English 233/4/5: Writing Fiction: Short Stories

Winter 2008

Instructor: Martha Silano	E-mail: msilano@bcc.ctc.edu
Office: R230	Phone messages can be left at: (425) 564-2341
Office Hours: Instructor is available via email (24 hour turn around on weekdays). Instructor is also available in R230 on W , 11:00 am-12:00 pm.	Preferred method of communication: Email

Required Texts:

Stern, Jerome. Making Shapely Fiction
Steele, Alexander and Thom Didato Gotham Writers’ Workshop Fiction Gallery: Exceptional Short Stories Selected by New York’s Acclaimed Creative Writing School

Student Responsibilities | Outcomes | Points | Contact

Introductory Remarks

Writing Fiction is a completely online class; therefore, you are not required to attend classroom sessions. However, this is not a correspondence course to be completed on your own timetable in isolation. How much you learn will be directly proportional to how much you participate in the online community, how well you manage your time, and how well you follow written directions. If you are not sure whether or not an online course is right for you, complete the following questionnaire: http://distance-ed.bcc.ctc.edu/webassess/

Many people believe that writing is a talent, gifted only to the fortunate. But writing is a skill, developed with practice in reading and analyzing other people's writing, thinking through the scene or story, writing the words down, and finally revising. Anyone with enough determination and effort can learn to communicate effectively in writing, whether fiction or non-fiction. We will learn from the text, the process, and each other. The instructor will not be the source of everything you learn this quarter.

If you signed up for this course thinking that it would involve less work than a course in the classroom, you were mistaken. Please be advised that the workload may be very difficult for you if work and family demands do not allow you a minimum of one or two uninterrupted hours every weekday to work on the assignments for this class.

Please note: the focus of this class is literary fiction, not genre* or popular fiction. Literary fiction focuses on style/voice, psychological depth, and character, and less on narrative and plot. To familiarize you with literary fiction, I have chosen a secondary text showcasing some of the best literary non-fiction writers: Anton Chekhov, John Cheever, Raymond Carver, T.C. Boyle, and others. We will begin discussing one story a week starting with the second week of the quarter, and continuing in this vein through penultimate (next to last) week of the quarter. See below for guidelines on how we will make the best use of these exceptional short-story masters of craft.

*Genre fiction includes all of the following fiction types: action-adventure, crime, detective, fantasy, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction, thriller, and western.

Student Responsibilities

Because of the special method of course delivery, several requirements must be considered.

Every student enrolled in this course MUST have access to a reliable computer and some necessary software and services, including a word processor, an Internet Service Provider, and a browser.
Some critical skills you must have include uploading and downloading files, following simple written directions, copying text to e-mail messages, and knowing how your browser and computer system work.
Always keep me informed if you have problems. I do my best to establish what our challenges will be within the first week of the course, but I expect that you bring some expertise with you to help in solving any problems that arise. Ultimately, that is your responsibility.
This class is conducted entirely online, yet I expect you to be as courteous and respectful to me and to your classmates as you would be in person in a classroom setting. Emails and discussion board posts cannot be taken back. So, please write all of your correspondence with care and courtesy; don't send emails or posts that you might later regret--in terms of content, words, and tone. A good test is, "Would I say that in person, in exactly those words, to a teacher or classmate I didn't know well? How would I react if I were on the receiving end?" (Also keep in mind that even if you're thick-skinned, many of your classmates are not and shouldn't have to be.)

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Outcomes:

By the end of the quarter, each of you should be able to

Use a variety of methods to create effects in your stories.
Revise and edit your writing (both on and off the computer) until the final submitted draft shows the skill and effort you have put into it.
Write for a specific audience with a specific purpose as assigned, using an appropriate voice and tone.
Build an artistic but coherent story around your own ideas and craft.
Use a style appropriate to your story that focuses attention and controls images to the point of creating unity.
Connect scenes to each other; produce a smooth flow of dialogue using appropriate techniques.
Construct scenes that develop a story with concrete details.
Analyze, evaluate and interpret complex material.
Use specific techniques to revise stories and scenes.
Construct clear sentences of precise and appropriate words.
Be able to express your personal opinions on another's work.
Be able to self-assess.

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What do I have to do for this course?

