Topics in Intermediate Fiction Writing: Short Story Salon
Shimon Tanaka & Sarah Frisch
Stanford University, Spring Quarter 2015
Tuesdays, 6:15 p.m. - 9:05 p.m.
Email: stanaka@stanford.edu & sfrisch@stanford.edu
Office Hours: TK
“If we want to write, it makes sense to read—and to read like a writer.”
- Francine Prose
“A writer is a reader moved to emulation”
- Saul Bellow
Writers are first and foremost readers. In this course we will read short story collections for
inspiration, example, and an understanding of craft. Each week we will immerse ourselves in a
short story collection by a contemporary authors and discuss it as writers—not as critics or
historians of literature. We will use texts as templates for imitation and inspiration and analyze
them for structure, character development, dialogue, setting, language, and theme. We will pay
particular attention to the range, arrangement, and architecture of the story collection as a whole,
and we will look at the ways conventions of craft are applied and understood—and sometimes
re-interpreted or subverted—as we attempt to answer the question, “What makes a compelling
short story collection?” We’ll read work by acknowledged masters, as well as by new and prizewinning authors, many of whom will visit class to answer our questions and talk about the
process of writing, structuring, and sending a book out into world. Students will do presentations
on the collections we read, discuss books with authors, and complete weekly writing exercises
designed to inform and inspire their own writing.
Note: Successful completion of English 90 or 91 is a prerequisite for this course.
REQUIRED MATERIALS
A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
After the Quake, Haruki Murakami
Monstress, Lysley Tenorio
Night at the Fiestas, Kirstin Valdez-Quade
Transparency, Frances Hwang
Thieves I’ve Known, Tom Kealey
Our Secret Life at the Movies, Michael McGriff and JM Tyree
Mcsweeney’s, Issue 48
A writing notebook and folder reserved for this class alone
OFFICE HOURS
Syllabus: Short Story Salon
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You are welcome and encouraged to come to our office to talk about your work or anything
relevant to it. (For example, we’ll often recommend “outside” stories, craft essays, and novels
you might personally benefit from reading). If our office hours do not fit with your schedule, we
can set up an appointment, either in person or on the phone.
CLASS ATTENDANCE POLICY
You are allowed one absence. Thereafter, your grade will drop a full letter with each subsequent
absence. Students with three absences will be asked to leave the course. On the first day, we’ll
match you up with another student, who will be your class buddy for the rest of the quarter. This
is the person who you’ll contact with any questions if you miss or are late to a class. Also, since
this is a discussion-based class, punctuality is very important. If you are more than ten minutes
late to class (or leave class early) without prior permission, this will count as an unexcused
absence. Repeated tardiness within ten minutes of class may be treated as an unexcused absence
at the instructors’ discretion.
STUDENT EVALUATION
CLASS PARTICIPATION (40%): It is crucial that you arrive at each class prepared (having
done the reading, thoroughly) and ready to actively participate in our discussions. We are
here to exchange ideas, thoughts, and stories with one another in the hope that we will
learn something about our own writing and writing in general. In discussing the writing
of your peers, remember that participation is a courtesy to your fellow writers. It’s
important to remember that we won’t be discussing your polished work but early drafts
and exercises; we’ll be talking about the process of writing and all of the narrative
possibilities inherent in each piece. When you put yourself out there in a personal way—
as you do whenever you write—you want and deserve respectful feedback from
everyone.
Blog Posts and Creative Writing Program Events: Your class participation grade also
includes posting on short story collections on the class blog and attending three Creative
Writing program readings and posting a brief response to each on the class blog. We will
discuss blog posts in more detail in class. A full list of CW readings can be found at
http://creativewriting.stanford.edu and http://events.stanford.edu. Please also sign up for
the Creative Writing Events Listserve by going to http://mailman.stanford.edu and
joining “cw-undergrad.”
WRITING EXERCISES (30%): This will include short writing exercises to be completed
both in and out of class. The prompts we’ll assign are designed to generate ideas and to
inspire your work; as such, we’re not expecting polished pieces in your notebook and
encourage you to try new and different things here. If you do the work, put in the
appropriate effort, and turn assignments in on time, you will get full credit for this portion
of your evaluation.
GROUP PRESENTATION (30%): Beginning on Week Three, in groups of 2-3 students, you
will facilitate a one-hour class discussion of one of the stories in the collection assigned
for that particular week. As a group, you will help us see how elements of craft are
working in the story collection and share your insights (and elicit others) about what we
Syllabus: Short Story Salon
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might learn from this writer’s work to inform our own writing. This is a chance for you
all to make yourselves experts on the book and to
demonstrate to the others how it
exemplifies and/or contradicts conventions of craft. Handouts, exercises and other
methods of involving the group are encouraged. (More specific instructions regarding the
form and content of these group presentations will be provided during our first class.)
MISCELLANEOUS
Late Assignments: Anything turned in late will receive no better than C credit. And please,
no assignments via email unless specifically requested. You can place late assignments in the
box outside our office in Margaret Jacks, Room 430, in the box marked ‘Short Story Salon.’
Formatting: Work you are asked to turn in must be typed (in an easy-to-read 12 point font),
double-spaced, and stapled, with the pages numbered. Please format for print, not web. Also,
keep your spelling and grammatical errors to an absolute minimum. Work that fails to follow
these guidelines may be deemed late.
Students with Documented Disabilities: Students who may need an academic accommodation
based on the impact of a disability must initiate the request with the Office of Accessible
Education (OAE). Professional staff will evaluate the request with required documentation,
recommend reasonable accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty
dated in the current quarter in which the request is being made. Students should contact the OAE
as soon as possible since timely notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. The OAE is
located at 563 Salvatierra Walk (phone: 723-1066, URL:http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/oae).
The Honor Code: The Honor Code is the University's statement on academic integrity written by
students in 1921. It articulates University expectations of students and faculty in establishing and
maintaining the highest standards in academic work. You can find the full text of the honor code
at the following link: http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/judicialaffairs/policy/honor-code
Plagiarism: Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, using ideas, information or quotes from
published work or online sources without providing proper citations; copying all or part of an
assignment from someone else; and turning in work you did for other classes.