ENGL272: Writing Fiction: A Beginning Workshop, Section 0101
Instructor: Ms. Jacqueline Orlando
Phone: 917.328.5774
Office: 2220 Tawes Hall
Email: jorlando@umd.edu
Office Hours:
Mondays and Wednesdays 11-12 and by appointment
Course Description :
Devoted to the fundamentals of fiction writing, this course will focus on student work while emphasizing the critical reading of appropriate literary models, both historical and contemporary that demonstrate exemplary technique. In-class workshop critiques, exercises, written comments, and individual conferences are part of a creative process in writing successful fiction.
Craftsmanship (story structure, point of view, character development, voice, tense, figurative language, dramatic setting, dialog) and the ethics of writing fiction are presented as defining aspects of good work. Continual reference is made to modeling, drafting, and revising, in connection to critical reading. How and what do we learn from failed attempts? How do we break down the process into steps that we can take towards writing successful fiction?
Learning Outcomes :
At the end of this course you will be able to select, evaluate, and apply terms and concepts relevant to the planning, modeling, critiquing, and revising of your creative writing; you will be able to read, study, and draw from the literature that constitutes your cultural inheritance, with an awareness of what succeeds and what fails; you will hone your ability to collaborate in the ongoing discourse of the workshop, in order to carry your work forward with greater critical awareness, and to help your colleagues carry theirs; you will have gained a renewed sense of the ethical implications of aesthetic work; you will produce a new set of creative drafts.
Required Texts:*

Ann Charters, ed., The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction Compact 7 th
Edition.
ISBN 0312596243

Brian Kiteley, The 3am Epiphany. ISBN 1582973512
Recommended Text :*

Ben Marcus, ed., The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories (all stories will be posted additionally on ELMS). ISBN 1400034825
*I have placed orders with the Book Center and the Maryland Book Exchange. Additional texts will be made available on ELMS; it is your responsibility to print these documents and bring them to class.
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Course Requirements:
Readings: In order to be a good writer (or any kind of writer at all, really), you must read well.
In this class we will discuss what it means to b a good reader and how you can read like a writer.
Reading like a writer is different from other types of reading, even close reading, because the questions you ask yourself are different. To receive a passing grade in this course, you must come to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings.
Exercises: Throughout the semester you will be assigned writing exercises related to readings that week. These exercises should be at least one page long and typed in 12-point, Times New
Roman font. More instructions for the writing exercises are located on the syllabus. You may also be assigned in-class writing exercises. Not all of these tasks will be announced ahead of time.
Submissions: While the nature and style of your fiction submissions will vary given your strengths and preferences, there are some strict formatting expectations. All submissions must be double-spaced, typed in 12-point, Times New Roman, with last name and page number on every sheet.
Also, submissions must be printed out – that means hard copies – and distributed to the class one full week before your workshop date . There will be no exceptions, and electronic copies will not be accepted. All submissions must include a title and should be at least eight pages long . Any submissions that do not adhere to these guidelines will not be accepted.
A note on submissions: I don’t expect every submission to be perfect or immediately publishable, and you shouldn’t either. Even the most experienced, professional writers need help from their peers, and this is a beginning fiction workshop. However, I do expect your work to demonstrate a desire for excellence. You have to take writing (and this class) seriously. That doesn’t mean that I’ll look down upon light or funny pieces, but your writing should always be of high quality. So long as you read, write, show up and contribute, you’ll do fine in this class.
Finally, resist the urge to submit work that you don’t care about simply to protect your ego. Yes, it can be tough to pour your heart into a story and have your classmates critique it. As you will learn from workshop, this may be necessary for a story’s success.
Workshop Letters: During the workshop process, you will be required to write a response letter to the author of the piece. Here are some recommendations and requirements:

It is helpful to offer margin comments on the work itself, and I encourage you to do so; however, you must also type a letter to the writer.

Critique the story on its own terms, not yours. Figure out where the story is successful and where it is unsuccessful, when the story moves (or moves you!) and when it does not.
We all have our literary preferences, but discussing them is not the point of workshop.

When writing the letter, begin by addressing the content of the story. Literally, what happens? Who are the characters? First allow the writer to see your understanding of the story. Then address what works and what doesn’t work. Try to be as specific as possible, using lines from the work rather than making sweeping generalizations or vague criticism.
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These letters will be randomly collected and graded throughout the semester. They should be approximately one page, double-spaced, typed in 12-point Times New Roman.
Author Project: The Author Project consists of two assignments: a presentation and a 2-page paper. Everyone will sign up to present one writer during the semester, and the presentation will take place on the day we discuss that writer’s work. The 2-page paper is also due on the day we discuss the author’s story.