By following the assignments in each week's module, you will write sixteen short vignettes, or shapes (based on the shapes presented in Making Shapely Fiction) and one final story of up to ten pages, along with journal entries, revisions and peer reviews. The process for writing, revising and submitting work is on a tight timeline. Don't fail to meet these deadlines. The process will look like this for all submissions except the final story:

You will post an original draft of the week's vignettes (two each week) to the discussion area in the appropriate module by the date on the calendar. This draft should be copied/pasted into the correct forum. If you expect to get comments on your vignettes, you must post them early. Submissions posted late in the review process may be overlooked by other students as the deadline nears.
While you wait for comments on your writing, you will write and post peer comments, as described below, on at least three other class members' vignettes, which they will have posted.
After giving comments, read comments given to you and examine your writing. Then, revise and edit your vignettes before submitting them to me using the course mail tool by the date and time listed on the calendar.

Self Assessments: You will also write two self-assessments: one at the opening of the quarter and one at the end. Each of these assessments is worth 10 points.

Assessment points available this quarter: 20

Weekly vignettes (2 every week, 16 total):

Your rough drafts must be posted online for peer review by the deadline on the course calendar.
Vignettes that are submitted to me for a grade, but have not been previously posted for peer review will be reduced 20%.
Your writing will be graded based on the standards described in the text for that particular vignette or "shape." I will read and grade writings when they are submitted. It usually takes about 4 working days to process the vignettes for a full class.
Each vignette is worth 5 points. Late submissions will be reduced one point for each day that they are submitted late, up to two days. Assignments more than 48 hours late will not receive points.

Weekly vignette points available: 80

Revisions: Please note that you are required to substantially revise two of the weekly vignette submissions this quarter. While the grades for the rewrites do not erase the original grade, each rewrite is worth twice as many points. Rewrites must demonstrate substantial revision--that means rethinking ideas, addressing previous comments and suggestions, not just fixing superficial errors.

You must also--as part of the same posting—discuss your revision strategy based on the feedback you received from both peers and the instructor. These should be sent to the instructor in an email message with "Revision 1" and "Revision 2" in the subject line, and not posted on the board where your original vignette is posted.

You must notify the instructor by mail message that you have revised a vignette in order to get points for the revision.

Revision points available: 20

Peer Reviews: Much of what you will learn in this course will come from participating in a peer review of others' papers. To participate successfully, you must complete the following tasks by the deadline stated on the course calendar:

Review three other students' writings by responding to their posts.
Post this specific feedback on the three other students' writing in the appropriate discussion areas. Directions for peer comments are given on the discussion board.
When you email me your vignettes each week, let me know in that message the name of the student whose response was the most helpful to you in revising your own writing that given week. Briefly explain in your email why that response was helpful. These emails will be kept confidential. Students whose names pop up regularly will receive a boost to their final grades (half a grade = A- would become an A).

Peer review points available: 40

Journals: Each week except the first and last, in addition to the story postings and peer responses, you are required to post a writer's journal entry in which you write your thoughts about and reactions to the weekly assignment. These should take the form of evaluating what you found challenging or useful about the exercise and what you think you gained from it.

Journal points available: 40

Discussion area: Each week (except for the first and last weeks of the quarter) you’ll be responsible for reading an assigned story from the Gotham Writers’ Workshop Fiction Gallery and responding to a posted discussion question. To receive the full 50 points for this component of the course, you must actively participate in the discussion each week, making a concerted effort to express your opinions respectfully and clearly, reflecting deep and carefully thought. You should also regularly invite others to respond to your views and/or express their responses/reactions to your understanding of the story in terms of plot, style, narrative point of view, and character development.

Discussion points available: 50

Final story: For the final week, you will post a longer story that uses one or more of the vignettes you have submitted during the quarter as part of the story. You may not submit part of a novel you are writing or a separate story that you are working on outside of class. This final story should employ the skills you develop in this class.

Final story points available: 50

Total quarter points: 300

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How do we communicate with each other?

A mailbox is available on the class website toolbar for e-mail communication between you and me or you and other classmates. Please use the Questions for the Instructor forum (in the Discussion Area) rather than e-mail to post questions about the class.

The discussion area for the class provides a place for student discussions regarding course materials.

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