Prof. Sara McAulay
Office: 585 Warren Hall; Winter 2003 hours: M 5:30 - 6:30, W 5:30 - 6:30, and by appointment and email. Phone: 885-3476; email: sara.mcaulay@csueastbay.eduTexts: Burrowway, Writing Fiction, 6th ed.
ENGLISH 4070 ADVANCED FICTION WRITING WORKSHOP
Course Description and General Comments
English 4070 is a workshop in prose fiction, similar in its organization to EN 3070. The level of work -- writing, discussion and critiques -- is generally quite high. I do not have a fixed syllabus for this course, as it is always to some degree tailored to the interests and projects of the workshop members. This quarter's specific readings and short exercises will be posted on Blackboard before the second class meeting. Most students write short (or short-short) fiction, and we usually workshop two or three stories per class session. Styles range from the traditional to the experimental, but "genre" stories (romance, sci-fi, horror) are actively discouraged.
Each week a student leads the discussion of the assigned readings. In addition, students are assigned to lead discussion of other students' manuscripts (to be "primary respondants"). Each student prepares a written critique of each manuscript under discussion. (Original to writer, a copy to me.)
You will keep a Reading Journal, in which you comment in a writerly way on the assigned readings. These will be collected periodically during the quarter.
I'm a believer in the value of short writing exercises. I do them myself, and I give them to my students at all levels. Most 4070 students seem to enjoy and benefit from "mirroring" exercises, in which they replicate the sentence structure and rhythms of a paragraph or two of, say, Cisneros, García Márquez or Poe --syllable by syllable and comma by semi-colon. (Surprisingly, Hemingway seems to be the hardest!) Other useful exercises include "E-Prime," "Blue Eyes," the "Jingle Exercise," and "Stranger in a Strange Land." For more detail, click here.
REQUIRED WORK/GRADING
Note: these will not add up to 100!
- Short exercises, as assigned -- 5 points each;
- One - three works of original prose fiction (20 - 25 pp. total, new work*) plus revisions -- approx. 50% of your grade;
- Lead discussion of assigned reading from text -- 5 points;
- Primary response to student mss., as assigned -- 5 points;
- Reading Journal -- 15 points;
- Written critiques of all student mss. (A generous paragraph or two, or three, of general comments (original to author, copy to me), plus annotations on mss., to be returned to author.) -- 15 points.
Exercises and story drafts to be distributed for discussion may be single spaced to save duplication costs -- but please make a double-spaced copy for me. Exercises that are not being duplicated for distribution should be double spaced. Final revised drafts must be double spaced, following the format you would use if you were submitting the work for publication.
Since this is a workshop, your participation is vital. You are allowed one unexcused absence (two for classes that meet twice a week). Use it/them wisely. You will be graded on the quality of your written work, on the thoroughness and perspicuity of your critiques, both written and oral, and on your participation in class.
* Significant revision of an existing story may count as new work. Check with me.
My expectations and standards are high. Would you really want it any other way?
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