GUIDANCE Week 1 · Scala, ENG 318 Many of you, I don’t doubt, have some hesitations about writing and sharing your own creative work in multiple genres. This, however, is a safe

Scala,ENG318

GUIDANCE Week 1 Elements of Poetry

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WeeklyLearningOutcomes By week’s end you will be able to: 1. Prepare a draft of three poetic forms. 2. Explain the concepts of image, metaphor, and figurative language. 3. Critique sample work by providing constructive comments. 4. Analyze a piece of writing selected from this week’s readings.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Calendar

Assignment Due Date Format Grading Percent

Post Your Introduction Day 1 Discussion 1 Imagery and Metaphor Day 3 Discussion 4 Reading and Critiquing Creative Writing Day 3 Discussion 5 Reflection and Response

Day 7 Journal 2

Writing Poetry Day 7 Assignment 10

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Required&RecommendedReading

To successfully complete this week’s assignments, read the following from our course text: Meetze, J. & Deutsch, A. (2015). Transcending genre: An introduction the elements of creative writing [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

• Chapter 1: First Thought, Best Thought • Chapter 2: A Writer’s Toolbox • Chapter 3: Natural Resources • Chapter 4: Voice, Tone, Perspective • Chapter 5: Poetic Forms and the Page

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ThisWeek’sEssentialLearning

“Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.” --Rita Dove

Guidance Week 1: Welcome to Week 1 of ENG 318: Creative Writing. In this class you will learn to read, write, and critique creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.

Scala,ENG318

Many of you, I don’t doubt, have some hesitations about writing and sharing your own creative work in multiple genres. This, however, is a safe space to share your work and to try out new things. It is a safe space in which to take risks, and I encourage you to do so, whether you fail or succeed. No great writer ever succeeded without thinking him or herself, at some point, a failure. It’s often in writing those things we’re most unsure of that we find the greatest, most innovative work. I can tell you this from experience. I can also assure you that not one of the writers in our text has published everything he or she has written. On the contrary, it’s likely there are numerous stories and poems, entire books, in their cabinets and drawers, unpublished and unread. Remember: every writer starts right where you are.

A NOTE ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF THIS CLASS You might notice the strange title of our text, Transcending Genre. Genre, I hope you’ll remember from ENG 225, is a category of artistic composition. Poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction are all genres of writing and literature. To transcend means to move beyond. So if we’re transcending genre, that means we’re moving beyond categories of artistic composition. Well, not exactly. While you’ll be learning all the components and modes of each of the three genres we’re practicing in this class, special attention is paid to the tools and techniques that apply to all genres. Indeed, poetry informs fiction, which informs creative nonfiction. We might look at it like this: Word — Line — Sentence — Paragraph — Narrative Arc. So beginning with poetry, we’re going to focus on how language works and what it does when it becomes our substrate, our material, our medium. We will look at the ways in which words signify and sound when yoked together. We will look at the capacity of language to create image and will then build on image, using figurative language devices such as metaphor, simile, personification, metonymy, and symbolism among others. It should then become clear how these elements carry into the writing of fiction and creative nonfiction. We’ll also look at form, which, although it might seem anachronistic, is fundamental to the trajectory of poetry and, it might surprise you, quite helpful in writing regardless of the genre. You might now be asking, “But what am I supposed to be writing about?” We’ll get there, but first, you’ve got to get prepared to write.

WHERE & WHEN TO WRITE We all lead very busy lives. There is no one-size-fits-all way to the time to write; we carve out niches of time when we’re able. Those niches of time, however, need to be dedicated to writing and attentiveness to the task at hand. So you need a space. Whether that be a desk at home or at work, a park bench on your lunch break, your bunk in the barracks or on the ship, or the kitchen table after the kids have gone to bed, it’s important to make your writing space your own—at least for the time you’re dedicating that space to writing. Chapter 1 of Transcending Genre: An Introduction to the Elements of Creative Writing (2015) is dedicated to just this. It’s a breezy read, but it’s important to know and consider before getting started. Ok. Now that that’s taken care of, let’s get to the work at hand.

FINDING YOUR SUBJECT I don’t really believe in inspiration in the way we commonly perceive it. Sure, we all get inspired by people, by events, by feats of natural beauty, by other works of art; it goes without saying. But a working writer, a real writer, has a practice, a craft, formed over time and with great perseverance. Though your initial idea may come from the muses, from a fit of inspiration, finishing what you start takes work and craft; it doesn’t just explode out of you in a magical burst of creativity. Any writer who says otherwise isn’t a writer at all. As you have probably guessed, I do believe in writing what moves you to keep working. You must write what lives in you enough that you can sustain it and, through it, astonish your readers. Find a

Scala,ENG318

subject, an idea, a phrase, or an image that means something to you. This doesn’t need to be about you or your family or your friends or your job or even your community (though it could be about any of these things). You might not be able to get a story you read in the news out of your head and you want to explore that story—a journalistic story—in a literary way. You might want to rediscover something from the past, so you do research and write to bring it again to life. You also might want to write about how your father’s struggle with dementia led you to research your family history, which, you learn through your research, is also the story of America (this last suggestion is so specific because it’s what my forthcoming book of poetry is based on). The best way, however, to find a great subject is to read what other writers are writing about and find the gaps. Find those spaces into which you are drawn and work to address them.