Presentation: You will be responsible for delivering a succinct introduction of one of the authors we will read this semester. The presentation should be about 3 to 5 minutes, and should consider the author’s background, biographical information, and major/minor publications. Also note the author’s key elements of craft. Is your author best known for his/her spot-on dialogue? Outrageous plot twists? Accurate depictions of the American
South? What? On the due date, you will give your presentation and turn in an MLAformatted bibliography. The bibliography should contain at least three sources, one of which may be our textbook. Wikipedia and other non-academic sources are not acceptable; if you rely on such sources, you will receive only half credit for your presentation.

Paper: You will also be responsible for a brief response paper on the story by your author, due on the day of the author presentation. Before writing the paper, perform a close reading of the selected work. In the paper, you will analyze how the author uses one element of the craft. Be specific.
Choose one element: plot, dialogue, character, setting, etc. Cite compelling, concrete examples from the story. The paper should be at least two pages. All formatting guidelines apply.
Final Portfolio: At the end of the semester you will turn in a final portfolio, which will consist of your two stories from the semester, one of which will demonstrate considerable revision, any pertinent exercises, and a one-page analysis of these works and your progress over the semester.
We will discuss this portfolio in more detail towards the end of the semester.
Class Participation:
A successful workshop depends on everyone’s participation in class.
Everyone is required to speak about assigned readings and classmates’ writing. A major part of this class is learning how to both accept feedback and give appropriate, constructive criticism.
Reading the assigned work and offering sincere advice to your classmates will help your writing tremendously. Class participation includes speaking up during workshop, having the materials you need, knowing the characters names, etc. Showing up is not enough to receive a passing grade in this class; you must be actively engaged.
Writers Here & Now Series: You are required to attend the readings in the Writers Here &
Now series. A short writing assignment (TBA) will follow each reading. The readings are scheduled for certain Wednesday evenings throughout the semester. If you have a conflict and cannot attend the readings (due to class scheduling, prior commitments, etc.), please notify me immediately via email and we will work out a make-up assignment.
9/29: Robert Boswell & John Murillo
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11/3: Percival Everett & Maurice Manning
12/1: Alums Helena Mesa & Blas Falconer (optional, no writing assignment)
Attendance & Late Work Policy: A successful workshop depends entirely on your presence.
Attendance is mandatory, and is reflected in your class participation grade. A doctor’s note or similar documentation is required for any absence to be considered “excused,” and late work will only be accepted for excused absences. Please do not email me with the details of your illness, although I appreciate a brief notice if you know you will be missing class.
Submissions for workshop will NOT be accepted late or electronically. Plan accordingly.
Please notify me via email during the first week of the semester if you will be missing classes for religious holidays.
Grading: If you have any questions at any time regarding your progress or work, come see me and we’ll chat.
Class Participation: 20%
Exercises, WH&N Reactions: 20%
Author Project: 15%
Submissions, Workshop Letters: 20%
Final Portfolio: 25%
PLEASE NOTE ALSO :
1) Disabilities . If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations with me, please contact me immediately.
2) Religious Observance . The University System of Maryland policy on religious observances provides that students should not be penalized because of observances of their religious beliefs.
Students shall be given an opportunity, wherever feasible, to make up within a reasonable time any academic assignment that is missed due to individual participation in religious observances.
It is the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor in advance of any intended absences for religious observances. Notice should be provided in writing as soon as possible, but no later than the end of schedule adjustment period.
3) Excused Absences . It is also the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor in advance of any intended absences for university sanctioned events (e.g. competitions, conferences, athletic events). Notice should be provided in writing as soon as possible, but no later than the end of schedule adjustment period.
4) Honor Code . The Student Honor Council has requested that faculty members place the following passage in their course syllabi:
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“The University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized Code of Academic
Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student you are responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For more information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit http://www.studenthonorcouncil.umd.edu/whatis.html
."
I assume that every member of the class is fully aware of the Code and the consequences for failure to live up to the Code. I urge you to visit the website indicated above and take seriously what you read there. All cases of academic dishonesty will be referred to the Honor Council.
5) Inclement Weather . Assignments and exams will be rescheduled as needed, and as feasible, on a case-by-case basis in the event of university closings or the instructor's absence.
Class Schedule (subject to change)
Date
8/30 (M)
Lesson/Activity
1. Introduction, syllabus, course policies, author project sign-up
2. Writing Short
Stories
Readings Due
9/1 (W) Flannery O’Connor, “Good
Country People” (634)
Flannery O’Connor,
“Writing Short Stories (967)
9/6 (M) NO CLASS – Labor
9/8 (W)
Day Holiday
3. Point of View
Sherman Alexie, “The Lone
Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” (15)
Junot Diaz, “How to Date a
Browngirl, Blackgirl,
Whitegirl, or Halfie” (247)
9/13 (M) 4. Conflict Stephen King, Excerpt from
On Writing (ELMS)
Kevin Brockmeier, “The
Ceiling” (ELMS)
9/15 (W) 5. Dialog Raymond Carver,
“Cathedral” (88)
Ernest Hemingway, “Hills
Like White Elephants”
Assignment Due
Exercise 1: Complete either #137 Beginnings or
#138 Endings
Exercise 2: Complete from #1 through #13
Exercise 3: Choose the following:
#43, #44, #53, #55,
#71, #72, or #35. one one of
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9/20 (M)
9/22 (W)
9/27 (M)
9/29 (W)
10/4 (M)
10/6 (W)
8. Pacing & Time
9. Writers Here &
Now
Round 1:
Workshop Student
Stories (2)
10. Chaos
Workshop Student
Stories (2)
11. Workshop
Student Stories (3)
10/11 (M) 12. Reality & Truth
Workshop Student
Stories (2)
10/13 (W)
6. Character
7. Voice
13. Workshop
Student Stories (3)
(350)
James Baldwin, “Sonny’s
Blues” (37)
Buffum
Tobias Wolff, “Bullet in the
Brain” (ELMS)
Perry-
Johnson
Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl”
(477)
Mary Gaitskill, “Tiny,
Smiling Daddy” (Anchor
305)
James Joyce, “The Dead”
(404)
Rogers
Morris
Estelle
Joan Silber, “Long Time in
Short Stories” (ELMS)
Robert Boswell, “Supreme
Beings” (handout)
Thalman
Workshop: Bacon, Buffum
Exercise 4: Choose the following:
#59, #60, #63, #64, or #65. one of
Exercise 5: Choose one of the following:
##28, #29, #31, or #33
Story due: George Bacon,
CJ Buffum
Exercise 6 Time: Choose one of the following: #95,
#96 or #97
Story due: Amit Chauhan,
Steven Dobek
Workshop Letters
Story due: Juliette Ebner,
Kara Estelle, Alli Griffin
Workshop Letters
Story due: Chrystal Hardy,
Tarsilla Moura
Wells Tower, “Everything
Ravaged, Everything
Burned” (Anchor 31)
Chauhan
Workshop: Chauhan, Dobek
Workshop: Ebner, Estelle,
Griffin
Aimee Bender, “The Girl in the Flammable Skirt”
(Anchor 87) Ebner
Workshop: Hardy, Moura
Workshop: Lee, Leiner,
Logan
Workshop Letters
Story due: Grace Lee, Emi
Leiner, Elizabeth Logan
Workshop Letters
Story due: Molly Morris,
Britney Perry-Johnson
Workshop Letters
Story due: Steven Rogers,
Lauren Rudin, Kyle
Shackelford
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10/18 (M)
10/20 (W)
10/25 (M)
14. Structure
Workshop Student
Stories (2)
15. Workshop
Student Stories (3)
16. Workshop
Student Stories (3)
10/27 (W) 17. Setting & Place
11/1 (M) 18. In-Class Writing
& Revision Day
Margaret Atwood, “Happy
Endings” (330)
Rudin
Donald Barthelme, “The
School” (ELMS)
Workshop: Morris, Perry-
Johnson
Workshop: Rogers, Rudin,
Shackelford
Workshop: Thalman,
Treworgy, Trujillo
George Saunders, “Sea
Oak” (Anchor 3) Griffin
Alice Munro, “Miles City,
Montana” (578) Dobek
TBA
23. Workshop
Student Stories (3)
Workshop: Leiner, Logan,
Morris
Exercise 7 Class
Collaboration: #139
Workshop Letters
Story due: Heidi Thalman,
Brent Treworgy, John
Trujillo
Workshop Letters
Workshop Letters
Exercise 8 Place: Choose one of the following: #172,
#173, #176 or #179
Story due: Bacon, Buffum
TBA
Story due: Chauhan,
Dobek, Ebner
Workshop Letters
Story due: Estelle, Griffin,
Hardy
11/3 (W) 19. Writers Here &
Now
Round 2:
Workshop Student
Stories (2)
11/8 (M) 20. Workshop
Student Stories (3)
Percival Everett, Excerpt from “I Am Not Sidney
Poitier” (handout)
Shackelford
Workshop: Bacon, Buffum
Workshop: Chauhan,
Dobek, Ebner
11/10 (W)
11/15 (M)
11/17 (W)
21. Workshop
Student Stories (3)
22. Repetition &
Variation
Workshop Student
Stories (2)
Workshop: Estelle, Griffin,
Hardy
Tim O’Brien, “The Things
They Carried” (608)
Hardy
Workshop: Moura, Lee
Workshop Letters
Story due: Moura, Lee
Workshop Letters
Story due: Leiner, Logan,
Morris
Workshop Letters
Story due: Perry-Johnson,
