ENG 90: FICTION WRITING
Summer 2015
Instructor: Ammi Keller
ammi.keller@gmail.com
Office Hours: Tuesdays 2-3 pm, Thursday 5:15-6:15 pm
and by appointment in 431 Margaret Jacks Hall
“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
-Toni Morrison
DESCRIPTION
This course will introduce you to the basic elements of fiction writing while encouraging
you to explore your creative process. We will read short stories (and a few novel openers)
by contemporary authors, most either by writers in their late teens through their 20’s or
about protagonists that age or below. This is to inspire you to see “what you know”—either
through imagination or lived experience—as worthy of exploration in literary fiction. You
will write your own stories and we will read and discuss them in our workshop sessions.
There is a considerable amount of reading and writing involved in the course. Writing
requirements also include two short writing exercises.
REQUIRED MATERIALS
1. The Modern Library Writers Workshop by Stephen Koch ($16)
2. A digital (or all access) subscription to The New Yorker ($12 for 12 weeks).
2. Journal or notebook for note taking.
3. You will be required to provide photocopies of your main story for everyone in the class
midway through the term, so please budget for this expense.
GRADING
I don’t grade on any perceived creative quality because I want to you to push yourself to
take artistic risks. Therefore your entire grade depends on your completing the course
requirements.
Class Participation (40%) The success of a peer driven course depends, above all, on your
participation. Your peers will be looking for you to participate with curiosity and an open
mind in their presentation activities, and to support their work in workshop with your ideas
and good faith. Full attendance is of the utmost importance in a fiction workshop, as it is
impossible to “catch up” on a workshop discussion you missed, the discussion itself suffers
when even one voice is missing. I expect every absence to be worked out beforehand with
me or the participation portion of your grade will be affected—each unexcused absence will
reduce your course grade by 1/3 of a letter. Chronic absences and lateness, excused or
unexcused, will affect this grade significantly. In addition, if you miss a class, you are
responsible for obtaining and completing the work that was assigned that day before the
next class. Responses to class blog (20% of participation grade) must be logged by 1 pm on
the day of class.
Craft Presentations (20%) This course uses a peer driven model in which you teach
yourselves—and your classmates—how to acquire and build fiction writing skills. To do
this, students will present in pairs on a craft element of their choosing, using that day’s story
or stories as an entry point. You will create a writing exercise for the class to help others
practice this element, and will facilitate small and/or large group discussions exploring its
use in the reading. Please check in with me during my office hours or via email by 9 pm the
day before class to let me know your plans and get my feedback on them.
Fiction Exercises, Stories, and Workshop Critiques—40%
This class features two short writing assignments (2-5 pgs) and the short story (8-12 pgs)
we will workshop. Your grade depends on you completing all your creative work on time,
with passion and care. Regarding workshop critiques, you will no doubt want others in the
class to read and consider your work seriously, and therefore it is important to return the
favor. You do not have to write volumes in your critiques, but your comments should be
careful and considered, and take into account the process of writing fiction; i.e., we are not
dealing with finished works here—so do your best to inspire and assist the writer as best
way you’re able. Critiques given to a student after they are workshopped will receive a
grade of C so make sure these are done on time. At the end of the quarter, a significant
revision of your quarter project–or a new story or novel chapter—is due to me.
MISCELLANEOUS
Blog posts: You’ll be required to post a 1-2 paragraph response to the readings before each
class period. These need not be long or formal, but please do push yourself to engage with
craft elements and with each other’s ideas. Your post can be targeted toward one or both of
the readings assigned for that day.
Format for assignments:
Stories and exercises: Double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman or Cambria font.
Paragraphs should be formatted for print (i.e., not in web style, but with
each paragraph indented, with no line breaks between them). Ink must be
black. Include page numbers, and include your name, the exercise number
and my name on the first page. Double-sided printing is permissible. For
exercises, you will only need to turn in one copy to me, but you’ll be required
to turn in copies of your longer story for each member of the class
(according to the schedule below). Staple anything more than one page.
Failure to follow these guidelines may impact your grade.
Workshop comments: These should be single-spaced. Bring in two copies—one for
the student being workshopped and one for me. Again, anything more than
one page should be stapled. You will also mark line edits and comments on
the story itself, which will then be returned to its author.
