English 205
Introduction to Creative Writing
Spring 2012
Fiction Reading & Workshop Calendar
FICTION UNIT
Week 1: Mining Your Past/ Writing Beyond What You Know
M Jan. 9
Introduction
Syllabus
W Jan. 11
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY—DUE EMAILED TO ME BEFORE CLASS
READINGS: Stephen King “On Writing”
FICTION: Tobias Wolff “Bullet in the Brain”
F Jan 13
READINGS: Janet Burroway “Scene and Summary, Backstory and Flashback, Text and Subtext,”
Anne Lamott “Shitty First Drafts”
FICTION: Michael Cunningham “White Angel”
Week 2: Building Character, Finding Voice
M Jan. 16
NO CLASS—MLK JR. DAY
W Jan. 18
Building (a) Character(s)
DUE: A SCENE (TWO PAGES)— DUE EMAILED TO ME BEFORE CLASS
READINGS: Janet Burroway “Character as. . .”
FICTION: Joyce Carol Oates “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
F Jan. 20
Finding the Right NarrativeVoice
READINGS: Janet Burroway “Your Voice, Persona, Character Voice”
FICTION: Junot Diaz “Edison, New Jersey,” Dan Chaon “Shepherdess”
Week 3: Dialogue/Fictional Place, Fictional Time
M Jan. 23
READINGS: Stephen King on Dialogue
FICTION: Richard Bausch “All the Way in Flagstaff, Arizona”
W Jan. 25
READINGS: Janet Burroway “Setting as. . .”
FICTION: Stephanie Vaughn “Dog Heaven,”
F Jan. 27
STORIES DUE TODAY FOR WORKSHOP #1 AND 2 (EMAIL TO ME BY 5 P.M.)
READINGS: Patricia Henley “What We Talk About When We Talk About Craft”
FICTION: John Updike “A&P”
Week 4: Setting/Point of View and Metaphor
M Jan. 30
STORIES DUE TODAY FOR WORKSHOP #3 AND 4 (EMAIL TO ME BY 5 P.M.)
READINGS: Janet Burroway “Point of View”
FICTION: Stuart Dybek “Paper Lanterns” (CP & Podcast)
W Feb. 1
STORIES DUE TODAY FOR WORKSHOP #5-8 (EMAIL TO ME BY 5 P.M.)
FICTION: David Foster Wallace “Forever Overhead,” Julie Orringer “Notes to Sixth Grade Self”
F Feb. 3
WORKSHOPS: 1__Josh N.__ 2_____Shannon____
Week 5: Story and Plot
M Feb. 6
STORIES DUE TODAY FOR WORKSHOP #9-14 (EMAIL TO ME BY 5 P.M.)
READINGS: Janet Burroway “Story as. .”
FICTION: Edith Pearlman “Capers”
WORKSHOPS: 3___Ross____ 4_____Pierce____
W Feb. 8
FICTION: Dorothy Allison “Gospel Song”
WORKSHOPS: 5___Joshua S.___ 6_____Calynn____
F Feb. 10
FICTION: Stephen Millhauser “Getting Closer”
WORKSHOPS: 7___Todd____ 8______Kaley____
Week 6: Story and Plot
M Feb. 13
STORIES DUE TODAY FOR WORKSHOP #15-19 (EMAIL TO ME BY 5 P.M.)
FICTION: Raymond Carver
WORKSHOPS: 9___Brenda___ 10____Emily____
W Feb. 15
FICTION: John Cheever “The Swimmer”
WORKSHOPS: 11___Joshua Y.____ 12___Michelle____
F Feb. 17
FICTION: Kurt Vonnegut “Harris Bergeron”
WORKSHOPS: 13__Drew____ 14____Jennifer______
Week 7: Symbols, Tropes, and Motifs
M Feb. 20
FICTION: John Edgar Wideman “Weight”
WORKSHOPS: 15__Ellie____ 16_____Valerie___
W Feb. 22
FICTION: Tim O’Brien “The Things They Carried”
WORKSHOPS: 17___Morgan___ 18____Eumin_____ 19______Dong____
F Feb. 24
NO CLASS—Louisville Literary Conference
FICTION: Lorrie Moore “How to Become a Writer”
Week 8: Individual Conferences
BEFORE COMING TO SEE ME, READ: STEPHEN KING AND JANET BURROWAY ON REVISION
M Feb. 27
NO CLASS—Individual Conferences
W Feb. 29
NO CLASS—AWP
F Mar. 2
NO CLASS—AWP
FICTION PORTFOLIO DUE – EMAILED TO ME BY SUNDAY, MARCH 3