English 451
Syllabus of Fall 2012
Instructor--Peter Chilson
Office Hours: By appointment
367 Avery Hall
Tel: 5-7309----Email: pchilson@wsu.edu
On the web: www.peterchilson.com
REQUIRED TEXTS
-Best American Short Stories 2011, Heidi Pitlor, ed
-Self Help, by Lorrie Moore
-The Terrorist, by John Updike
-A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway
-Say You are One of Them, by Uwem Akpan
-The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White
COURSE OBJECTIVES: This is the senior prose workshop in fiction and
nonfiction creative writing with an emphasis on experimentation-experimentation with writing style, tone, voice, and with the kind of reading you
are doing. Reading and writing work together. You cannot write well if you don't
read a great deal, and widely: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and journalism. Writers
learn and pick up ideas from what other writers are doing with the language and
with research. To be a good writer, you must read. You must want to
read. You must make it as much a part of your life as eating and
sleeping. This much is not negotiable!
This course will deal with both fiction and nonfiction prose and will involve
intense work in seminar. This is the last workshop course you will take as a
creative writing major, which means that at this point in your studies you have
already taken several mid-level workshops and should have a clear focus on a
project for this class. This means I expect you to know what you are going to be
working on the day you walk in here—either a long essay or short story, or even a
novel or book-length nonfiction work.The emphasis, of course will be on
critiquing our own work while we study how other writers pursue the craft. You
will revise your work—-draft after draft after draft-—through the workshop
experience. Revision is critically important.
You are expected at the end of the semester, to turn in 25 revised pages of
revised work. You must incrementally submit this work for group critique at
least twice during the semester. I will schedule all students for critique in the first
week of class.
At the end of the semester you will turn in a final portfolio of no fewer than 25
revised pages of work for a final grade. This work should be one continuous
story.
CONTENT: We will read a broad range of writers in fiction and nonfiction, and
examine a variety of writing techniques important to the craft of writing fiction
and nonfiction stories. These include different narrative methods, developing
lead paragraphs, developing voice and point of view, and ethical concerns. But
remember this is a workshop seminar course focused on critiquing student work.
Though I will be guiding workshops and occasionally offering lecture material,
students will run the workshops and be responsible for critiquing
each other. The assigned readings provide a background to inform discussion
and set up models for writing. We will not necessarily discuss assigned
readings in every class, but students must be ready to refer to the
readings as we go along. We will discuss methods of research, such as finding
and using various kinds of documented information and doing interviews. We
will also look at audience and how to sell fiction and nonfiction stories in
different markets.
The Work Shop Method
The creative writing workshop follows the Iowa Writers’ Workshop method. Class
members do a close reading of a student’s work and then in class give a focused
critique of that work through spirited discussion. The Iowa Writers’ Workshop is
one of the oldest creative writing programs in North America. Its community
method is arguably one of the most successful, having produced such writers as
Flannery O’Connor, T.C. Boyle, Jon Anderson, Ethan Canin, Kurt Vonnegut, and
John Gardner, to name a few. David Hamilton, writer and professor of English at
the University of Iowa, says: “The real secret of the workshop method is the
discovery that written work is no one person's possession, that work emerges
from a community…which will place its stamp upon it, that good work
distinguishes that community, and that fine work ennobles it.”
While I employ the Iowa method, I believe the workshop must be fresh and
unpredictable, so the class does not become a repetitive experience of people
delivering the same critical comments week after week. I introduce writing
prompts and editing exercises into class meetings. I also complement the
workshop with regular individual conferences, guiding students through their
work and giving them tips on how to operate within the workshop critique. Many
students are shy to offer criticism and I try to work with them individually on
their work and on the process of offering constructive and direct criticism. I guide
workshops through themes, focusing, for example, on development of voice,
character, setting, and narrative arc. Students give critiques in writing and in
discussion. General comments are not acceptable. Students must be
detailed and thorough in critique.
Theater in the Writing Workshop
Six years ago I introduced a dramatic theater element into my workshops. For a
third of the semester, my advanced prose students act out scenes from each
other's work. The point is to give the student writer a chance to see the visual
“flesh and blood” interpretation of the work.
