Feb 27 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Feb 29 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Mar 2 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Mar 5 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Mar 7 Compose rough draft (i.e. write at least 1250 words)
Mar 9 Rough draft due
Mar 12 Spring Break
Mar 14 Spring Break
Mar 16 Spring Break
Mar 19 Toward revision
Mar 21 “Baby Steps First,” “Loose Ends”
Mar 23 Toward global revision (expansion)
Mar 26 Peer review new material (i.e. bring a portion of the rough draft, revised and rough)
Mar 28 Toward global revision (expansion)
Mar 30 Toward global revision (expansion)
Apr 2 Peer review new material (i.e. bring a portion of the rough draft, revised and rough)
Apr 4 Toward global revision (concision)
Apr 6 Toward global revision (concision)
Apr 9 Peer review new material (i.e. bring a portion of the rough draft, revised and rough)
Apr 11 Revising paragraphs
Apr 13 Revising sentences
Apr 16 Peer review new material (i.e. bring a portion of the rough draft, revised and rough)
Apr 18 Revising sentences
Apr 20 Second draft due (along with a copy of the rough draft)
Final: Wednesday, 25 Apr, 11:00
