SCN 017: Creative Writing, Nonfiction
Professor: Jason Luther
Time & Place: Tolley 204, M-F 9-1
Office: 001 HB Crouse Hall
Email: jwluther@syr.edu
“In this era of prepackaged thought, the essay is the closest thing we have, on paper, to a
record of the individual mind at work and play. It is an amateur's raid in a world of specialists.
Feeling overwhelmed by data, random information, the flotsam and jetsam of mass culture, we
relish the spectacle of a single consciousness making sense of a portion of the chaos.”
-Scott Russell Sanders, “The Singular First Person”
“More than any other literary genre, the creative nonfiction writer must rely on his or her own
conscience and sensitivity to others and display a higher morality and a healthy respect for
fairness and justice.”
-Lee Gutkind, “The Creative Nonfiction Police”
“The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is
about telling the truth. We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are.
Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason they write so very little.”
-Anne Lamott, Bird By Bird
Description (from the Summer College catalogue)
Syracuse University’s writing program has developed a course specifically for Summer College that
emphasizes nonacademic writing—creative nonfiction, memoir, and the essay. Students write texts
experimenting with style, genre, and subject, read contemporary nonfiction texts by varied authors, and
hear from guest speakers and visiting artists.
Students will examine a number of questions: What topics are worth exploring through the lens of
nonfiction? What do readers expect or desire from nonfiction? What does it mean to write about “the
self”? It’s all about point of view: how you look, where you stand, what you do about it. You’ll explore the
way writing about culture can be creative and also informative. Be ready to think, read, and, most
importantly, write!
Students will leave the program with numerous pieces of writing that have been refined with the help of
their peers and their faculty and can be used throughout their young writing careers.
Format
This is a unique course in several ways. First, as entering high school seniors you have an opportunity to
experience a collegiate environment a year before you’d traditionally attend a university. My hope is that
this experience will give you a good idea of what to expect after high school without losing sight of
realities of a two-week creative writing class. Second, the class meets for 4-5 hours per day for 9 days so
we’ll be working quickly and intensely. By the end, my hope is that you’ll begin to recognize what it feels
like to “thinking like a writer” -- to walk around paying attention to your sense, to trigger memories, and to
plant numerous seeds for future pieces. Finally, this is a noncredit course so the although the pace will be
fast and furious, there aren’t any grades to contend with. Take advantage of these low stakes -- take risks
and enjoy the experience.
Required Reading and Materials
• Miller, Brenda, and Suzanne Paola. Tell It Slant. 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print. Get this at the SU
Bookstore
• Various readings as assigned on BlackBoard (under “Content”)
• A notebook or laptop. We’ll be writing frequently each day, both in class and out. Choose a medium that
makes you comfortable and expressive. If you go with a paper notebook, there are many nice ones in
the SU Bookstore (adjacent to the course texts, in the basement). They also have nice pens. Choose a
set of them that you like. If you have a laptop, be sure you bring your charger.
Schedule and readings
July 2
Introduction to creative nonfiction
Readings for today (in class)
• Michael Burkard’s “The Ice Man Cometh”
• Sarah Vowell’s “Music Lessons”
• Joanna McNaney’s “Clean Slate”
July 3
Memory
Readings for today
Intro & Chapter 1 in Tell It Slant
“Table of Figures” by Brenda Miller
“Lambing Midwife” and “Gestating Memory” by Valerie Due
from “Identity: Skin Blood Heart” by Minnie Bruce Pratt
Guest: Minnie Bruce Pratt
July 4
No class; get a good start reading your book and write, write, write
July 5
People and places
Readings for today
Chapters 2 & 3 in Tell It Slant
“On the Necessity of Turning Oneself Into a Character” by Phillip Lopate
“Roadkill” by Kate Krautkramer
“Violation” by Sally Tisdale
TBA by Emma DeMilta
Guest: Emma DeMilta
July 6
Narrative
Readings for today
Chapters 6 & 12 in Tell It Slant
“Plot” by Anne Lamott
“The Resurrectionist” by Richard McCann
“Unloading Bones” by Lori Horvitz
TBA by Caitlin Johnson
Guest: Caitlin Johnson
July 9
The role and ethics of research
Readings for today
Chapter 8 in Tell It Slant
“On Keeping a Notebook” by Joan Didion
“1” from The Lifespan of a Fact by John D’agata and Jim Fingal
“Invisible Man” by Lawrence Otis Graham
Guest: TBA
July 10
Forms: Writing the arts
Readings for today
Chapter 5 in Tell It Slant
“Cinematypes: Going to the Movies” by Susan Allen Toth
Selections from Bomb the Suburbs by William Upski Wimsatt
Selections from Inconspicuous Consumption by Paul Lukas
Guest: TBA
July 11
Forms: Personal, lyric and “Hermit Crab” essays
Readings for today
Chapter 9 & part of 10 (up to page 117 only) in Tell It Slant
“Communication is a Good Start” by Isaac Rothwell
“The Drama Bug” David Sedaris
“Work” by Kim Barnes
“Contributors Note” by Michael Marton
TBA by Chris Kennedy
Guest: Chris Kennedy
July 12
Forms: Visual CNF (or, comics and zines)
Readings for today
Finish chapter 10 of Tell It Slant
“Writing With Pictures” by Scott McCloud
Chapter 1 from Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Issue 50 of The East Village Inky by Ayun Halliday
Guest: Ayun Halliday
July 13
Readings/zine day
Readings for today
Selections from Stolen Sharpie Revolution 2 by Alex Wrekk
Selections from Make a Zine! By Bill Brent and Joe Biel
Selections from Whatcha Mean What’s a Zine? By Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson
Issue 6 of Translate by Ryan Canavan
Guest: Ryan Canavan
Our routine
Writing portfolio.
Over the next two weeks you’ll write responses to somewhere between 30-40 prompts -- some of them
will come from me, some from you (see below), and some from our texts, including Tell It Slant. About
half will be written in class and half out of class. In the end you’ll leave SU with the seeds of many
unfinished essays.
Writing prompts.
For each reading on the schedule, you’ll submit a writing prompt to share with the class. Go to
Blackboard and click “Discussions.” Find the day where readings are due and post your prompts there.
Be sure to name the reading that suggested each prompt. This assignment is meant to remind you that
good writing comes out of persistent, wide and critical reading. Prompts don’t have to be long or complex
and we’ll practice writing them in class today and tomorrow.
Individual conferences.
We are very fortunate to have a dedicated consultant for this class. John Colasacco will meet with you for
approximately 30 minutes every afternoon about selected pieces of your work or the readings. You are
expected to meet with him on time and negotiate an agenda for your conference. John is an experienced
creative writer: he’s a published poet, earned his MFA from Syracuse, and has taught creative nonfiction
for the Writing Program. In addition to meeting with John, I am available to discuss your writing at any
time by appointment.
Nonfiction book of choice.
Tomorrow we’ll go to the library so that you can locate a nonfiction book to read throughout these two
weeks. Librarian extraordinaire, Patrick Williams, has compiled a list of possible books and will bring them
to us to peruse. We’ll talk about how to choose a good one and give you some time to explore. The
ultimate goal is for you to find a book-length nonfiction text -- a memoir, anthology, researched text, etc. -that will sustain your interest and inspire you until next Friday. You’ll be expected to finish the book before
our last class and to report on it informally but periodically throughout the course.
Class zine(s) and public reading
On the last day, July 13, we’ll spend time assembling individual zines (or alternatively, one for the whole
class). We’ll also hold a class reading where you’ll be asked to read from a piece of your work form these
last two weeks.