POETIC IMAGE I want you all to pay especial attention to Chapters 2, 3, & 4. These chapters detail everything you need to know in order to get started reading and writing poetry. Remember, too, that they’re just as important to the work you’ll be doing in fiction and creative nonfiction in the weeks to come. In Chapter 2, I’d like you to really dig into sections 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4. These sections engage with image and symbol and figurative language; it is these that differentiate creative writing from technical and academic writing. Figurative language is why we read for pleasure, or, rather, it is what creates joy in a text. Figurative language is what makes a piece of writing come alive. When you hear me say “show, don’t tell,” I mean for you to use figurative language (metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, etc.) to astonish us with an image or idea. Building on figurative language, we’ll then look at the possibilities of abstraction and surrealism. As an example, I’m going to riff on an image here and I’d like you to think about which creates a better picture and draws you into the image more immediately. The girl is sitting outside in the sun on her meditation cushion. or As if all the energies of the universe whirled about her, the sun, lighting not just her hair, but her entire, transcendental being, engoldened that spot where she sat each morning in meditation. The sounds of leaf blowers, diesel engines, a cacophonous wild flock of green parrots, and the neighborly breeze simply passed through her. This is what figurative language can do to an image to amplify its importance in conveying not only something about a character, but something about the setting, the place, and the perspective of the speaker. You see too that I wrote this in prose, but it could just as easily be broken into poetic lines. As if all the energies of the universe whirled about her, the sun, lighting not just her hair, but her entire, transcendental being, engoldened that spot where she sat each morning in meditation. The sounds of leaf blowers, diesel engines, a cacophonous wild flock of green parrots, and the neighborly breeze simply passed through her ears.

Scala,ENG318

I can’t emphasize strongly enough that this is where you get to have fun with language, and connect with your reader by giving them information to think about. When you can be suggestive with language, you build in layers and your reader has to work a little to really connect with what you're trying to say. It's not a game, but more of a dance between the writer and the reader. Take, for example, "Poetry" by Marianne Moore, and how she specifically opens it up with the line, "I too, dislike it." This is something of a paradox, no? I mean, who writes a poem to tell us about how much he or she dislikes poetry? I’d also suggest reading this poem, “Thing Language,” by Jack Spicer, which says, “No one listens to poetry.” Speaking of listening to poetry, the greatest resource I know of for listening to poetry readings is the archive at PennSound. Go and download an mp3 of a reading and listen to it on your way to work. Figurative Language We all use figurative language in our every day speech. For example, you might say that you have “a ton of reading” to do for this class. Of course, you don’t literally mean that the reading you have weighs a ton—you simply mean that you have a lot of reading to do. To supplement your reading, I recommend this video, which provides a clear, basic overview of the different types discussed in your book, with helpful examples:

An Introduction to Figurative Language in Poetry - https://youtu.be/dvkQaxREGDQ

Diction Poetry is made of language: vocabulary, phrasing, syntax and grammar are all aspects of diction. The diction of a poem might be formal or casual, ornate or spare, it could be similar to common speech or completely unlike common speech. Diction is what creates the mood and tone of a poem, and diction is also the source of figurative language. Ever since Aristotle’s Poetics, poets and critics have debated what kind of language to use in a poem. In the preface to Lyrical Ballads, William Wordsworth argued against what he felt was the overly ornate language of his predecessors, whereas contemporary writers such as Nada Gordon have returned to an interest in ornamentation. The point is, language is endlessly diverse, and so the options and possibilities for diction in poetry are also endlessly diverse. As you work on your own poems, do not be overly attached to an idea of what you think a poem must sound like.

Scala,ENG318

Rhythm All language has sound and rhythm. The patterns and possibilities for sound and rhythm in poetry are vast. So before you write a poem with hard end rhymes (I loved my cat / She sat on a mat), consider that rhyme is only one particular way of incorporating sound and rhythm into your writing. In his essay on rhythm, “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking,” Edward Hirsch writes that “Rhythm creates a pattern of yearning and expectation, of recurrence and difference.” Note that difference—variability—is an essential party or rhythm. Consider the flow of any really good rapper. Flow is not just about end rhymes, it’s about the nature of those rhymes (or lack of them) and how the sounds of the language—rhymed or not—interact with rhythm and syntax. Poetry is no different. Speaking of diction and rhythm, let's turn to "Jabberwocky" for a moment. Do you find that it's difficult to read? You bloody should! What is a "slithy tove?" What is "mimsy" supposed to mean? You can find more information on this poem by heading to the The Poetry Foundation. Think about this poem when you're reading about rhythm, and poetic forms, and how rhyme is employed. Sometimes a poem isn't about "meaning" at all, and is more about a certain musical quality that our language has in it. We'll certainly talk about it in Discussions. For Discussion 1, when you're looking at the themes, let's see if we can recognize the layers in a given poem. Focus on those devices in the chapter on figurative language, and we'll be able to take these things apart, and see how the pieces work together. In writing your poems for this week, I want to encourage you to focus on nailing the formal elements of the sonnet, but I want to see how you might experiment with the ode. You can break away from it—it is an outdated, but historically relevant, form—by thinking about, say, contemporary pop music and how lyricism in music is used to convey feeling. The ode, you should know, was originally sung by the poet. Your free verse poems are free and do not need to rhyme. In fact, most contemporary poetry does not rhyme in the traditional sense, though certain sounds may be repeated using alliteration and assonance to evoke musicality. Contemporary poetry is more concerned with modern concerns, with real life, and, as Robert Creeley says that, “form is never more than an extension of content,” a poem’s diction and its form should reflect its subject. So get wild and wooly with your writing (see there, I used alliteration). A wonderful resource for learning more about traditional poetic forms is Ron Padgett’s Handbook of Poetic Forms (a PDF of which you can download by clicking the title). I'd also recommend going down to the best newsstand in your town, and finding the literary magazine section—New Pages has a wonderful database of magazines both online and in print. If you want something a little simpler, there are new poems every day at Verse Daily, Poetry Daily, or on the Writer's Almanac.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TipsandExpectations

Carefully review the Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your discussion posts and responses. Take advantage of the Rubric, and self-assess your discussion post and response. This is a great way to identify your own strengths and areas for improvement before I evaluate your work.

