English 226:
Introduction to Creative Writing
Eric Melbye
Email: melbyee@muohio.edu
Office/phone: JH 228 / 727-3248
Office hours: M,W/1-2:30T,R/9-10:00
Remember when you were a child and you passed the time by making up games to
play? You invented rules, played the game, made up new rules to keep the game
interesting or more challenging, played some more, played some more, played some
more… At some point the game stopped, but it was never really over, because you
weren’t playing to win or lose. You were playing for the sake of playing, and you were
focused pretty intensely on that. But you were also trying to keep the game
challenging enough to be interesting, and that meant you were reflecting on the
game’s progress, and if it was getting too easy or too dull, you changed the rules
again. Some folks call this kind of activity “serious play,” because it demands both
playful imagination and serious, critical reflection on the playing.
Creative writing—and creative thinking, and creative problem-solving—is serious play.
It’s play in that it demands the sort of focused energy, awe, curiosity, spontaneity,
and fun that we all knew as children but lost somewhere on the way to becoming
adults. And it’s play in that writers write for the sake of writing, not necessarily to
write something good. Creative writing is serious in that it demands critical reflection
on the writing in order to discover the meaning of the writing, and the best way to
convey that meaning.
As a writing method, then, serious play is one way for writers to develop their writing
to its fullest potential, but it’s a lot more than that, too. Writing is a way for writers to
respond to their world—the things they’ve seen happen, the things that have
happened to them, the places they have come from, the ideas, experiences, events,
etc., that have influenced who they are, how they write, and what they write about.
Engaging in serious play allows writers to explore, understand, and reinvent their
worlds, and their place in those worlds.
English 226 is about engaging in serious play. In this course, we will attempt to 1)
rediscover the creative perspective necessary for creative thinking, problem-solving,
and writing, 2) learn about the creative writing process, 3) learn about the elements
of prose and poetry that will help us read, think, and write like creative writers, and
perhaps most importantly, 4) learn about the cultural and historical forces that shape
who we are, how we write, and what we write about.
We’ll do most of our work in class, which will include discussion of stories, poems,
and essays (some of which will be chosen by the class), and lots of writing. By the
end of the first five weeks or so, you will have developed a collection of story
fragments and poem rough drafts. Then you will choose which genre you want to
work in for the rest of the course, and further develop your story fragments or your
poetry into more complete drafts. At the end of this course you’ll compile some the
creative work you’ve done into a portfolio and write an essay about the work you’ve
done. Also at the end of the semester, we’ll hold our own little open mic reading,
because literature is meant to be shared and heard, and because presenting your
work “publicly” helps you to see and understand it in new and useful ways.
Required Texts and Materials
· Our reading list is on e-reserve at the library. Go to the library web site
(http://www.lib.muohio.edu/), and click on “Reserves” in the upper right corner.
On the E-Reserves page, use the drop down menu to find my name. This will take
you to our reading list page. To read a work, click on it and use our password when
you’re asked for it.
o Be sure to bring printed copies of all readings to class.
· A journal—bring this to class every day.
· A sturdy folder or binder.
Grade Distribution:
A 93-100
A- 90-92
B+ 88-89
B 83-87
B- 80-82
C+ 78-79
C 73-77
C- 70-72
D+ 68-69
D 63-67
D- 60-62
F 0-59
Major Assignments:
Attendance/Participation
5 Workshops
Presentation
Journal
Final Portfolio
100 pts.
135 pts.
15 pts.
100 pts.
150 pts.
500 pts.
Miscellaneous Policies and Procedures
Your regular attendance and active participation are extremely important. If you
don’t show up, you can’t learn. And if you don’t actively participate in class by
speaking and engaging in activities, you won’t learn as much as you could. Even
worse, if you don’t actively participate, you and the rest of the class are bound to get
really bored. You are allowed two unexcused absences. Each additional unexcused
absence will lower your attendance/participation grade by 1/3. For example: If your
a/p grade at the end of the semester is an A-, but you have four unexcused
absences, your final a/p grade will be a B+. Five unexcused absences and the same
grade will be a B.
A student who earns an A in participation is one who always has the homework done
on time, listens attentively in every class, and contributes to all activities/discussions
in every class with thoughtful comments, questions, responses, observations, etc.,
etc. Being thoughtful doesn’t mean you need to say brilliant things every time you
open your mouth, you just need to say something that you’ve been thinking about.
We’ll use whatever that is to fuel meaningful conversation.
Late assignments will lose one grade increment for every day they are late. (An “A”
paper one day late will earn an “A-”, two days late will earn a “B+”, and so on.)
How do I grade the quality of your creativity? I don’t. This class’ emphasis is on the
creative process much more than the product of the writing process. Consequently,
I’m more interested in strengthening your creative abilities than in judging them.
When you receive a grade on your creative work, the grade will be based on whether
or not you’ve done the work, how well you’ve followed the assignment, and how well
you’ve applied what you’ve learned in class. For the most part, though, your grades
on creative work will reflect how well you’ve engaged in the writing process. To grade
that, I’ll look at various drafts of your work, and carefully read the reflections you
write about your work/writing process.
Save everything you write, and keep it organized. This will make your final portfolio a
snap to organize.
Write and save multiple drafts of your work. The portfolio will require multiple drafts
of your work, so as you work on your writing, don’t simply revise and save the same
document over and over again.
The Reading List
Below is a copy of the readings available on electronic reserve in our library. This list
will be heavily supplemented with other readings I will provide as handouts or
Internet web links.
To access the online readings:
> Go to the library web site at: http://www.lib.muohio.edu/
> Under “Research Resources,” click on “Reserves.”
> On the “Reserve Materials” page, find the drop-down menu under “Direct Access to
Current Electronic Reserves” that says “Select a Professor.” Find my name in that menu
(“Eric Melbye,” remember?), and click GO.
> On the “Electronic Reserves for melbyee” page, you’ll find a number of courses
listed. Click on “ENG 226 (Summer 2005)”.
> On the “Electronic Reserves for ENG 226 MA page, click on any title to read the
work. When prompted, use our password to open each reading.
> Print out the assigned reading and bring it to class.
> Some smart folks go to the library in the first week of class and print out all of the
readings at once, so they don’t have to keep going back to the library every week. Think
about it.
Alexie- The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
Jackson- The Lottery
Bell- Naked Lady
Johnson- The Things a Man Keeps
Carver- Popular Mechanics
Joyce- Sisters (1904 Version)
Carver-Cathedral
Joyce- Sisters (1914 Version)
Chopin- The Story of an Hour
Kincaid- Girl
Cisneros- My Name
Lorde- Hanging Fire
Faulkner - A Rose for Emily
Martin- Twirler
Garcia- Chickenhead
Moore- Kid's Guide to Divorce
Garcia-Marquez- A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
O. Henry- The Gift of the Magi
Gilman- The Yellow Wallpaper
Oates - Where are you going, where have you been?
Glaspell- A Jury of Her Peers
Paley- A Conversation with My Father
Gluck- Terminal Resemblance
Piercy- It ain't heavy, it's my purse
Gordimer- Is There Nowhere Else Where We Can Meet?
Plath- Mirror
Haiku
Roethke- My Papa's Waltz
Hemingway - Hills like white elephants
Tate- Denied Areas
Hemingway- A Very Short Story
Tate- To Each His Own
Herbert- Easter Wings
Young- No Title 1
Herbert- On Translating Poetry
Young- No Title 2
Hughes- The Negro Speaks of Rivers