English 3200: Intermediate Creative Writing
Dr. Margaret E. Mitchell
Fall 2012 12:30-1:50 Pafford 309
Office: TLC 2235
Email: mmitchel@westga.edu
Website: http: //www.westga.edu/~mmitchel
Phone: 678.839.4852
Office Hours: M12-4, W 12-3, Th 2-4. Also by appointment.
This class will provide an intermediate level immersion in the writing of fiction, cultivating the
imagination, the observant eye and the formal discipline that are essential to crafting good
stories. Readings in short fiction will plunge us into the contemporary literary landscape and
introduce you to some classics of the genre; not only will this acquaint you with various elements
of the craft, but encourage you to situate your own emerging voice among those of other writers.
Your journal will encourage you to think of yourself as a writer, to watch and to listen, to find
stories at odd moments and in unlikely places, to practice playfulness as well as rigor. In
workshops, you will benefit from intense discussions of your own work and that of other
students. We will emphasize revision; by the end of the session you will have produced a
polished portfolio of short fiction.
Texts: Emerald City, Jennifer Egan; Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, ZZ Packer, Fiction
Writer’s Workshop, Josip Novakovich. Other readings will be made available
electronically.
Attendance: In many ways, writing is a solitary pursuit. In the end, after all, everything comes
down to you and the page. Most stereotypes of The Writer involve reclusive, antisocial cabin
dwellers. Or café dwellers. Loners. However, this class—and classes like it—are founded on the
assumption that it is valuable to forge a community of writers. As a member of this class, that’s
what you’ll be a part of. In order to be a valuable member of the community, you have to be
here. Moreover, you must be actively present, not just physically present. Otherwise, everyone
loses out. You will be permitted two absences without penalty in the course of the semester.
(There are no excused or unexcused absences. You do not need to tell me why you cannot be
here.) A third absence will affect your grade. After four absences, you must meet with me to
discuss your standing in the class, and the advisability of dropping. (Try not to be late, either;
lateness disrupts class and wastes everyone’s time. If you are late three times it will count as an
absence.)
Special Needs If you have a disability that will require accommodation, then you need to register
through the Disability Services (Student Development Center, Parker Hall, 678-839-6428). If
you would like accommodation, please contact me during the first week of class.
Journals
Obtain a small notebook that you can keep with you. This is a place to explore ideas, give you
imagination free rein. Three serious entries a week (date them). At least one must be an exercise
from our textbook, A Fiction Writer’s Workshop. You’ll find these at the end of each chapter;
make sure it’s clear which one you are doing. The others are more or less up to you: story ideas,
character sketches, striking observations about human behavior or the world at large. Keep in
mind that this is not a diary; it is not a place to narrate your life. The idea is to provide food for
your writing, to catch your ideas and impressions before they fizzle or fade. (Hence a small,
portable notebook, ideally. If you prefer to type, though, you can keep your journal online and
print it out whenever you need to for evaluation.)
Portfolios
Keep all of your drafts over the course of the semester. When you’re revising stories, make sure
you preserve earlier versions, rather than simply writing over them. You’ll want to be able to
trace your progress. At the end of the semester you will turn in a folder or binder in which you
present finished versions of your two workshop stories, one short story that has evolved out of
one of the formal exercises you have done, along with a draft history of each and a short preface
to your work. (I will provide detailed guidelines for all of these elements.)
Responses
During workshop periods, you will be expected to submit a typewritten response to each story on
the day it is to be workshopped. You must bring 2 copies to class, one for me and one for the
writer. These will be serious and constructive, built around the story elements we discuss in
class. I will provide formal guidelines before the first workshop.
Story analysis
You will select one story from each of the collections we are reading and compose a 2-page
analysis of its elements. I will provide specific guidelines later.
Revisions: I expect you to revise and revise and revise all of your major work. You may submit
revisions whenever you would like additional feedback, but there will not be formal deadlines
for revisions. You may submit as many revisions of a single piece as you like, but you must
submit at least 2 revisions of your first story and 1 of your second for your portfolio
evaluation.
Grading
Story analyses--10% each, or 20%
Writing assignments: 10%
These will be graded on a 10 point scale for seriousness and engagement with the terms of the
individual assignment. The ultimate success of each major piece of assigned writing will be
assessed in your portfolios, freeing you to continue to revise and refine your work throughout the
entire semester.
Journals: 20%
Three entries a week. I will check your journals periodically.
Responses: 10%
Participation: 10%. This grade will reflect your active verbal engagement participation in class
activities and ungraded exercises.
Portfolios: 30%
All assigned work is mandatory; you must complete all assignments in order to pass the class.
Other policies:
 Please turn off cell phones and other potential sources of electronic disturbance before you
enter class and remove them from sight. If such a device does go off during class, or if I
see you checking messages, texting, etc., I may mark you absent.
 If you fall asleep, I will ask you to leave and mark you absent.
 Assignments and information relevant to the class, including updates to the schedule, will
be posted regularly on my webpage. (I will also announce them in class.) It is your
responsibility to check this.
 I check my email regularly; this is always a good way to contact me. University policy
dictates that we correspond via your westga email account rather than any email accounts
you might have. Make sure to use your My Westga account when you write to me.
(Should this policy become untenable in the course of the semester, I will inform you of
new procedures.) In addition, I’d like you to address me properly, write in complete
sentences with conventional punctuation and capitalization, and sign your name. These
are good habits to acquire: corresponding with your professors is not the same as
corresponding with your friends.
