Madison Smartt Bell, April 18 and 19

Madison Smartt Bell - April 18, 8pm, and April 19, 10:30am

Hi Everyone,
Just a reminder that in lieu of class on Tuesday, you are to attend either the reading on Monday evening at 8pm or the interview on Tuesday morning at 10:30am.

http://memphis.edu/mediaroom/releases/apr11/rcw.htm

Stories for Thursday's class will be posted at left.

Only 2 Stories for class tomorrow!

1, The stories for tomorrow's workshop are at left, Gardner Mounce and Lauren Taylor.
2, Gardner wanted me to say that the margins are coming up wonky and that is not what he intended, please change the format to double spacing so it is easier to read.
3, Thanks everyone for the great conferences.

WORKSHOP Stories now Posted, look to your left for the link

To retrieve stories for workshops, please look the link under "Stories for Workshop."
There are THREE stories for Tuesday.
Have a great weekend!

Terry McMillan tomorrow night!

Terry McMillan at U of M Conference

The Blueprint of a Woman
March 25th & 26th

Keynote Speaker Terry McMillan
Friday, 7pm
U Of M Rose Theater

Deshana Cathey's story, "Judgement Day" for 03/24 copy and paste link below https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=19sXxNSvwTBDeqhSpVU1XpxV22om36MqcY-tYPMPq-5uV67l9YYA1LoYYRt1b&hl=en

Rachel Gann's story, "Bus Stop Therapy" for workshop 03/24, cut and paste this link https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=1zettV5TvWo3nc9JS4HM60PJucP-V59ho1PTXgOv8MZ4KEZ3509HoBY6CSjHQ&hl=en

Ashton Nolen's story,"The Wrong Kind of Love" for Workshop 03/22

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=1pezWXI5VsTv0yV3oK6SS8dbENv2ipLuedIHKyZl_kNavfK2FdKKekFMw6Ica&hl=en

Question to ask of the WORKSHOP story and Your OWN Story

There will be two stories workshopped on Thursday. Hopefully we'll all receive stories from Shequita and Alex via ecourseware.

Along with the Guidelines outlining Elements of Fiction, here are some direct questions that will help you write a 1/2 to full page to your peer about their story.

1, Whose story is it? How does your story reflect this? Is the point of view right for the story?

2, What does the main character want? Where is this indicated in the story? What is the conflict?

3, Does the character have an inner life?

4, Does the story both show and tell, especially toward the end of the story?

5, Is the beginning sentence the best way or place to start the story?

6, Does the dialogue serve the story well and move the plot along?

7, What about that ending? leave you hanging? tied up in a bow? are you heartbroken?

You don't need to answer every one of those for your comments but ask them all of the story and then write your reader response.

Looking forward to workshopping with you all!

Reading by Poet Albert Goldbarth, tomorrow night, March 16th!

The University of Memphis’ River City Writers Series will welcome poet and essayist Albert Goldbarth for two events on Wednesday, March 16. He will conduct an interview at 10:30 a.m. in Patterson Hall, Room 456, and read from his work at 8 p.m. in the University Center Bluff Room. Both events are free and open to the public.

Percival Everett Reading tonight - 7pm at Rhodes Blount Auditorium, Buckman Hall

Blount Auditorium, Buckman HallBuckman Hall

Hope to see you there!!!!

The Rhodes College Department of English Creative Writing Lecture Series presents a reading by internationally acclaimed novelist Percival EverettPercival Everett Thursday, 2011Thursday, March 10th, 2011 7:pm7:00 pm Blount Auditorium, Buckman HallBuckman Hall

Dorothy Allison, Mid-term Story due, enjoy Spring break!

What a lively and thought-provoking discussion today. Thanks to all of you who participated! I'd love to hear more of your thoughts and ideas and would be grateful if you blogged about the issue of race in Memphis.
Thanks to Percival Everett for such a charged story!

1, Please come out to see Dorothy Allison tomorrow evening at University Centre, 8pm. Extra credit!

2, If you haven't handed in your story for the midterm, please bring it to class on Thursday. There won't be an official class but I'll be there to talk to students who need help with their writing or who want a conference.

3, Have a great Spring Break!