The discussion forums are the heart and soul of an online classroom. Please respond to your classmates’ posts well before the Monday deadline the check back frequently to continue the conversations. Push each other’s thinking and be willing to consider other viewpoints. Remember: Many students find the peer review process challenging because of the inquisitive and descriptive discussion that it requires. I remember my first workshop and the vague yet flattering feedback phenomenon – Your story is perfect! I love this piece! I would not change a thing! Praise, like blame, offers very little to a growing writer. It was not until my instructor forced each of us to

Scala,ENG318

come up with a question about someone else’s piece that I began to understand the real benefits of sharing and conducting a peer review. As peer reviewers, I offer you this challenge: Be playful. Interrogate. Suggest. Explore the possibilities. As writers, make it one of your goals to see how constructive criticism can provide you with an opportunity to further interrogate your writing.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AdditionalResources

Poetry Resources Ashford University. (2014). Week one recommended poetry resources. Retrieved from https://bridgepoint.equella.ecollege.com/curriculum/file/3838e0f7-a9ad-4991-941e-96ee0e26b5bd/1/ENG318_Week%20One%20Recommended%20Poetry%20Resources.pdf Multimedia awetblackbough. (2010, July 25). Marianne Moore reads bird-witted [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEuEkW-1oPk&feature=youtu.be FranklinHumanities. (2012, February 24). The poetry of Nikkey Finney [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o16G01YIQx8&feature=youtu.be joyelenor’s channel. (2009, October 5). Hilda Doolittle reads from “Helen in Egypt” [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITkakIOUuug PoemsBeingRead. (2010, September 26). 5 poems by Jack Spicer [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXQjxJ5QfBQ ThirdWorldNewsreel. (2010, February 16). A litany for survival: The life and work of Audre Lorde-trailer-TWN [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diHzbQNyO2k Website Ashford Writing Center. (n.d.). APA key elements. Retrieved from https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-apa-key-elements.html References Sample Document Ashford Writing Center. (n.d.). APA references list. Retrieved from https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-apa-references-list.html Online Symbolism Dictionary - http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/symbolismproject/symbolism.html/ The EServer Poetry Collection - http://poetry.eserver.org/ Library of Congress Poetry Resources - http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/lcpoetry/ Poets.org: Poetry, Poems, Bios and More - http://www.poets.org/

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

References An Introduction to Figurative Language (2008). Retrieved February 2, 2016, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvkQaxREGDQ Cave Canem: Poets on Craft (2012). Retrieved December 29, 2014, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r35xjnHyhqw Dove, Rita. Wordsdance. Retrieved December 29, 2014, from wordsdance.com

website: http://wordsdance.com/2013/07/50-powerful-quotes-about-poetry/ Meetze, J & Deutsch, A. Transcending Genre: An Introduction to the Elements of Creative

Writing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc., 2015.

Scala,ENG318

GUIDANCE Week 2 Elements of Fiction

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WeeklyLearningOutcomes By week’s end you will be able to: 1. Prepare a draft of an original piece of fiction. 2. Critique the work of peers by providing constructive comments. 3. Explain the concepts of character, setting, plot, and tension. 4. Analyze a piece of writing selected from this week’s readings.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Calendar


Story and Tradition Day 3 Discussion 3 Workshop: Poetry Day 3 Discussion 5 Reflection and Response Day 7 Journal 2 Writing Fiction Day 7 Assignment 10

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Required&RecommendedReading


• Chapter 6: Developing Character • Chapter 7: Dialogue • Chapter 8: Plot, Structure, Risk • Chapter 9: Spaces and Places

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


“It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.” --Mark Twain

Guidance Week 2: This week, we're talking about fiction, or creating your own narratives de novo (from nothing). Well, they (we) do always say, “write what you know,” so whether or not you pull from your experience, from the news, from a dream, or from something overheard, it’s rare that you’ll write from nothing. Chances are, however, that you’ve got a story to tell. The chapters you’re reading this week—6, 7, 8, and 9— offer instruction in character development, dialogue, plot and structure, and setting. All of these are necessary to compelling storytelling, but they manifest in myriad ways across all the different stories. Some, however, follow archetypal narrative

Scala,ENG318

structure, which you'll read about in Chapter 6 and in the diagram of Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey Cycle." The setting might take from your hometown or a place you've read about or a place you've always wanted to visit. A great way to get a sense of settings in novels—and quickly—is to watch authors reading from their work, because they'll often give a nutshell version of where their story takes place. From that nutshell, you can glean quite a lot about the where, when, and what of the story about to be read. The setting is about context, and that's one of the most important pieces in anything you happen to be writing, whether it be a story, essay or a poem. Setting can be the key detail that contains a multitude of opportunities that will face you, the writer, as well as your characters. Just think of some of your favorite narratives, and figure how the setting dictates the circumstances of that narrative. Watch this clip of the writer Matt Bell discussing the character and setting of his new novel Scrapper, which he then reads from:

Matt Bell reading from Scrapper - https://vimeo.com/148270434

If you're telling a story about characters who are in school, consider that students must actually go to classes. If you're writing about a guy who spends his days wandering around the city, you'll have a difficult time saying that story takes place in the corn fields of Nebraska where he is a farm hand. Now, if he was a farm hand, but the farm closed down because the owner was bought out by a subsidiary of Monsanto, and he was outraged by their molestation of the genetic code in the crops that make up our food system, so he quit and moved to the city with the money he saved, then that’s motive and background that colors the setting. Because that setting is used not only to help define where he comes from, but also to help describe the values of our man, he might be looking at the city from a particular perspective; his origin creates the circumstances for his state of mind. A great exercise for building your characters is writing a timeline that details the major events of your character’s life until the point at which the story takes place. When you have a fully fleshed out idea of whom your character is you’re more easily able to know how he or she will react in certain situations and when presented with certain obstacles. I went off on a bit of a rant there, but notice how many little places the setting comes in, and carries details that might be essential to the plot, and to the conflicts we might need to find a resolution to before we can reach the end of our story. The setting can also have a lot to do with defining who your character is. You couldn't write about happy go-lucky homemaker or a housewife, who cleans with lemon Pledge, and hangs the clothes up on the line out in the sun if you set your story in the middle of, say, Detroit. If so, you'll have to do a lot to make it clear that they happen to live in a Detroit that isn't the city that's currently there, with entire blocks of burnt out buildings.

Scala,ENG318

Think about these things as you prepare your prose for this week.

Here's a note on the Workshop in Discussion 2:

***Please refrain from commenting or "defending yourself" in response to the comments your piece gets. In a traditional creative writing workshop, the author must sit in a bubble of silence while the instructor and other students critique her work. The reason for this is that once your work goes out into the world, you aren’t there to defend it or explain it and you just have to listen and learn from the critiques your work (not you) receives. Because we are in an environment in which I can’t control your ability to respond, I’m asking politely. I’m making an important distinction here: YOU ARE NOT YOUR WORK. You must learn to separate yourself from your work so to accept criticism and use it as a means to improve your work. My hope is that you can just read what someone has to say, and say "Thank you." In response to criticism of your work, please just say "Thank you," and spend the time later thinking about the perceptions others have had, and decide if you are comfortable with those perceptions. If you are not, you can meditate on what they said, and decide what type of revisions you need to make to avoid that perception in the future. One of the most important things you can learn, in the face of criticism, is to sit back, listen, and say "Thank you." I'll be looking for that in the Discussions, and hope you'll find it to be a practice you can embrace. Our questions seem to reference movies, and that makes a reasonable amount of sense, but film has different elements to it than storytelling or the writing of fiction. One example I thought I'd share with you is from Rob Reiner's Stand by Me, which is based on a piece of fiction by Stephen King. This is a scene where the main character is telling a story to his friends. Notice the setting, and the opportunities that are taken advantage of, and how the characters fit into that setting.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tips&Expectations Carefully review the Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your discussion posts and responses. Take advantage of the Rubric, and self-assess your discussion post and response. This is a great way to identify your own strengths and areas for improvement before I evaluate your work.

Many students find the peer critique process challenging because of the inquisitive and descriptive discussion that it requires. I remember my first workshop and the vague yet flattering feedback phenomenon – Your story is perfect! I love this piece! I wouldn't change a thing! Praise, like blame, offers very little to a growing writer. It wasn't until my instructor forced each of us to come up with a question about someone else’s piece that I began to understand the real benefits of sharing and conducting a peer review. As peer reviewers, I offer you this challenge: Be playful. Interrogate. Suggest. Explore the possibilities. As writers, make it one of your goals to see how constructive criticism can provide you with an opportunity to further interrogate your writing. The discussion forums are the heart and soul of an online classroom. Please respond to your classmates’ posts well before the Monday deadline the check back frequently to continue the conversations. Push each other’s thinking and be willing to consider other viewpoints.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Scala,ENG318

AdditionalResources

Selected Works Atwood, M. (n.d.). Happy endings. Retrieved from http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rebeccal/lit/238f11/pdfs/HappyEndings_Atwood.pdf Barthelme, D. (n.d.). The glass mountain. Retrieved from http://www.jessamyn.com/barth/glassmountain.html Bender, A. (2012). The rememberer. textBOX. Retrieved from http://www.missourireview.com/anthology/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/theremembererwithmaterials.pdf Hemingway, E. (n.d.). Hills like white elephants. Retrieved from http://faculty.weber.edu/jyoung/English%202500/Readings%20for%20English%202500/Hills%20Like%20White%20Elephants.pdf Marquez, G. G. (n.d.). A very old man with enormous wings: A tale for children. Retrieved from http://salvoblue.homestead.com/wings.html Williams, D. (2005). Stories by Diane Williams. The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved from http://www.brooklynrail.org/2005/11/fiction/stories Multimedia Burt, S. (2014, June 13). Why people need poetry [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_burt_why_people_need_poetry?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=on.ted.com-facebook-share&utm_content=awesm-publisher&awesm=on.ted.com_i0Go0&utm_campaign= Website Ashford Writing Center. (n.d.). APA key elements. Retrieved from https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-apa-key-elements.html References Sample Document Ashford Writing Center. (n.d.). APA references list. Retrieved from https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-apa-references-list.html

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

References

Twain, Mark. Brainy Quote. Retrieved December 29, 2014, from BrainyQuote.com:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marktwain131491.html?src=t_fiction

Scala,ENG318

GUIDANCE Week 3 Elements of Creative Nonfiction

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WeeklyLearningOutcomes By week’s end you will be able to: 1. Examine how creative nonfiction uses elements of poetry and fiction. 2. Prepare a draft of an original nonfiction essay. 3. Critique works of fiction by providing constructive comments. 4. Examine the concepts of point of view, perspective, voice, tone, and style. 5. Analyze a piece of creative nonfiction.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Calendar


Creative Nonfiction: Borrowed Elements Day 3 Discussion 3 Workshop: Fiction Day 3 Discussion 5 Reflection and Response Day 7 Journal 2 Writing Creative Nonfiction Day 7 Assignment 10

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RequiredReading


• Chapter 10: Stranger than Fiction _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


“I always squirm when I read what's called 'creative nonfiction,' and the writer is lobbing gobs of emotion and language at the world, hoping some of it will stick.”