I learned this method through a year of theater study at Syracuse University,
where I spent my first year of college on a Colorado Mountain Theater
Association scholarship. I later majored in political science and journalism but
that year of theater gave me ideas about how to sharpen writing. Watching others
act out your work offers insight different from formal peer review. In a theater
exercise students "show" how they view another student's work rather than tell
them how they feel. To make this run more smoothly, students with an interest in
theater or film sometimes help. My students are not trained actors, so I try to
relax them by asking experienced students to block out how they understand the
"action" in a scene as opposed to acting out characters. This exercise is an
ongoing challenge. For most students just discussing their writing in workshop is
difficult, and for some the experience of seeing their work acted out is traumatic.
In other words, I deal with the theater workshop delicately. Still, I have found
this to be an effective way to give students a fresh perspective on their work.
Revision in Workshop
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Although revision exercises have always been a natural part of my creative
writing courses, I have recently tightened revision requirements even further. For
a workshop course, students each work on one story throughout the semester,
pushing that story through three separate revisions, each of which they must
hand in. Those required revisions give students further opportunity to learn from
strengths and weaknesses by rethinking the writing process.
The revision requirement involves in-class editing and peer review exercises,
which puts more responsibility on students for editing both their own work and
the work of their peers. This reinforces an old idea of learning: one of the best
ways to learn a process is to put yourself in the position of explaining that process
to another individual. Finally, I have made individual conferences a major part of
the revision process. Students must meet with me for three sessions outside class
to monitor and discuss their work and how they see the direction and progress of
their writing.
WHAT IS EXPECTED OF YOU: To give momentum to student writing, all
students will write at least five pages a week of new prose as they work to build a
draft of the story to be turned in at the end of the semester. That story that you
turn in at the end of the semester must be 25 polished pages.
Required Work
1. A the start of the third week you will all hand in at least ten pages of draft work
on your short story. I will grade that material and hand it back. (25 percent of
your grade)
2. At the beginning of the sixth week you will all hand in at least 20 pages of draft
work on your story. I will grade that material and hand it back. (25 percent of
your grade)
During the first half the semester each of you will undergo one mini
workshop of 20 minutes or so. During the second half the semester each
of you will undergo a major workshop review of 45 minutes or so.
3. So, you see that your work will go through stages of critique and revision. You
will turn in your final 25-page story the last week of class in December. (The final
story is worth 25 percent of your grade).
4. Also, remember that this is a discussion-oriented course that requires spirited
participation from each student. Participation is 25 percent of your final
grade. Do not be shy with opinions and do not be afraid to disagree—
constructively and politely--with anyone, especially ME. You will not be graded
on your opinions, but on the quality of your participation, which is directly
connected to how well you listen and prepare for class. It's easy for me to see if
you are not doing the reading. And remember—anyone can float an opinion. The
real test is how well you support your opinion with clear and logical evidence.
I WILL NOT DISCUSS YOUR GRADES WITH YOU. SUCH A
DISCUSSION IS A FUTILE EXERCISE THAT DISTRACTS FROM THE
REAL ISSUE, WHICH IS THE QUALITY OF THE WRITING AT HAND.
THAT SAID, I AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO DISCUSS YOUR WRITING.
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ALL PAPERS MUST BE TYPED (rough drafts excepted). Final drafts should be
double-spaced with margins and font size identical to what you see on this
syllabus. The font, by the way, is 12 pt.
LATE PAPERS: Late papers will receive an automatic C and be graded down from
there. The grade will fall one full letter grade for every other day it is late.
ATTENDANCE: If you don't attend, you give me less information to base your
grade on. Because we meet once a week for nearly three hours, missing one class
is significant. Missing two classes is the equivalent of four missed class meetings,
or two weeks of class. Continued absences make it more difficult for you to
participate and your presence becomes a negative weight in the classroom.
Chronic absenteeism also proves the student’s lack of commitment to the course.
You can take ONE absence without a penalty. After the SECOND absence, your
overall grade will drop one full level. When you miss your THIRD class--the
equivalent of three weeks of classes!--I will ask you to reconsider whether or not
you should stay in the class. This course should be a lot of fun, but without your
cooperation and participation it will be a real drag. So don't hesitate to offer your
views in class. And also remember, good writing does not come easily.
