This is your course schedule. You should visit this document regularly to see what you should be doing on any particular day of the semester. It includes all major due dates, reading assignments, and so on. If you’re not sure when something is due or what the reading assignment is, this is the place to check. Did I already say that? Well, it’s important.
A Standing To Do List
There is a particular rhythm to this course–which is to say there is a standing “to-do” list or a reoccurring set of tasks that you will return to repeatedly throughout the semester.
- Post under “Playbook Entry” on Scribbler once a week, as assigned, focusing on the literature of the course and what you can learn from it as a writer. These posts will eventually help create your “Fiction Writer’s Playbook” for our course. Details on this assignment will be discussed in class.
- Write narrative or storytelling projects as assigned. (Some of these, along with your reflections on how they came to be, will become the major work of your evolutionary course portfolio and will be an important part of your final course grade.) You will write these major pieces in response to prompts that I give you. Once you get into the habit of writing, it will feel easier. We learn to write by writing…
- Write thorough peer review essays. During the week immediately following a major draft due date, read and comment on the latest written work of your classmates’ that is categorized as “Work for Review.” Respond to at least three pieces. Start with your action/review team, but always do at least three. Each response should be at least 500 words in length.
Week-by-Week Details
This schedule is very tentative. While the basic due dates will likely stay the same, I reserve the right to embrace the spontaneity of our learning, to add, remove, or swap out readings and assignments, to mix up activities, and to follow a thread of discussion/thought a bit farther than planned if it seems worthwhile. Important changes will be announced in class. You are responsible for noting any changes.
A couple points of clarification: Reading and writing, as you see, is an ongoing effort through this course. In the right column in the schedule below, you’ll notice three primary labels: Read, Write, and Due. “Read” indicates the reading for the week that you should be actively engaged in through that week and complete before the start of the next week. “Write” indicates the writing you should be actively engaged in through the week to complete a draft or comments by the start of the next week. “Due,” obviously, indicates when you must deliver something in the class–either to me or your classmates. If you have questions about this, be sure to ask.
| Week | Possible Class Topic/Activity | Read/Write/Due |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 Aug 22/24 |
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Read: Burroway, “The Writing Process” (Ch 1) and Appendix A: “Kinds of Fiction;” the syllabus Write: Why Write? (publish to Scribbler under “Open Conversation”) |
| Week 2 Aug 29/21 |
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Due Monday: Why Write? Write: Three Dilemmas Begin: Fiction Writer’s Playbook (weekly entries with presentations during Week 13) Due Wednesday: Playbook Entry #1 |
| Week 3 Sept 5/7 |
No Classes |
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Read: Boyle’s, “The Hit Man” (handout); Burroway, “Seeing Is Believing” (Ch2) Due Wednesday: Three Dilemmas and Playbook Entry #2 Write: Narrative Collage Begin: The Evolutionary Portfolio Project (due Week 16) |
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| Week 4 Sept 12/14 |
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Due Monday: Playbook Entry #3 Have Read: Strout, Olive Kitteridge Due Wednesday: Narrative Collage Read: Burroway, “Long Ago” (Ch 6) Write: Scene Project and Peer Reviews for Narrative Collage |
| Week 5 Sept 19/21 |
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Due Monday: Peer Reviews for Narrative Collage Read: Burroway, “Building Character” (Ch 3) and “Call Me Ishmael” (Ch 8) Due Wednesday: Playbook Entry #4 |
| Week 6 Sept 26/28 |
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Due Monday: Scene Project Read: Burroway, “The Tower and the Net” (Ch 7); selections from McCloud and others Due Wednesday: Playbook Entry #5 Write: Storyboard/Graphic Project and Peer Reviews of the Scene Project |
| Week 7 Oct 3/5 |
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Due Monday: Peer Reviews of the Scene Project Read: Burroway, “Far, Far AWay” (Ch 5) Have Read: Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad Due Wednesday: Playbook Entry #6 |
| Week 8 Oct 10/12 |
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Due Monday: Playbook Entry #7 Due Wednesday: Storyboard/Graphic Project Write: Initial Microfiction Piece and Peer Reviews of Storyboard/Graphic Project Read: Stern, Microfiction |
| Week 9 Oct 17/19 |
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Due Monday: Initial Microfiction Piece Due Wednesday: Peer Reviews of Storyboard/Graphic Project Write: Microfiction Obstruction #1 |
| Week 10 Oct 24/26 |
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Due Monday: Microfiction Obstruction #1 Due Wednesday: Playbook Entry #8 Read: Burroway, “Is and Is Not” (Ch 9) Write: Microfiction Obstruction #2 |
| Week 11 Oct 31/Nov 2 |
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Due Monday: Microfiction Obstruction #2 Due Wednesday: Playbook Entry #9 Write: Microfiction Obstruction #3 |
| Week 12 Nov 7/9 |
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Due Monday: Microfiction Obstruction #3 Due Wednesday: Playbook Entry #10 Write: Revision of Complete Obstructions Portfolio |
| Week 13 Nov 14/16 |
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Due Monday: Complete Obstructions Portfolio Write: Peer Reviews of Obstructions Portfolio |
| Week 14 Nov 21/23 |
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Due Monday: Peer Reviews of Obstructions Portfolio Write: Revise/Refine Selected Piece for Reading |
No Classes |
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| Week 15 Nov 28/30 |
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| Week 16 Dec 5/7 |
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Due Wed: The Evolutionary Portfolio Project |
| Week 17 Dec 12 – 16 |
Consult the Final Exam Schedule |
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