--Stewart O’Nan Guidance Week 3: It’s Week 3 and there’s already so much we’ve accomplished. You’ve written poems and stories and thought about image, language, and narrative elements. You’ll take these same elements and apply them to telling the truth, whether that be the truth of your own personal experience or the truth of the experience of something other than yourself. The sky’s the limit, as long as it’s the sky above our heads. YES, YOUR LIFE IS WORTH WRITING ABOUT (But if you don’t want to write about it, other people’s lives are also worth exploring)

Scala,ENG318

Students will often say, “My life isn’t exciting enough to write about.” In fact, most of our lives are no more exciting than anyone else’s. But that is exactly what makes them worth writing about. Our personal experiences with the world and its people can be of great interest to readers. It’s that unique, individual perspective that each of us has that makes our stories interesting. The details you remember are only yours, so the most mundane experience can be made revelatory when you describe filling up your car with gas before work when you’re running just a little behind. What goes through your head in that moment is what makes the story relevant to anyone; this is what makes it most human. Your voice brings these experiences into being in a way only you can. You might, however, choose to tell someone else’s story or tell the story of a place or thing instead. In these instances, it is still your experience, or your experience with research, that colors and informs the way you convey the narrative. I like wine…I really like wine…and I like it because each bottle contains the particular expression of a particular fruit from a particular place in a particular year and tells the story of how it was made. I might want to write about women winemakers in Sonoma, CA. Or, I might want to write the story that a bottle of 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon (one of the best years of the century for this grape) tells about the weather, the soil, the way the grapes were picked, the aging of the wine in American or French oak barrels, and the events of the year in which those grapes grew. See? There’s a lot to be said about a simple bottle of wine. But there’s a lot to be said about a song or piece of art or a Star Trek convention. It’s your choice and your experience that makes it interesting. Here’s 8 minutes on the Structure of the Creative Nonfiction Essay by Lee Gutkind:

The Structure of Creative Nonfiction - https://youtu.be/wlguuzwdq_Y VOICE Diane Thiel quotes Raymond Carver as saying that voice is “the writer’s particular and unmistakable signature on everything he [or she] writes. It is his [or her] world and no other” (11). It would be difficult to say it much better than this. I can disambiguate it though. Your voice is not your speaking voice. You probably don’t yet have, or know, your writer’s voice. It’s something you develop over time. I often say that a writer’s voice is the product of her teacher’s voice, which is the product of his teacher’s voice and so on and so forth. I mean that our voices come from our interpretations of our teachers, who might be our actual teachers or those indirect teachers, who are those authors whose work we study more closely than any other. Whether intentionally or not, we internalize the voice and style of those authors and teachers (writing teachers) we so admire. We work through those voices to develop our own. Where do you think you’ll find yours?

Scala,ENG318

PERSPECTIVE & POINT OF VIEW Let’s begin, then, by taking a closer look at the decisions concerning viewpoint. Point of view deals with a range of perspectives and a thorough investigation into perspective is not limited to the question: Who will do the telling? In fact, understanding perspective prepares writers and readers for tasks like creating authentic voices, considering outside perspectives and contrasting points of view, addressing past and present, creating personality, distinguishing individual themes and establishing distance in time. Narrators are characterized by the way they think and the first-person point of view demands an authentic personality. Think about that claim for a moment. The key here is that the focus is on the way they think since first-person narrators do not have access to the thoughts of others. As you will notice while exploring the literary terms and concepts outlined in our text, many of these categories overlap in interesting ways. You will find additional commentary on voice, perspective and point of view in Chapter 3 of our text. Please check out the following resource for more information on some of the basic terms and techniques in creative writing: Creative Writing Basics. (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/4/20/) CREATIVE NONFICTION I mentioned that I’m a poet, but I’m also an essayist. I don’t really write creative nonfiction professionally, but I read more creative nonfiction than any other genre save for poetry. Why? I go to creative nonfiction because I love learning about the truth and seeing how many forms the truth can take (refer to “perspective” here). Creative nonfiction tells us about ourselves, about history, about real things by giving us real things and real stories. The subjects of these stories are as varied can be imagined, but they all share something in common: truth. Well-known writer Joan Didion begins the following interview by describing some of the differences between writing nonfiction and fiction: Joan Didion, The Art of Nonfiction: http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/5601/the-art-of-nonfiction-no-1-joan-didion Didion also addresses audience reception and the revision process and I am sure that you will find these points helpful as we move through similar topics in our upcoming weeks. The idea in creative nonfiction is to tell true stories using the literary techniques of other genres; it’s making a true story captivating. The best way to make something captivating is to be captivated by it. Think about a story it’s important to you to tell and tell it well. If you read all the creative nonfiction entries in the book and would like to expand your reading, I encourage you to read the creative nonfiction stories found in the longest standing cnf magazine, CREATIVE NONFICTION: https://www.creativenonfiction.org/

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tips&Expectations The discussion forums are the heart and soul of an online classroom. Please respond to your classmates’ posts well before the Monday deadline the check back frequently to continue the conversations. Push each other’s thinking and be willing to consider other viewpoints.