Dorothy Allison: Reading, March 2 at 8pm, University Center Bluff Room

"Two or three things I know for sure, and one of them is that if we are not beautiful to each other, we cannot know beauty in any form."
— Dorothy Allison

http://memphis.edu/mediaroom/releases/feb11/allison.htm

For Tuesday, March 1

1, Read "Araby" and blog about it.

2, Read "Appropriations of Culture," by Percival Everett. Blog.

3, Revise "memory" piece once again, and hand in.

On Writing: E.L. Doctorow, from The Paris Review

"We’re supposed to be able to get into other skins. We’re supposed to be able to render experiences not our own and warrant times and places we haven’t seen. That’s one justification for art, isn’t it: to distribute the suffering? Writing teachers invariably tell students, Write about what you know. That’s, of course, what you have to do, but on the other hand, how do you know what you know until you’ve written it? Writing is knowing. What did Kafka know? The insurance business? So that kind of advice is foolish, because it presumes that you have to go out to a war to be able to do war. Well, some do and some don’t. I’ve had very little experience in my life. In fact, I try to avoid experience if I can. Most experience is bad."

Homework for Thursday, February 24th

1, Read Araby (in Norton) and post comments. Come to class prepared.

2, Bring Memory or Family story to class.

Tapka - Due tomorrow, not Thursday!

Joel kindly pointed out that I posted that "Tapka" and the rewrite of your personal story were due on Thursday, but that was a mistake. Since it's my mistake, you can have until Thursday for the rewrite but please try and have "Tapka" read for tomorrow.

Homework for Febraury 24, 2011

1, Read "Tapka." Discuss character, voice, pace, point of view on your blog.

2, Rewrite your personal story. Remember to show (using action, dialogue) AND tell (using narrative) about your characters. Remember that the reader of your story is a stranger and doesn't know what you know about the characters.

4 - 10 pages

Homework for Feb 17 !

As I mentioned in class today, many of you are not keeping up with the blog, and this will reflect in your grade, unless you keep up.

1, Write a story from either the store of your family lore, or something you remember from your own experience. THIS IS GOING TO BE A LONGER STORY. 5 - 10 PAGES, but if you don't get that far you can bring 2 to 3 pages on Thursday and we'll workshop the stories. I'm sure that you've felt held back with so few pages required of the stories so far.

2, Read "Gogol" and "Wall of Fire Rising" if you haven't yet, and blog about them. Be prepared to talk about the stories in class. Think about voice, setting, personal history, language, etc.

Happy Valentine's day!

Click for top 10 love poems.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/09/john-stammers-top-10-love-poems

****Change in Lahiri story, Please Read "Gogol" in The New Yorker, sorry about the Mixup

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/06/16/030616fi_fiction_lahiri?currentPage=all

Nicole Krauss (author of The Great House), comment about our culture, click here to read full article

On a long book tour of the US, Krauss was taken aback to find that one of the things she heard most frequently from readers was: "this book is difficult". "I was so surprised," she says. "I realise that it's challenging, that it refuses to come together too easily, but I didn't think of it as a difficult read." So how to explain it? Krauss believes – or at least, she worries – that in the west, we are moving towards the end of effort. "We've arrived at this place where we just thoughtlessly plunge towards whatever the thing is that will allow us to make less of an effort. We know we're diminishing experience. We know that it was richer to walk to the store, talk to the bookseller, maybe meet your neighbour than it is to click online. But we can't stop ourselves. We're programmed to do the 'easier' thing. That's why people have Kindles. It's easier not to have to turn the page. All that's left of turning is this bizarre little sound to remind us of it. People no longer have the concentration to finish things; we skim along on the surface, and it's miserable."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/13/nicole-krauss-great-house-interview

SNOW DAY: Feb 10, 2011... So what's next

Hi Everyone,
I was so looking forward to talking about the Allan Girganus visit while it was still so fresh! The reading and the interview were just brilliant. For those of you who were at either, please come to class with something to say about it, what struck you about his reading, his experiences or comments.
I was mesmerized by his honesty!
We'll talk more in class.

For Tuesday:

1, I will collect your "pocket" exercise.

2,
Read and blog about "Interpreter of Maladies," by Jhumpa Lahiri.
We'll discuss it and Edwidge Dandicat's "A Wall of Fire Rising." You should have already posted about Dandicat's, right? Take it as a given, if we're reading a story, I want you to blog about it. Note: All writing makes you a better writer.