Laptops may be used during in-class writing exercises and during discussions of online
materials only. I’ll ask people to close them during other work. Please disable Wifi if you will
be tempted to check email or social media. I will warn you if I see you using computers or
cell phones for outside class activities. After that each unauthorized use will count as an
absence.
Late Assignments The highest grade any late assignments will receive is a C—even if you’ve
just forgotten to print an exercise out for class. I only accept emailed assignments if it’s
worked out with me in advance.
Revisions and Final Portfolio: A Final Portfolio is due to me at the end of the quarter. This can
consist of a top-down rewrite of your quarter project using my comments, your classmates
comments and/or your ideas about where you feel the story should go. You are also
welcome to turn in a new story or novel chapter to me, 5-12 pages in length, if this is where
your creativity takes you during the second half of the class.
Office Hours: I love talking with students individually about their work and look forward to
seeing you in office hours. My office hours are listed at the top of the syllabus. If these times
don’t work for you, please let me know and we can schedule an appointment at another
time. I also highly recommend setting up an appointment to conference with me sometime
in the week following the workshopping of your story.
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. Please create all new, original work for this class. Your peers and I are looking
forward to reading it!
COURSE SCHEDULE (**SUBJECT TO CHANGE**)
Week 1
6/23 Introductions and collaborative writing exercise. What makes a story?
6/25 The Modes of Fiction. Read: “Chapter 1: Beginnings” from The Modern Library Writers
Workshop, “Years End” by Jhumpa Lahiri (online)
Week Two
6/30 Pair 1 presents. Read: “Chapter 2: The Writing Life” pages 34-45 (the rest of the
chapter is optional) and “Chapter 3: Shaping the Story,” “Snakes” by Danielle Evans (hand
out). Ex 1 due.
7/2 Pair 2 presents. Read: “Chapter 4: Making Characters Live”, “Tenth of December” by
George Saunders (online) and “The First Day” by Edward P. Jones (hand out).
Week Three
7/7 Pair 3 presents. Read: “A Christmas Miracle” by Rebecca Curtis (online), “Emergency”
by Denis Johnson (online at Narrative Magazine, create free account). Optional: “Chapter 5:
Inventing Your Style.” Ex 2 due.
7/9 Pair 4 presents. Read: Chapter 1 of The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi, opening
pages to Terminal Velocity by Blanche McCrary Boyd and The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by
Haruki Murakami, Bridging Conflict by Donald Maass (hand outs). First 3 pages due via
email by 11:59 pm Thursday night (which can be an expansion of any earlier
exercise).
Week Four
7/14 Pair 5 presents. Read: “Alma” Junot Diaz (online), “The Twenty Seventh Man” by
Nathan Englander (hand out), “Chapter 6: The Story and the Self” (optional). Writing Lab
and Conferences.
7/16 Pair 6 presents. Read: “Mendocino Fire” by Elizabeth Tallent (hand out), “The
Dungeonmaster” by Sam Lipsyte (online), Writing Lab and Conferences. Quarter Projects
due from students 1-4 (physical copies and via email).
Week Five
7/21 Pair 7 presents. Workshops 1 & 2 Read: “Birdsong” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
(online), “Reverting to a Wild State” by Justin Torres (online). Quarter Projects due for
student 5-14 via email by 11:59 pm.
7/23 Read: “Gleason” by Louise Erdrich (online). Workshops 3 & 4 Copies due from
students 5-9.
Week Six
7/28 Workshops 5, 6 & 7
7/30 Workshops 8 & 9; Listen to: Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche “The Danger of a Single Story”
(TED talk) Copies due from students 10-14.
Week Seven
8/4 Workshops 10, 11 & 12.
8/6 Workshops 13 & 14 Read: “Second Act Problems” by David Mamet (hand out)
Due Friday 8/7 by email: Quarter project revision or new work due for students who
would like feedback in a conference. No work will be due after the conference. (Students
in slots 13-14 may request a later date.)
Week Eight
8/11 Revision Read: “Chapter 7: Revision”, “What We Talk About When We Talk About
Love” by Raymond Carver (hand out), “Beginners” (online), “Beginners,” edited (online),
“Rough Crossings” (optional, online)
8/13 Final Day Celebration. Read: TBA
Due Friday, 8/14 via email: Quarter Project revision or new work due for the rest of
the class.