ENGLISH CPY: Fiction Writing: Workshop

ENGLISH CPY: Fiction Writing Workshop

Fall 2024
Mondays: TBD

Classroom: TBD

 

 

Instructor: Paul Yoon

 

Requirements

You will be responsible for drafting about 2 full short stories. Your first short story, 15 page limit, will be workshopped in class and critiqued by your peers. The other will be group-workshopped in a smaller setting toward the end of the term. You will also be responsible for participating in class discussions, in-class writing exercises, and writing peer critiques throughout the semester.

 

At the end of the semester, you will turn in one, completed story, either a revision of your workshopped story or an entirely new one. Again, my expectation is that you will be writing all semester toward that end goal.

 

Responsibilities: to write and to share your work, to read the assigned stories, to think about the craft of both your colleague’s stories and the published stories; to participate in class writing exercises; to participate in workshop.

 

Overall: I want you to be be an active, engaged, enthusiastic, supportive, and kind member of both this classroom community.

 

Remember this a class where self-discipline and creating an independent writing schedule is crucial to your success in this class as well as to your success as a writer long after this class ends. If you figure this out, you’ll have learned the hardest part of being a writer: having the self-discipline to write on your own with no deadlines!

 

Peer Critiques

On workshops days, you will be required to prepare a reader’s response for every story being workshopped. Responses should be about 1-2 pages (double-spaced, typewritten) and should be directed at craft elements of the stories. Prepare to email the writer and me your critique.

 

Reading Assignments

PDFs/or printouts of the short stories will be passed out the week before.

 

Please come in prepared to talk about these stories in depth. TAKE NOTES and bring them in. I promise that your reading experience this term will be just as rewarding, inspiring, and valuable to you as a student and writer. Consider it a safe space for you to explore ideas about craft—a space to challenge yourself and your work. Think about how a short story is structured. Or the use of memory in a short story. Or how conflict is employed. Its sense of place. Why it starts where it does. Why it ends where it does. Anything. Everything. All of these craft elements in the assigned stories will be tools you can use to write your own stories.

 

Attendance/Participation

We rely totally and absolutely on your attendance and participation. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility and yours alone to do the assigned work for that day and to find out what was discussed around the table.

 

Please note that due to our schedule, Workshops will not be made up!

 

Strong participation is key for success in this class. Students should plan to participate in all discussions and activities and writing exercises. Merely being present is not enough; throughout the semester we are all responsible for keeping the discussion lively and interesting. You will be evaluated on your contributions to in-class discussions and workshops, punctuality, attitude, effort, accountability, responsibility, and overall preparedness and engagement. Failure to bring texts or other required materials to class will most definitely impact your participation grade, as will coming to class unprepared. ALL these components make up your final participation grade.

 

Late Work

I do not accept late work unless there is an official emergency/excuse. The reason is simple: this class relies on independence and discipline. You should be working on your stories from day 1, and not wait until the day before your workshop day. Please note: if you do not turn in a story, this will affect your grade.

 

Evaluation

Final Portfolio: One completed story/Cover Letter 75%

Participation, Daily Assignments, Peer Critiques 25%

 

Workshop Procedures

FORMAT: typed, 12 pt font, double-spaced, titled, page-numbered with one-inch margins, and spell-checked.

 

And NO: I will not read your story before everyone else does: that defeats the point of workshop!

 

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Harvard University values inclusive excellence and providing equal educational opportunities for all students. Our goal is to remove barriers for disabled students related to inaccessible elements of instruction or design in this course. If reasonable accommodations are necessary to provide access, please contact the Disability Access Office (DAO). Accommodations do not alter fundamental requirements of the course and are not retroactive. Students should request accommodations as early as possible, since they may take time to implement. Students should notify DAO at any time during the semester if adjustments to their communicated accommodation plan are needed.

 

 

A Note on Plagiarism

Let’s be clear: if you take credit for something you did not write, you’ve committed an act of plagiarism. In this case, the student will be reported and will FAIL the entire course.

 

 

Content Alert

Literature seeks to make us feel and think in new ways—to challenge us and to confront our pre-existing comfort zones. As such, our experiences as readers are not always comfortable. The books we will read for this course, and the work you and your fellow students will write for this course, might include dramatized situations that evoke landscapes, experiences, emotions, and/or ideas that are challenging and, in some instances, even disturbing. Being triggered by a work, however, is wholly distinct from feeling unsettled or challenged—and I take this issue seriously. If at any point in the semester you find that you are struggling with a particular novel or the work of your colleagues, please contact me for a confidential discussion.

 

 

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