Be sure to use specific examples from the piece to substantiate your critique. Remember that a critique includes constructive criticism and praise, but it should strive to balance both. It is important for the author being critiqued to understand how his or her piece is being read and whether or not the intent of the writing is conveyed effectively. Because this is a workshop, and you are given credit on your creative writing assignments, your grade for this activity is based entirely on your three critiques.

Scala,ENG318

Many students find the peer critique process challenging because of the inquisitive and descriptive discussion that it requires, while many others feel hesitant about sharing their writing with strangers. This workshop, however, is a safe space for sharing and challenging one another’s creative endeavors. Challenging each other by providing thought-provoking critiques is really the goal here! I remember my first workshop and the vague, yet flattering, feedback phenomenon – Your story is perfect! I love this piece! I wouldn’t change a thing! Praise, like blame, offers very little to a growing writer. It wasn’t until my instructor forced each of us to come up with a question about someone else’s piece that I began to understand the real benefits of sharing and conducting a peer review – honestly! As peer reviewers, I offer you this challenge: Be playful. Interrogate. Suggest. Explore the possibilities. As writers, make it one of your goals to see how constructive criticism can provide you with an opportunity to further interrogate your writing.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AdditionalResources

Selected Works Bascom, T. (2013). Picturing the personal essay: A visual guide. Creative Nonfiction, 149. Retrieved from http://www.creativenonfiction.org/online-reading/picturing-personal-essay-visual-guide Coates, T. (2014). The case for reparations. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/05/the-case-for-reparations/361631/ Dillard, A. (2014). Total eclipse. Retrieved from http://home.ubalt.edu/NTYGFIT/ai_05_mapping_directions/ai_05_see/ad_total_eclipse.htm Orlean, S. (2000). A place called midland. Retrieved from http://www.susanorlean.com/articles/a_place_called_midland.html Sedaris, D. (2008). Letting go: Smoking and non-smoking. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/05/080505fa_fact_sedaris?currentPage=all Wallace, D. F. (2013). Consider the lobster. Retrieved from http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/consider_the_lobster Website Ashford Writing Center. (n.d.). APA key elements. Retrieved from https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-apa-key-elements.html References Sample Document Ashford Writing Center. (n.d.). APA references list. Retrieved from https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-apa-references-list.html

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

References

O’Nan, Stewart. Brainy Quote. Retrieved December 29, 2014, from BrainyQuote.com:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/stewarton521379.html?src=t_nonfiction Lee Gutkind (2010). The Structure of Creative Nonfiction, Retrieved December 29, 2014, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlguuzwdq_Y

Scala,ENG318

GUIDANCE Week 4 Elements of Revision

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WeeklyLearningOutcomes By week’s end you will be able to: 1. Examine the techniques of revision. 2. Critique a piece of creative nonfiction by providing constructive comments. 3. Revise an original poem based on critical feedback. 4. Analyze a piece of creative writing.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Calendar


Revision Techniques Day 3 Discussion 3 Workshop: Creative Nonfiction Day 3 Discussion 5 Reflection and Response Day 7 Journal 2 Revising Your Work NA Assignment 0

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RequiredReading

To successfully complete this week’s assignments, read the following from our course text: Text Meetze, J. & Deutsch, A. (2015). Transcending genre: An introduction the elements of creative

writing [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

• _Chapter 11: The Revision Process Articles Calonne, D. S. (2006). Creative writers and revision. In A. Horning & A. Becker (Eds.),

Revision: History, Theory, and Practice (pp. 142-176). Retrieved from http://wac.colostate.edu/books/horning_revision/chapter9.pdf • _David Stephen Calonne provides an overview of revision as it relates to discovering meaning in an early draft of creative writing. He breaks down different areas of revision, using examples from renowned writers.

Lamott, A. (2005). Shitty first drafts. In P. Eschholz, A. Rosa, & V. Clark (Eds.), Language

Awareness: Readings for College Writers (9th ed.) (pp. 93-96). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s. Retrieved from http://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1- Shitty%20First%20Drafts.pdf

• _Anne Lamott, best known for her fiction and creative nonfiction, offers readers her own personal testimonies to the struggles of revision.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Scala,ENG318


“Revision is one of the exquisite pleasures of writing.” --Bernard Malamud

Guidance Week 4: All writers need one essential tool: the willingness and, indeed, enthusiasm to revise. In any process of creation--whether we’re writing, painting, filming, sculpting, etc.--the artist tends to fall in love with the work, in much the same way a parent loves his or her own child. It’s natural to look at the results of our own efforts, and see them as an extension of ourselves. We are moved to preserve and nurture the work, and to try to make it better, polish it, dress it up, and prepare it to take on the world. We want to be proud of a long healthy life the work will have in the world. But a piece of writing is not a child, and its lines are not limbs and organs. That means, sometimes, the best thing for the writing is to “kill” what we created for the good of the work. It’s not nearly the violent act that it seems to be--we apply this hyperbole to add a level of severity and dramatic tension to the writing process. Some writers might suggest hanging on to every draft, tracking every single change, while others just highlight and click the “delete” key, sending the words back into the ether from whence it came. You can decide how you want to treat lines that need to be removed (which sounds a bit more compassionate). “The darlings,” are those lines that we find ourselves clinging to. Perhaps it’s the first few words that inspired the writing of the much longer piece, or it could be that spot where a number of scattered elements have come together. As painful as it might be, as a work grows, and as you start to get into the critical process, the page can get ugly. The Morgan Library & Museum in New York has a substantial archive of original manuscripts. Take a close look at what Honore de Balzac put his own writing through: http://www.themorgan.org/collection/literary-and-historical-manuscripts/ma1036

