Advanced Workshop Policies and Requirements

Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop

ENGL 4392

Spring 2009

1. Requirements

Fiction: minimum three polished short stories or the equivalent of around 50 polished pages. Final drafts turned in late will receive a penalty of one letter grade. Since we will deal exclusively in this class with photocopied texts that will be evaluated and edited at home by all class members prior to the class meeting, all stories must be submitted in ready-to-copy form. (50% of final grade.)

Critiques and quizzes: Each student will turn in written commentaries on all stories evaluated in class. Workshop sheets are due each week on stories read from the anthologies. (20% of final grade.)

Worksheets on stories from text: 20% of final grade

Workshop oral participation: (10% of final grade.)

2. Attendance Two points subtracted from final grade for every unexcused absence. At the risk of insult, I have to add that only written excuses from doctors constitute legitimate excuses for absences, and that does not include dental or medical appointments made in advance.

3. Textbook: The Contemporary American Short Story.

4. Fees: Each student will pay the Department of English a $10 fee to cover the cost of photocopying.

5. Office/Phone, Etc. My office is in 254 Dallas Hall; phone 768-2957; E-mail: cwsmith@mail.smu.edu. Website: http://faculty.smu.edu/cwsmith

+ NOTES:

Since for all of you this is your second workshop course, it's important for you to realize that I have certain presumptions regarding your work both in and out of class. In the introductory course I feel that it is necessary to give students leeway in regard to deadlines or excuses for sloppy presentations, as well as generally offer them an indulgent hand when it comes to expectations of overall quality.

However, you are no longer being "introduced" to fiction writing, and your presence in this workshop implies a higher degree of commitment to the work, a willingness to show initiative, a greater dedication to the study of craft. I will expect more from you both as writers and as critics of one another's works. Specifically, these expectations can be found in the following:

+ PRELIMINARY/PRESENTATION DRAFTS. Please observe that I haven't used the term "rough" to describe these initial drafts. You should treat your presentation time for a "preliminary" draft as an opportunity to present a work that has been brought to as complete and perfect a state as you can make it without input from your fellow writers' criticism. This may mean that the manuscript you present to the class may have gone through several drafts before you've submitted it to me and to the class. The manuscript of the story should be complete, and it should be in a "camera-ready" condition so far as you're concerned; i.e., it should be presented in the same condition you would expect to present a final or polished draft: free of grammatical errors, typographical errors, and spelling errors, with standard margins, page numbers, title, double-spaced on white paper and printed using a dark ribbon or cartridge.

+ REVISED DRAFTS: The adjective "revised" in the requirements paragraph above relating to the writing assignments needs elaboration. For a story to be called "revised," it must be as ready for publication as a student writer can possibly make it after considering the criticism the story has been given. This might require six, seven, ten or fifteen drafts, or the number of revisions most professional writers normally require to bring a story to such a state. All of the aesthetic problems regarding structure, characterization, pacing, atmosphere, theme, and style should be solved to the utmost degree to which the writer is capable. The manuscript itself should be prepared according to the guidelines given at the end of this handout.

Producing short stories that meet these requirements means that you need to work on them every day. You need to think of trying to produce a publishable short story rather than merely submitting a paper to fulfill an assignment.

+ WRITING CRITIQUES

Just as your responsibilities as a writer are more serious in this workshop, so are your responsibilities as a critic. Each period you will receive a fellow student's work to take home and evaluate prior to the next workshop meeting. Adhere to the following guidelines:

1) Do not wait until the class meets to write your critique. Do not write any critique in class.

2) Feel free to make editing suggestions or remarks about style in the margins or between the lines of the story as you read it. If you find a good phrase, praise it; if you find a mistake in grammar or spelling, mark it; if you find a turn of phrase that sets your teeth or edge or makes you laugh when you shouldn't, note it; if a scene went well, say so; if a line of dialogue worked, point it out.

3) Use your written commentary to discuss larger points of failure or success:

-- What effect is the story trying to achieve? Does it succeed or fail? Why?

-- What is the story's apparent theme or idea? Does it come through clearly?

-- Are all parts developed properly, or are some too long or too short?

-- Does the choice of point of view make sense? Does the point of view remain useful and consistent?

-- What is the story's central conflict or source of interest? Is it clearly set out and developed?

-- Try to give the writer a sense of your emotional and intellectual reactions as your reading of the story progressed.

4) It's as important to let the reader know when or where or in what way the story is succeeding as it is to point out the story's weaknesses.

5) Remember that the point of the critiques is to help the writer, not to fulfill an assignment. Critiques handed in later than a day or so after the presentation are not useful and will not be accepted.