 You MUST bring any texts under discussion to class with you. These books are not
optional. Nor is it acceptable to share with someone else. If you don’t have a book with
you, I may mark you absent.
 I expect you to preserve an atmosphere of courtesy, respect, and intellectual maturity in
the classroom, to take your own work and that of the other students seriously. This is
important in any college class, of course, but it's especially important in a class like this
one. Anyone who does not comply with this expectation will be asked to leave: this is for
everyone’s sake.
 Academic honesty.
Here is a broad definition of plagiarism: Presenting the language or ideas of someone else
as your own--whether your source is a friend, a relative, a writer or a critic; whether the
uncredited material is a phrase, a paragraph, or an entire paper; whether it is a formal or an
informal assignment. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the class, and may have
consequences at the university level. If you are ever concerned about what constitutes
plagiarism, please consult me. You may also see the English Department website for more
details. http://www.westga.edu/%7Eengdept/Plagiarism/index.html
Again: Anyone who turns in work not entirely their own will fail THE CLASS.
Openmindedness: True, we’ll be studying craft and form in this class. You’ll have specific
assignments. And yet, the word “creative” guarantees a degree of unpredictability; it promises
freedom of expression. We won’t necessarily all share the same views or values or interests. But
this means that you may, in the course of the semester—whether in the assigned reading or in the
writing of your classmates—encounter language or situations that make you uncomfortable, or
even that you find offensive. Remember that you are both a student and an adult. Whatever your
personal feelings, it’s important to learn to respond to such material on a serious, intellectual
level. In order for this class to succeed, everyone must be able to count on that kind of fair
reception. If you anticipate having a serious problem with this, you might reconsider whether this
is the class for you. (With that said, I should add that there is of course no merit in shock purely
for its own sake. What is important is that you feel free to follow the dictates of your material.)
No formula fiction. Usually what I say here is "no genre fiction," and that is essentially what
I mean. But sometimes there is a very fine line between "genre" fiction and "literary" fiction, and
of course there are brilliant examples of genre fiction. I am not saying that you absolutely must
avoid introducing elements of fantasy, mystery, or horror; what I want you to avoid at all costs is
fiction that adheres to all-too-familiar formulas, whether romance, fantasy or--especially!-vampires.
Schedule
T Aug 21 Introduction
Th Aug 23 Fiction Writer’s Workshop (FWW): Chapter One, Sources of Fiction. ZZ
Packer’s Drinking Coffee Elsewhere: “Brownies,” p.1. Begin journal entries.
T Aug 28 Bring 3 story ideas—roughly one-paragraph sketches. FWW: Chapter Two,
Setting. Jennifer Egan’s “Why China?” in Emerald City.
Th Aug 30 3 setting sketches (establishing both time and place). FWW: Chapter Three,
Character. ZZ Packer’s “Every Tongue Shall Confess.”
T Sept 4 Character sketches due. FWW: Chapter four, Plot. Jennifer Egan’s “Sacred
Heart” and Emerald City.”
Th Sept 6 Plot exercise due. FWW: Chapter five, Point of View. ZZ Packer’s “Our Lady
of Peace.”
T Sept 11 Point of view exercise due. FWW: Chapter six, Dialogue and Scene. Jennifer
Egan’s “The Stylist” and “One Piece.”
Th Sept 13 Dialogue exercise due. FWW: Chapter 7, Beginnings and Endings. ZZ
Packer’s “The Ant of the Self.”
T Sept 18 Beginnings exercise and story start due. Mini-workshop. Jennifer Egan’s
“The Watch Trick” and “Passing the hat.”
Th Sept 20 Endings exercise due. ZZ Packer’s “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere.”
T Sept 25 Story Drafts due. 7 page minimum. Mini-workshop.
Th Sept 27 Submit revised drafts for first workshop.
During this round of workshops, you should finish both the Egan and Packer story
collections at your own pace, while working on your first story analysis.
T Oct 2 Workshop
Th Oct 4 Workshop
T Oct 9 Workshop. Story analysis #1 due.
Th Oct 11 Workshop
T Oct 16 Workshop
Th Oct 18 Workshop
T Oct 23 FWW chapter eight, Description and Word Choice. Description exercise due.
Th Oct 25 FWW chapter nine, Voice. Story starts due.
Additional reading tba.
T Oct 30 FWW chapter ten, Revision. Submit story drafts, 10-page minimum.
Th Nov 1 Workshop.
T Nov 6 Workshop.
Th Nov 8 Workshop.
T Nov 13 Workshop.
Th Nov 15 Workshop. Story analysis #2 due.
Thanksgiving break
T Nov 27 Workshop.
Th Nov29 Workshop. Submit journals.
Th Dec 6 11-1:30. Final Meeting: Reading. Details TBA. Submit portfolios.
Course Goals
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Students will learn to write in the genre of short fiction and become conversant with issues of technique in
that discipline.
Students will develop an understanding of the defining characteristics of the genre.
Students will become more adept readers and writers as they consider model texts from a writer’s
perspective.
Students will learn to offer and receive constructive criticism in a public forum.
Program Goals
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This course fulfills one of the departmental requirements for the completion of the English major.
This course broadens students' desire and ability to take pleasure in their encounter with literature.