Exercise: Look over your drafts and try to identify any vague subject matter and/or imagery. Do you have trees or aging white oaks? Did your main character swim across a river or did she swim across the Huron River? Now take this challenge one step further and consider whether you need to learn a little bit more about your subject matter in order to work in the descriptive language and specific details that will strengthen your overall piece. For example, do you know where the Huron flows? Is it even narrow enough to cross? What do aging white oak trees look like? Does their bark fall off or does it peel back from the branches in papery layers? What kinds of creatures like to live in their branches? Don’t let these suggestions prevent you from being inventive and imaginative – knowing your oak trees shouldn't prevent you from imagining them hurling insults at blue jays or eating their own branches! Lastly, focus your revisions by asking the following questions: What is this piece about? What will this piece offer my readers? Is my language descriptive and fresh? Where is this piece underdeveloped? Why is my ending important? Remember that grammar and punctuation problems will distract your readers from your brilliant creativity, so be sure to read your work out loud while proofreading your final drafts.

Exercise: · Print out your own work, double spacing prose, and leaving large margins for poetry · Use ink to rewrite the piece, paraphrasing each of your own sentences/lines.

Scala,ENG318

· Put the notes in a drawer for two weeks to a month. · Pull it out, and type the changes you’ve made. · Do it again. Sometimes the process of revising isn’t so arduous, and is more surgical. The prescription isn’t always to hack away the parts you’ve come to love most. Rather, we take time to figure out the details that can be carefully removed. Maybe a detail that was given in the beginning can wait a few pages. Maybe there’s one stone two birds can sit on together (no need for killing). If writing is a habit we cultivate, and make into a frequent ritual, hopefully you’re left with a big pile of writing just begging to be whittled down. Michelangelo once said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” If we can learn about writing from one of the most celebrated visual artists of history, who is to say our stack of paper isn’t a block waiting to be carved? Precision becomes the goal, through a process of compression. It’s not about taking out good stuff, but clearing the brush so everyone can see the good stuff shine.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AdditionalResources

Articles

Fulwiler, T. (1992). Provocative revision. Writing Center Journal, Vol. 12. Retrieved http://casebuilder.rhet.ualr.edu/wcrp/publications/wcj/wcj12.2/WCJ12.2_Fulwiler.pdf

Lamott, A. (2005). Shitty first drafts. Retrieved from ``

http://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1-Shitty%20First%20Drafts.pdf

Morris, T. (n.d.). Revising the poem. Retrieved from http://www.tonymorris.org/Workshop/revision.htm

Moyers, B. (n.d.). Overview: Murphy’s style sheet for revising poetry. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/foolingwithwords/main_revise.html

Writer’s Digest. (2008). Some thoughts on poetry revision. Writer’s Digest. Retrieved from http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-genre/poetry/some_thoughts_on_poetry_revision

Website

Ashford Writing Center. (n.d.). APA key elements. Retrieved from https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-apa-key-elements.html

References Sample Document

Ashford Writing Center. (n.d.). APA references list. Retrieved from https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-apa-references-list.html

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

References Malamud, Bernard. Brainy Quote. Retrieved December 29, 2014, from BrainyQuote.com:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/bernardmal382271.html?src=t_revision Bedford St. Martins (2013). Revising (Real-World Writers). Retrieved December 29, 2014,

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NfT9_lEB98

Scala,ENG318

GUIDANCE Week 5 The Living Writer

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WeeklyLearningOutcomes By week’s end you will be able to: 1. Revise original pieces of creative writing based on critical feedback. 2. Analyze the impact of tradition on creating new work. 3. Reflect on the approaches to and applications of creative writing. 4. Analyze a contemporary literary journal for its aesthetics, creative standards, style, and writing technique.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Calendar


Tradition and the Individual Talent Day 3 Discussion 3 Publishing Day 3 Discussion 3 Reflection and Response Day 7 Journal 2 Creative Writing Portfolio & Reflection Essay Day 7 Assignment 20

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RequiredReading

To successfully complete this week’s assignments, read the following: Text Meetze, J. & Deutsch, A. (2015). Transcending genre: An introduction the elements of creative writing [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

• Chapter 12: Tradition and Trajectory Articles Barrett, L. (n.d.). What editors want; a must-read for writers submitting to literary magazines.

Retrieved from http://www.thereviewreview.net/publishing-tips/what-editors-want-must-read-writers-submitti

Eliot, T. S. (2009, October 13). Tradition and the individual talent (1920). Retrieved from

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/essay/237868 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


“As a writer, you can't allow yourself the luxury of being discouraged and giving up when you are rejected, either by agents or publishers. You absolutely must plow forward.”