3, Writing assignment: Gurganus suggested that as writers, we think not in terms of "I" but in terms of "we." What he means is that our stories are not just our own, but all the people that came before us, parents, grandparents, and so on, and in some way it is our duty to preserve them, to make sure these stories continue on.

The writing assignment is to tell me a story from your family, a story that was told to you, that you've heard many times before. When you're writing it, if the story takes on its own life (away from the truth of it), let it, that's how a lot of good fiction begins. If you don't have a story you can remember or think of, make it up.
Due Date: Thursday, Feb 17.

See you next Thursday! But before then...

1, Please come to Alan Gurganus's reading on Monday evening, at 8 p.m. in the University Center Bluff Room or the grad student interview Feb. 8 at 10:30 a.m. in Patterson Hall, Room 456. Both events are free and open to the public.

Here's more about it.
http://www.memphis.edu/mediaroom/releases/jan11/gurganus.htm


2, There will not be class, Feb. 8.

For next class, Feb. 10:

1, Writing Exercise:
Pockets: Imagine your character (or you) are going through the pockets of someone close to them, maybe it’s someone they’ve lost, or they're redying their clothes for a donation; or it’s a spouse’s pockets—misplaced car keys or a credit card; or it’s the pockets of a child as they prepare their clothes for the laundry … Imagine you or your character are emptying the pockets of a loved one; look at each item you find. What does it tell you about the person? Write. 2 -3 pages. Then rewrite them, and rewrite them again.

2, Read the story, Edwidge Danticat, "A Wall of Fire Rising" pg. 417 in the Norton
Blog about style, pacing, characters.

Midnight in Dostoevsky

http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2009/11/30/091130fi_fiction_delillo

What to prepare for next class: February 3, 2011

1,
Hope some of the story-generating ideas helped. I'd love to know where you get your ideas from or how you get inspired to write. Post a blog about it if you want to share.

2, DIALOGUE
Listen to dialogue in your every day life. Hear how it sounds, and the particulars of word choice, repetition of certain words, the way questions aren't asked or answered direectly.

* Did hearing your story read aloud help??? Hope your listening partner was kind and constructive? asked questions? etc. We'll discuss the process of Thursday.

Dialogue is very difficult to write well, the hardest I think, so don't get too freaked out about it.

Read your work aloud again. Think about every line, does it need to be there, is it adding to the story and also shaping the character?

* Note: This is how to use quotes, gramatically speaking:
"What should we drink?" the girl asked.
"It's pretty hot," the man said.

* Look at good dialogue. Read, "Hills Like White Elephants."
Study the line, "And if I do it you'll be happy and things will be like they were and you'll love me?"
Listen to the desperation in the voice, the emotion, and the uncertainty about what it seems she needs to do in order for him to love her, to keep things going as before, as if she were not pregnant.

* I will post other examples of stories with good dialogue under stories at left.

REWRITE YOUR DIALOGUE and hand them in on Thursday.


3, Read "Nativity, Caucasion," and post comments in regard to character, style, plot, etc. We'll discuss the story on Thursday.

Where do ideas come from: Allan Gurganus on writing

I know the man who cleans my Workshop office. I know all about his cockatiel’s game of taking this fellow’s cell-phone from his pocket during naps. The bird loves to poke phone buttons, trying to make sounds, all while chewing off the cell’s plastic numerals. We are sometimes so busy inventing clever issues and synthetic characters, we miss the person who all but shares our office. Chekhov insists that, on and off the page, no one must ever be humiliated.

www.allangurganus.com

Richard Bausch Visit to Class

Hi All:

So sorry I missed class today but I am grateful to Professor Bausch for reading you a story and imparting some of his wisdom. I intended on inviting him to visit our class at some point during the semester but didn't intend for it to be so early.

HOMEWORK - DIALOGUE

1, I love the story "Voices from the Other Room." It's not readily available on-line (I checked) but it is in THE STORIES OF RICHARD BAUSCH and it would be a great one to study for the writing exercise. If you are looking for other models of great dialogue, look to Elmore Leonard, John O'Hara, Liz Strout, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Jill McCorkle. In our anthology, "Hills Like White Elephants" is a classic. Find your own examples of good dialogue and bring them to class with you.

2, Okay, the homework:
WRITE a short story in dialogue, a dialogue between two people. This is fun! Show how the story moves along and give details through the dialogue. Be subtle!

