Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about . . . Be willing to be split open.
--Natalie Goldberg Wild Mind
CRW 3110-06 05392 3:35-4:50 M/W WMS 108
CRW 3110-07 05393 6:45-9:30 M WMS 108
Instructor: Dr. William Nesbitt
Office: 229 WMS
Office Phone: 644-5148
Office hrs: 3:20-3:50 T/R and 5:00-6:30 M/W
E-mail: wcn5418@mailer.fsu.edu
webpage: www.oocities.org/wcnesbitt
Course Description: How do people become great writers? What is the Big Secret? Essentially, successful writers read a lot of writing and a lot about writing, write a lot, usually have some sort of a writing group, trusted writer-friend, or an editor who provides feedback, and sometimes some luck in finding a publisher or an audience. This class can't help you with the last point, but we are going to do our best to fulfill the first three. With this in mind, the purpose of this course is to develop a solid foundation in the basic aspects of writing creative fiction and we will concentrate our energies on four main areas: 1) Reading and discussing various stories and chapters on writing in our text 2) Completing and sharing various short writings in and out of class 3) Over the course of the semester producing, workshopping, and revising an original short story 4) Responding on paper and in class to the drafts of classmates.
Required Texts:
Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, Janet Burroway. Sixth edition.
Enough copies of your draft that each person in the class can have one.
Requirements of the Course:
Attendance is a requirement. More than two weeks of absences is grounds for failure). Example: if the class meets twice a week, you can only miss four classes. According to university policy, the only absences that are automatically excused are for participation in university sanctioned events (i.e., you are a member of the FSU baseball team or you play in the FSU band). For such instances, I need signed documentation on FSU letterhead explaining the situation prior to the event. You should only miss class due to death or other dire personal circumstances.
Evaluation:
Fiction Portfolio 50% (Short Story 40%) (Radical Revision 10%)
Participation: 20%This includes preparation for class, workshopping, alertness, timely arrival to class, attendance, timely distribution of drafts before workshopping, and thoughtful behavior
Exercises 20% (S/U)
Reading Journal 10% (S/U) For each section of reading, type one full double-spaced page explaining what you found useful and/or interesting in that section
Reading/Writing Center: The Reading/Writing Center offers one-on-one help for students with their writing, Make an appointment by calling ahead (644-6495) or stopping in (WMS 222C).
Drafts and workshops: For each workshop day we will workshop typed drafts of five pages to six pages each (eight-ten pages for the final version). While we appreciate your enthusiasm, please respect the page limits; no more than six pages for a workshop draft and no more than ten pages for a final draft. You should bring in enough copies for each person in class at least the class before your workshop date (we'll present in alphabetical order and I'll update that information on the webpage). You will be responsible for gathering the extra drafts. I cannot accept any drafts via e-mail. Any drafts brought in the day of workshop will not be workshopped. Write your name legibly at the top of each paper that you workshop. Each person in class will read and respond in writing to your draft before your workshop date. While you sit silently we will discuss and pose questions about your story as if you were not in the room for fifteen to twenty minutes. We will discuss what works well in the paper and what could use some additional work with each person perhaps offering suggestions. After that, you will be given a few minutes to ask for additional clarification, dialogue with the class, answer and/or ask specific questions, or simply say "thanks." No one should use the time to defend his or her writing as no one at any point should attack your writing. Usually, it proves most useful to discuss, for example, what the paper does or does not do rather than what the author does or does not do or how the story concludes rather than how the author concludes the story; we should focus on and address our comments to the paper rather than the author. The point of the workshop is to provide balanced critique that offers clear suggestions for improvement without debasing the writing or the author's sense of self worth as a writer. On the flipside, we do not want the author to walk away from the workshop without specific ideas for revision. While later workshops may yield drafts that are more developed than earlier ones, all drafts should be proofread and spellchecked. We must remember that writing, even great writing, is never finished; it's just finally abandoned. Failure to bring copies ahead of time for workshop or absence during your workshop day will result in a deduction of at least one letter grade from the final grade. I do not anticipate rescheduling workshops. No genre work (see pages 411-412 of our text for more information).
The standard format for all typed work will be Times New Roman 12pt. double spaced with once-inch margins surrounding the paper.
Plagiarism is grounds for suspension from the university as well as for failure in this course. It will not be tolerated. Any instance of plagiarism must be reported to the Director of First-Year Writing and the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Plagiarism is a counterproductive, non-writing behavior that is unacceptable in a course intended to aid the growth of individual writers. Plagiarism is included among the violations defined in the Academic Honor Code, section b), paragraph 2, as follows: "Regarding academic assignments, violations of the Academic Honor Code shall include representing another's work or any part thereof, be it published or unpublished, as one's own."
Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should in the first week of class 1) register and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) and 2) bring a letter to me from SDRC indicating the need for academic accommodations.
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