--Augusten Burroughs

Scala,ENG318

Guidance Week 5: This week we will be reflecting on writing traditions and publishing. Over the past four weeks, we have read a wide variety of voices from various traditions and backgrounds. Please continue to reflect on these contextual groundings as you revise your own pieces. What stuck with you? What pieces made you question a character's voice, a setting or a premature ending? Were you more drawn to traditional or contemporary forms? Which writers would you like to "invite" to your next creative writing workshop? Who are your readers? All of these questions help us gather our inspirations and develop our own literary canons. In order to write freshly, we must read and recognize what has already been said. After observing some character trends in your rough drafts, I would like to use this guidance to take a closer look at the concepts of character development and dialogue in telling a story. Understanding and practicing the art of character development and dialogue will strengthen your writing methods and it is my hope that you will apply some of these practices to your final drafts.

CHARACTERIZATION Imagine that you have just read two lines about a missing woman, a woman who is also a mother, and who was last seen hiking alone in a dense forest. You look at the snow outside your own window and you begin to wonder… What does this woman need? What does she long for? What does she miss? Does she have any regrets? What does she want to tell her children? What has she forgotten? Who has she forgiven? Answering these questions takes us closer to an important quality found in the most believable characters – Desire. And as readers, our motivation to ask these questions is even more important than our answers. So how do writers motivate us to form connections with characters and draw conclusions about our observations? Writers use a variety of methods when presenting their characters to readers. As you may remember from this week’s reading, our text outlines characterization in the following way: “Characters in literature can be described via a number of literary devices. While some of these devices may be specific to a genre, there are three that are common to all four genres: description, dialogue (direct or indirect), and thoughts” (Thiel 60). If we grant that characters’ desires and yearnings reveal their beliefs, a fourth method appears on this list: Action. Another way of thinking about action is to think about the discoveries that create change. Here’s a discussion of direct and indirect characterization:

Explaining Characterization in Literature - https://youtu.be/OkBwH0R1MyM

Scala,ENG318

DIALOGUE Dialogue, or the voice and speech of the characters, requires active listening. In order to imagine and invent another's habits of diction, speech and tone, we must first learn to listen to the way others speak. We can learn a lot by simply listening and paying attention - intonation, vocabulary preferences, speech patterns, habits of diction, attitudes, assumptions, self-image, background, etc. The dialogue that we create as writers holds great potential for irony, tension, emotion, conflict and contrast. Something really remarkable happens when we launch ourselves into the voice of someone else. If there is one thing that I hope you take away from this lesson on dialogue it is that dialogue should be meaningful. The conversations that take place in a story should not be seen as place holders or background noise. Instead, use your chosen dialogue to add depth, context and meaning to your piece. Close to the concept of dialogue and voice is point of view. While this phrase is commonly used as a synonym for opinion, it is also a literary technique that involves vantage points and audience. View this segment for additional tips on how to craft effective dialogue:

Simple Rules for Writing Dialogue - https://youtu.be/wAj1hAGc3zs

___________________________________________________ Throughout this course, you have read works in three genres by many authors who are living or deceased. In so doing, you have very likely found affinities with certain of those authors more than others and may recognize their influence in your own work. As a writer, this is how you constellate your own traditions and trajectories; you build your own literary canons based on those writers whose work most affects and inspires you. Being aware of the tradition and trajectory in which you write will help you to talk about your work and to contextualize it in the larger scope of literature. Why is this important? As a working writer, you may decide that you would like to try to publish a poem, essay, or story in a print or web-based literary journal. You may even submit to The Ash, Ashford University’s student literary journal.https://ashford.submittable.com/submit Determining which of these literary journals might be interested in your work is much easier when you have the knowledge of your tradition and trajectory as a writer. Journal A, for instance, might only

Scala,ENG318

publish metafiction and Journal B might publish a mix of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction but have a particular aesthetic. Knowing that you are or are not writing metafiction will inform your decision to submit or not submit to Journal A. Knowing that you write more conventional narrative poetry will inform your decision to submit or not submit to Journal B, which publishes predominately experimental work that breaks from tradition. Journal C, on the other hand, states in its mission that it strives to publish the best narrative poetry and traditional fiction by students. Which journal would you submit to? Before you ever think about submitting, however, you want to ensure that your work is as clean and polished as possible—this doesn’t mean that you can’t change it later. As you work on revising your poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction pieces for your Final Project, think about how they fit within a particular tradition. Also, think about how these pieces might fit in a contemporary context. Did you find a journal that publishes similar work and that might be interested in yours?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AdditionalResources

Articles Big list of literary magazines. (2000). Every writer. Retrieved from http://www.everywritersresource.com/Biglist.html Fishow, R. (2013). Insights on writing with George Saunders. Retrieved from http://logger.believermag.com/post/66379258536/insights-on-writing-with-george-saunders-in-his Hollander, J. (1973). The anxiety of influence. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/01/specials/bloom-influence.html Literary journals & magazines. (2014). Poets & writers. Retrieved from http://www.pw.org/content/literary_magazines Website Ashford Writing Center. (n.d.). APA key elements. Retrieved from https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-apa-key-elements.html References Sample Document Ashford Writing Center. (n.d.). APA references list. Retrieved from https://awc.ashford.edu/cd-apa-references-list.html

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

References Burroughs, Augusten. Brainy Quote. Retrieved December 29, 2014, from BrainyQuote.com:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/augustenbu330718.html?src=t_writer English Jams (2013). “Explaining Characterization in Literature.” Retrieved

December 29, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkBwH0R1MyM Walrus TV (2013). “Four Simple Rules for Writing Dialogue by Robert Wiersma.” Retrieved

December 29, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAj1hAGc3zs

Documents

GUIDANCE Week 1 · Scala, ENG 318 Many of you, I don’t doubt, have some hesitations about writing and sharing your own creative work in multiple genres. This, however, is a safe