Attendance Note: Understand that I cannot grade you on the quality of your
excuses for missing class. I can only grade the quality of your class
participation and the quality of your written work. If you come down with a
terrible disease or break every bone in your body and have to miss a great
many classes, I will simply ask you to drop the course. IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO
SIMPLY TURN IN THE WORK. YOU MUST ATTEND CLASS AND BE
INTELLECTUALLY AND CREATIVELY ENGAGED!
Note on the Weekly Schedule and the Syllabus overall: I reserve the
right to change the syllabus to fit the class needs. We will draw on issues from
assigned readings and incorporate the ideas we develop from our reading into
class critiques of student papers.
 Also note that we have a Visiting Readers Series. You are expected to be
both in class and at the readings as they are scheduled.
Weekly Schedule:
Thursday, August 21, 2011: Read: We’ll start with two very different people,
who may or may not be very different writers: Ernest Hemingway and Lorrie
Moore. FINISH A Farewell to Arms and one assigned short story from Self Help.
We’ll also start with the short fiction in Best American Short Stories (BASS).
Starting at the front of the book, we will read one or two stories a week until the
book is finished. We will also begin with the workshop themes: Giving
constructive criticism, What is good writing? Remembering your audience.
August 28: Read: Assignments in BASS and Moore. Themes: Listening to
language (Does prose have rhythm? and Identifying Tone and Voice. (We will
gradually pick up with nonfiction and how writing fiction and nonfiction
complement each other. We will begin non-intensive workshops on this
date.
Sept. 4: On Monday of this coming week—Sept. 10—you will turn in
ten pages of a draft of your story. Hard copies only. Leave them at my
office. Read: Assignments from BASS and Moore. Themes: Continued
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discussion of Tone and Voice and What role does research play in good creative
writing, fiction or nonfiction?
Sept 11: Continue with reading assigned BASS stories and the first 100 pages of
The Terrorist, by John Updike. Themes: Continued discussion of research
issues and What is Style? How do writers separate themselves from the pack? (I
will make suggested readings from The Elements of Style.
Sept. 18: Read assigned BASS stories finish with Updike. Themes: Continued
discussion of style. We will look in detail at language in student work.
Sept. 25. On Monday of this week—Sept. 24—you will turn in 20 pages
of a draft of your story. Hard copies only. Leave them in my office.
Read: Assigned BASS Stories, on assigned essay. Theme: Do fiction and
nonfiction blend together? Begin assigned readins in Say You Are One of Them,
by Uwem Akpan
Oct. 2: Read: Assigned BASS stories and stories in Akpan. Themes: Structuring
a story. Defining a narrative arc.
The Full Workshop begins today.
Today, or on Oct. 9 I will hand out rhe rest of the syllabus.
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March 3: Reading: Two BASS stories. Themes: More on structuring a story and
thinking in terms of a narrative arc. WE WILL BEGIN INTENSIVE
WORKSHOP ON THIS DATE. The major reading for the course is
finished, except for a weekly short story.
March 10: Reading: Assigned BASS Stories. Themes: Back to issue of Voice. Can
you hear it in Gaitskill or Percy or one of the other writers we have read?
March 14—18: SPRING BREAK!
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March 24: Read: Assigned essays and stories. Theme: Intensive workshop,
including all writing elements discussed through the semester. A student will
run half the workshop.
March 31: Workshop and readings. A student will run half the workshop.
April 7: Workshop and readings. A student will run half the workshop.
April 14: Reading: Assigned essays and stories. Theme: We will spend much
time looking at detail in student work telling and the style of language. A student
will run half the workshop.
April 21: Read: Assigned essays and stories. Theme: Intensive workshop,
including all writing elements discussed through the semester. A student will
run half the workshop.
April 28: Reading: Assigned essays and stories. Theme: Intensive workshop,
including all writing elements discussed through the semester. A student will
run half the workshop. THIS IS THE LAST WORKSHOP
Your 25-page Final Projects are Due No later than Monday, May 2.
This Begins FINALS WEEK. There is no final in this course.
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