Rogers
Workshop Letters
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11/22 (M)
11/24 (W)
11/29 (M)
12/1 (W)
12/6 (M)
12/8 (W)
24. Flash Fiction
Workshop Student
Stories (2)
Flash Fiction stories
(handout in class 11/17)
Workshop: Perry-Johnson,
Rogers
Story due: Rudin,
Shackelford
Exercise 7: The Wedding
Cake Exercise due in class
Workshop Letters
Story due: Thalman,
Treworgy, Trujillo
NO CLASS –
Thanksgiving
Holiday
25. History
Workshop Student
Stories (2)
John Updike, “A&P” (783)
Treworgy
Workshop: Rudin,
26. Workshop
Shackelford
Workshop: Thalman,
Student Stories (3) Treworgy, Trujillo
27. Revelation Stuart Dybek, “We Didn’t”
(ELMS) Moura
28. Conclusion
Workshop Letters
Workshop Letters
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Author Project Sign-Up Sheet
1. Sherman Alexie (9/8)
2. Junot Diaz (9/8)
3. Kevin Brockmeier (9/13)
4. Raymond Carver (9/15)
5. Ernest Hemingway (9/15)
6. James Baldwin (9/20)
7. Tobias Wolff (9/20)
8. Jamaica Kincaid (9/22)
9. Mary Gaitskill (9/22)
10. James Joyce (9/27)
11. Robert Boswell (9/29)
12. Wells Tower (10/4)
13. Aimee Bender (10/11)
14. Margaret Atwood (10/18)
15. George Saunders (10/27)
16. Alice Munro (10/27)
17. Percival Everett (11/3)
18. Tim O’Brien (11/15)
19. John Updike (11/29)
20. Stuart Dybek (12/6)
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Sample Workshop Letter
Dear Julie,
First of all, I’d like to say that I’m thrilled that you attempted a second-person story. I fell in love with Lorrie Moore’s Self-Help
*, and I’m glad to see a similar style creeping up in your story. Lorrie Moore is certainly someone to emulate.
“Note to Sixth Grade Self” is, as I’ve mentioned, a story written in the second-person. It is about a fairly dorky sixth grade girl: she doesn’t have many friends; she dislikes the popular girls yet wants desperately to be popular; she’s a good dancer; she has a crush on Eric. However, this girl is not your typical dorky child. She is a thoughtful and self-conscious yet self-confident girl. The effect of the second-person is that we become this girl. We essentially are the main character. We come to know her as well as we know ourselves. This is something I try to accomplish in my fiction, and you’ve pulled it off successfully. Good work.
On another note, some of the scenes run a little long. Also, it is clear that time has lapsed between the end of the scene on page 88 and the beginning of the next (and last) scene on page
89. The space break shows us this, and Eric’s comment about the dance also shows us. However,
I suggest adding a specific passage of time. Exactly how much time as passed? Why is today the day our character gets dressed and wears a barrette in her hair?
Overall, this is a great piece. I’d say you need one more draft and some line edits, and you’ll be finished. Nice.
Thanks,
Jackie
Your letters should be approximately this length. Please try not to go on and on. Sometimes too much commentary can be dangerous. Notice how I first addressed the content of the story and one element of craft—the point of view. Then I addressed what was working and what wasn’t.
Notice also that I included page numbers and specifics. Be sure to always sign your name. And I like to close with “Thanks” because I am always grateful to have been invited to read someone’s work. You can close your letter how you like, of course.
*Lorrie Moore’s collection of short stories
Self-Help contains a few stories written in the second person.
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Rising Action
Climax
Denouement
Tension
Scene
Summary
Backstory
Flashback
Present moment
Vocabulary List
Point of view
Narrator
Third-person
Third-person limited
Third-person omniscient
First-person
Second-person
Plot
Conflict
Exposition
Narrative arc
Pace
Setting
Description
Motifs
Theme
Imagery
Metaphor
Symbolism
Voice
Cliché
Diction
Character
Characterization
Dialogue
Indirect dialogue
Direct dialogue
Pacing
Metafiction
Short-short
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Author Project Grading Criteria
Grading Criterion: 1Incomplete 2Unsatisfactory 3Average 4Good 5Excellent
In the paper, has the student…
1 2 3 4
Identified the anthology story and one element of the author’s craft?
Demonstrated a thorough understanding of the chosen element of craft?
(using the proper vocabulary, citing relevant passages)
Provided a clear, detailed, and specific analysis of the chosen element of craft?
Cited examples from the story?
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Followed the length requirements and formatting guidelines?
(two pages, double-spaced, 12-point font, page numbers, Times New Roman, title)
Written a paper with few grammatical, typographical, and mechanical errors?
In the presentation, did the student…
Describe the author’s background, biographical information, publications, and key elements of craft?
Additional Comments:
Grade: _____________
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