3, Do not hand in a first draft. Please. Rewrite your story at least once. Read your story aloud and you'll hear what needs to be changed.

4, I will give back your first writing exercise. I have been very hard on the writing because I want you all to improve.
My advice to all of you is READ, READ, READ, READ.

Have a good weekend. Looking forward to seeing you next week!

Homework, "Brother Grasshopper" by John Updike

Read "Brother Grasshopper," by John Updike

1, Write a comment on your blog using the guidelines provided.

Access "Brother Grasshopper" at left, a link under Stories, or you are welcome to pick up a copy on the door on my office at Patterson 429.

John Updike: "Brother Grasshopper" Read and post comment on blog for Thursday

Chekhov on Writing

What he says is reflected in his prose. Writing has to be objective, to see clearly, without judgment, and to act as "an unbiased observer."

That the world “swarms with male and female scum” is perfectly true. Human nature is imperfect. But to think that the task of literature is to gather the pure grain from the much heap is to reject literature itself. Artistic literature is called so because it depicts life as it really is. Its aim is truth – unconditional and honest. A writer is not a confectioner, not a dealer in cosmetics, not an entertainer; he is a man bound under compulsion, by the realization of his duty and by his conscience. To a chemist, nothing on earth is unclean. A writer must be as objective as a chemist.

It seems to me that the writer should not try to solve such questions as those of God, pessimism, etc. His business is but to describe those who have been speaking or thinking about God and pessimism, how and under what circumstances. The artist should be not the judge of his characters and their conversations, but only an unbiased observer.

You are right in demanding that an artist should take an intelligent attitude to his work, but you confuse two things: solving a problem and stating a problem correctly. It is only the second that is obligatory for the artist.

You abuse me for objectivity, calling it indifference to good and evil, lack of ideas and ideals, and so on. You would have me, when I describe horse thieves, say: “Stealing horses is an evil.” But that has been known for ages without my saying so. Let the jury judge them; it’s my job simply to show what sort of people they are. I writ: you are dealing with horse thieves, so let me tell you that they are not beggars but well-fed people, that they are people of a special cult, and that horse stealing is not simply theft but passion. Of course it would be pleasant to combine art with a sermon, but for me personally it is impossible owing to the conditions of technique. you see, to depict horse thieves in 700 lines i must all the time speak and thing in their tone and feel in their spirit. Otherwise, the story will not be as compact as all short stories ought to be. When I write, I reckon entirely upon the reader to add for himself the subjective elements that are lacking in the story. ~Anton Chekhov

Francine Prose on "How to Read Like a Writer"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j-hHAgIDDw

Test Taking Cements Knowledge Better than Studying

"There's Been An Accident!"

Not really. But that line from the recording this afternoon is chilling! Hope you got as much out of the Reading Out Loud experience as I did. I don't think any of us will forget "A Good Man Is Hard to Find."

Thanks for bringing in your object/picture/photograph. I can't wait to read your work. Remember, this exercise is about plot. Something must happen. Tell a story. It doesn't have to be "grotesque" or "horrific" but it cannot be a meditation or a character sketch.

So.....

Homework,

1, Read "The Lady with the Dog" Chechkov. Write a blog using three of the elements of story from the handout.
2, Write a 750 word story about your object/picture/photograph.

Email me if you're confused.

Enjoy the Snow!!

What's for Thursday's class?

Thanks for a great class! You had some good insights to the stories and I feel like we're getting there with the blogs. Please email me any time with questions.

1, If you haven't read the assigned stories for the week, read them with the same attention to language as we applied to "Royal Beatings" in class today.

2, Bring in a photo, or image, or object that has some life to it, meaning that you can see a story unfolding or the base of a conflict or the germ of a scene.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/12/leave-them-and-love-them/3618/

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/12/leave-them-and-love-them/3618/

Reading Alice Munro

Read this review of 'Runaway': Alice's Wonderland By JONATHAN FRANZEN
Published: November 14, 2004

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT REVIEW OF MUNRO'S WORK AND GIVES a comprehensive guide to what makes good storytelling!

Joyce Carol Oates on the Short Story in Today's New York Times

Read this now!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/books/review/Oates-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=charles%20baxter&st=cse

Great first Class. Looking forward to working with you all!

Homework!

