What’s Coming Up?

1. What’s Coming Up? • Tour of the Disciplines (9 days; 3 disciplines) • Special Topics (4 days, 4 topics) • Magazine Prep and Major Project Research (3 days) • Intensive Writing (work on Major Projects and other pieces) (7 days) • Completion of Magazines, Major Projects, Portfolios (6 days) • Closing Ceremony!

2. Today, June 7th We’ll reflect broadly on some ideas about writing. We’ll do what writers do: WE’LL FIND MATERIAL—even risking discomfort, if we have to! We’ll do what writer’s do: draft a story. • We’ll do what writers do: consider the formal demands of a story. • We’ll do what writer’s do: solicit feedback. • We’ll do what writer’s do: edit, polish, and submit our work to the world.

3. What is this stuff and how do you learn it? Where is its place in the history of writing/writing studies? How do you teach it? How is it different from any other kind of writing?

4. Let’s start with “creative writing”— small “c” & small “w” :)

5. What kind of writing is “creative” writing? What is “art,” really? What’s it for? Whom is it for? Take a look at a verrrrryyyyy long list of quotations about art, creative writing, and the creative process online: Skittish Libations

6. Read through your classmates’ views from our journal writing yesterday. Try to EXTRACT as many distinct ideas or views as you can. That is, how many specific ways of completing this sentence do you find in the journals? Creative writing (art) is ________________. Jot down each idea on a piece of scratch paper or in Word.

7. Now pair up with another person, and consolidate your lists. I.e., complete this sentence in as many different ways as possible. Write your list in Word. • Creative writing is ________________. • Creative writing is ________________. • Creative writing is ________________. • Etc. When done, each person should copy-paste their list into their journal, with the header, “_____’s and ____’s List of Views.”

8. Let’s have each pair share some of their stuff. And let’s consider the strengths as well as the limitations of each view.

9. Creative Writing is…

10. Maybe writing’s a constant NEGOTIATION of binaries SELF OTHER Artist Audience

11. Process… Something produced solely for others; a means of pleasing an audience A mysterious inborn talent Formalist A commodity Expression that is shaped and crafted The honoring of tradition A pile of crap; a hoax; excuse for not having a REAL job Creative Writing Art Formalist A learnable skill Emotional or psychological therapy The subversion of tradition Expression that is wide-open and free Self-expression; solely for self ; exploration of one’s unique vision Formalist …Product…

12. A confrontation with reality; facing reality Note that some types, such as satire, mock or interrogate reality The invention of reality Formalist Creative Writing The improvement of reality (art as a hammer An escape from reality; a sedative or distraction Formalist Defiance of reality; reality as it ought to be A magnification of reality Formalist

13. Ok. So nobody knows how to define it. Or there’s no final definition. Then how do we learn it? How does it get taught? Should I, as a teacher, emphasize process or product? Craft or free exploration? How is it distinguished from any other kind of writing and so what’s it’s place in the schools at any level? In other words…

14. What is “Creative Writing” with a capital C and W? = the branch of English Studies that involves teaching and learning how to write creatively, right? Yeah, but…

15. Isn’t all writing “creative”? Why call it Creative Writing? Can it really be taught? Isn’t it about talent and a mysterious ability to summon the muse? What’s it doing in a university? How do you evaluate it? How does it relate to Rhetoric and Composition, Literary Studies, Linguistics, Technical Writing? Isn’t writing in these fields creative also? What’s more important: the writing of literature or the study of it?

16. Did you know… In some of its earliest appearances in higher ed, Creative Writing was offered to help students understand literature better. I.e., it was in the service of literature studies. The idea was that by writing some fiction, poetry, or drama themselves, students would better understand the masterpieces of literature.

17. But also… a bunch of teachers who were also writers wanted to get together with other writers and blab about their work— in a college setting. (Couldn’t hang out in the bistros of Paris or Gertrude Stein’s salon anymore, so had to get together somewhere…)

18. It’s always been a bit of an outlaw… Not scholarly like other disciplines. The MFA is a studio degree. Very different criteria. Not really “academic.” Considered to be even a “spiritual” discipline. A “soft” subject. Workshop approach is considered by some to be whimpy: writers who want to talk with other writers sit in a circle and read/discuss their stuff, while a teacher/published writer chimes in.

19. Since the 80s, though, It has been influenced by postmodern theory, composition studies, and English education. The way it is taught is changing here and there… You can now study “the teaching of Creative Writing” as a subject itself. Or “Creative Writing Studies” which examines: Creative writing pedagogy The culture of creative writing/creative writing in the culture The history of creative writing in the university. You can get an MA and PhD in “Creative Writing Studies.”

20. Me? What in the heck do I do as a teacher of the stuff? When I go into the creative writing classroom…

21. I teach genres. Poetry, fiction. Creative nonfiction. Some script writing. • I encourage wide-open, glorious self-expression. Go for it. • I encourage self-denial and disciplined attention to the needs of audience. Craft. • I encourage demented new ways of thinking about the world. • I encourage thoughtful appreciation of very old traditions. • I try to do everything. • That’s why I’m burning out. • That’s why I’m insane. • Don’t tell my boss.