1, Create your blog. Go to blogger.com to get started. Please email me or post to my blog if you have any problems creating a blog.

2, Read, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," by Flannery O'Connor.
Read, "Letter to A Young Writer," by Richard Bausch
Read, "Royal Beatings," by Margaret Atwood

3, Comment on one of the stories on your blog.

Come to class on Tuesday ready to talk about the stories!

The Stories, the Blog, Your Work....Lets Get to it!!!!!!!!!

Welcome everyone! I look forward to working with you.

Here is the portion of my Syllabus you're interested in. The grading and the work. Be forewarned we will be using this line-up/schedule as a guide. It will change!!


We will be reading published stories and learning from them, line by line, what makes good writing. You will be expected to write comments about the stories on your blogs and arrive to class prepared for the discussions. You will be expected to produce your own original story and contribute to the classroom discussion of your peer’s work.
Much of the value of our time together depends upon your active, thoughtful presence.

Text:
Check the blog (http:// fictionforms4605.blogspot.com) for stories, otherwise:
*Handouts
*THE NORTON ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT FICTION, shorter seventh edition
*READIING LIKE A WRITER, A Guide for People Who Love Books and For Those Who want to Write Them, Francine Prose
*THE ART OF FICTION, John Gardner
*ON WRITING, Stephen King
*The Elements of Style, eds. William Strunk and E.B. White.

Requirements and Grading
Grades will be based on (in order of importance): 1.--the quality of the work you do as a writer and as a reader (and) 2.--the commitment you make to the material--that is, the energy and dedication with which you participate in class, on verbal and written assignments, etc. Each exercise and story will involve several drafts (“The art of writing is re-writing.”) --Sean O'Faolin).
Because one of your goals is to become your own best reader, you'll do honest, critical self-evaluations of your work. Expect unannounced quizzes. ALL out-of-class work must be typed (double spaced). Attendance is crucial. Late work will be penalized but is better than no work. Attendance at River City Writers Series Readings earn you extra credit.

Project: an original story/writing portfolio (40 %)
Quizzes (did you read the stories assigned) (10 %)
Blog (25 %)
Participation (25 %)

All work must be new and not submitted for any other class or project, past or current. Plus/minus grading is in effect. Any form of plagiarism will result in an F for the course.

Students are responsible for checking their memphis.edu email accounts and keeping up with the class blog and their own blog.

Attendance policy: Missing more than 3 sessions, unexcused, will result in a grade no higher than C. If you miss a class, you are responsible for material covered and assignments given.

Conferences: All students are encouraged to visit the instructor during office hours for a conference at least once during the semester.

Schedule (This will change)
January 13 Introductions. Class blog, how it’ll all work.
Margaret Atwood, “Why Do You Write?”

January 18/20 Richard Bausch, “Letter to a Young Writer”
Close Reading: Word by word, line by line
“A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor
“Royal Beatings,” by Alice Munro
“What is Real?” Alice Munro, Norton Anthology, pg 866

January 25/27 Sentences, “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know this is good writing.”
“The Lady with the Dog,” Anton Checkhov
“Letter to D.V. Grigorovich, March 28, 1886,” Anton Chechhov

Feb 1/3 Paragraphs, Mavis Gallant’s “The Ice Wagon Going Down the Street,” and Jhumpa Lahiri’s, “Interpreter of Maladies

February 7/8 “Fourteen Feet of Water in My House,”by Allan Gurganus
River City Writers Series presents Allan Gurganus
Reading, Feb. 7th at 8 p.m., University Centre Bluff Room

Interview, Feb. 8th at 10:30am, Patterson 456

February 10/ Dialogue, “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway
“1-900,” by Richard Bausch
“An Interview,” Ernest Hemingway, pg 856, Norton Anthology
Frederick Busch on “Hills Like White Elephants”, Norton pg. 893

February 15/17 Character, “Girl,” Jamaica Kincaid
“An Ex-Mas Feast,” by Uwem Akpan
Begin Story/workshop


Februaary 22/24 Now, “Alone,” by Yiyun Li (New Yorker, 20 under 40)
“Tapka,” by David Bezmozgis, (New Yorker, 20 under 40)

March 1/3 Revision“What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” Raymond Carver
“The Art and the Craft of Revision,” Joyce Carol Oates, Norton, pg. 869
Stories

March 2/3 River City Writers Series presents Dorothy Allison