22. Take a 5-10 minute break.

23. Let’s stop theorizing now and start behaving like writers—like fiction writers (for the time being).

24. Go give away a buck. Yeah. I’m serious. Give a dollar to a random stranger. Do NOT explain that your were assigned to do it. Do NOT give specific reasons for doing it. Be attentive. Be awake to the whole experience. See it. GO!

25. Don’t talk. Don’t think. Just go into your journal, create a header (“The Lucky Dollar”), and describe what happened. Don’t comment on the experience. Just describe the whole thing in specific detail from start to finish. Re-see it. Details!

26. Ok. Where’s the “story” in what happened? In your journal, under “Story Idea,” briefly sketch out a tale (a paragraph summary). Your sketch should include some mention of plot, setting, and characer. How to you make a story out of what happens in your life? How do you “find” stories? Let’s just take the issue of plot, for instance, in the events you just experienced…

27. Possible pts. of view • You • Teacher • Onlookers • Classmates Point of entry • Instructor giving assignment • You on your way • Teacher waiting • Handing over the dollar • Framing device Narrative question • What will it feel like? (action story about people in conflict, danger) • What will happen to me when I do this weird thing? Can I make myself do it? (character-based story about personal growth; tiny coming-of-age piece) • Why is instructor doing this? (story about education; maybe mentor-piece; battle-of-wills piece) • What will students think of this assignment? (the burned-out teacher; the evil teacher; the heroic teacher)

28. What will be some triggers, hooks, complicating actions, mounting tension? • Dialogue with other students on the way • New thoughts on the way • Diversions; delays; false leads • Receiver responds in completely unexpected way What exactly will be the setting: how do things LOOK when one is stepping directly into the unknown? What will be the crisis point? What are the risks and drawbacks of this particular story idea? Pat theme!!!!!!

29. With those considerations in mind, write an actual story. You can draft your work in Word. Be sure to save frequently to your jump drive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

30. Workshop “Lucky Dollar” Drafts • Have you written a short story—or an essay? A short story or a memoir? • Are the characters “round”? Distinctive? Nuanced? • What is the narrative question, and how is it finally answered? • Are scenes developed? • What is the plot and how effectively is it paced?

31. Flash Let’s put your story aside for a bit, and look at some stories others have written. Let’s start with Fiction

32. Hey, why do we like this stuff? Are we so brain-dead these days that we can’t concentrate on a long work? What are its virtues? What are its challenges?

33. “The Poet’s Husband” Just reminding you about the coming days… • Tour of the Disciplines (9 days; 3 disciplines) • Special Topics (4 days, 4 topics) • Magazine Prep and Major Project Research (3 days) • Intensive Writing (work on Major Projects and other pieces) (7 days) • Completion of Magazines, Major Projects, Portfolios (6 days) • Closing Ceremony! This is a really short story, and only one sentence long! Does it work? Are the characters fully developed? Is the plot engaging? Damned straight!

34. Today, June 9th • A little more on fiction • Begin poetry. • Discuss some poets. • Minor Poetry Exercise. • Work on own poems. • Workshop.

35. Final Thoughts on Fiction • You don’t need to tackle horrendous life crises necessarily. A short story can be about an everyday moment, exchange, event. In fact, some believe that literature is all about defamiliarizing the ordinary; making us see the smallest details of everyday life again. • Watch out for circularity, closure, the perfectly symmetrical.

36. By the end of GS, we’d like you to submit work for our local buses!

37. P o e t r yGoing Back to The Very Beginning BTW: Harmonious Confusion

38. Lewis, “The Accident”: narrative tradition in poetry. Use wiki Discussion to explore together. Bishop: seeing what’s there. Smallest detail. “The Luminous Object.” Edson, Simic, Neruda: revelation, alternate logics, surrealism.

39. toast

40. Describe what you see on the table. REALLY LOOK. The thing. The thing itself. Make the object… luminous

41. STOP ! ! Are you missing details right and left? Are you engaging only on one or two senses? Get out of your blammed chairs! Try a thesaurus!

42. STOP Again! Are you being dull? Are you being predictable? Stop being such a bore! Stop being so tame! Get into LANGUAGE!!! Kenneth Koch.

43. What’s figurative language? How do you say that someone is drunk? How many animal metaphors do we use everyday? Where did most worn-out metaphors come from, and how do we keep the language alive?

44. Worst High School Metaphors 1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master. 2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free. 3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it. 4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. 5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up. 6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

45. 7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree. 8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife’s infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine. 9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t. 10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup. 11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. Instead of 7:30.  12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

46. 13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease. 14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. Traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. At a speed of 35 mph. 15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth. 16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met. 17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River. 18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut. 19. Shots rang out, as shots are want to do.

47. 20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work. 21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while. 22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something. 23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant. 24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools. 25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

48. Sometimes it helps to take a really unusual perspective…say, that of an animal. Once a student wrote a piece from the point of view of a deer. It described a hunter’s gun as “a branch that barks.”

49. Try Being Surreal

50. Surrealism Surrealism