CRWT 3307.

06M Course Syllabus: Creative Writing

Summer 2006 — The University of Texas at Dallas
Instructor: Carrie-Sue Kay
carriesuekay@comcast.net

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Our class is intended to help you develop the art of storytelling,
through practice, reading and discussion. Much of our in-class time
will be dedicated to collaborative workshopping of your stories. In
addition to student writing, we will discuss various published works.
Over the course of the term, students will be required to produce two
polished stories. Grades will be based on the quality of your writing,
class attendance and participation in workshops.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
WRITING: 2 finished stories plus revisions; additional assignments
TBA. Everything you bring to class must bear your name and
must be typed or word-processed, double-spaced, with one-
inch margins and numbered pages, in a readable font of 10-12
points, and very carefully proofread. Assignments turned in after
class on a due date are considered late, and lose half a letter grade for
every day late (including weekends). Assignments will never be
accepted over one week late. One missed assignment will result in a
failing grade for the course. Therefore, plan ahead, and start your
writing early. A sloppily constructed or carelessly composed piece of
writing is never acceptable for workshopping. Your peer editors are
expected only to help you refine your work, never to write it for you.

WORKSHOPPING: Our course will depend heavily on workshopping.

In other words, we will often use students’ writing as our texts in
class. The purpose of workshopping is to focus attention on your
writing, to help you understand your responsibility to your readers, to
help you learn the skills of revision, and to help make you a better
critical reader and editor. Participation and cooperation in
workshopping is a requirement for this course. Each writer will have
two opportunities to have their writing workshopped by the entire
class. One week before your piece is to be workshopped, you must
bring enough copies to class for everyone. Failure to bring these
copies a week before your workshop date will significantly reduce your
grade. Emailing stories is not an option.

RESPONSE PAPERS: As peer editors, you read (twice!) and critique

a piece during the week before a workshop. Feel free to write in the
margins as you read: make readable marks, and explain your
comments to the author whenever necessary. Following the outline at
the end of this syllabus, each peer editor is required to compose a
response to every piece under scrutiny, to be used during the
workshop for discussion purposes and then given to the author for use
in revision. Peer editor responses should be 1-2 pages, and must be
typed. Make two copies. Staple one copy to the draft to hand back to
the author, and turn the other one in to me.

ATTENDANCE: Mandatory. Because this course is essentially a

collaborative project, any work completed during class cannot be made
up outside of class. If you are absent, you must deliver your response
papers to the author of the day, and arrange to get copies of any new
readings for next time, early enough to read twice and critique. I am
not responsible for providing you with any materials or information if
you have been absent or tardy, for whatever reason. After two
unexcused absences, your grade will be lowered one half grade for
each additional absence, up to and including an F. If you are wise,
you will always come to class, on time and prepared.

PARTICIPATION: You are paying good money to sit in class with

other smart people and talk about interesting matters; the only way
you can capitalize on this opportunity is by fully taking part. The level
and quality of your involvement in class is an important part of your
grade. Discussions in class will ideally remain open-minded,
appreciative, analytical, thoughtful, and helpful.

PLAIGIARISM: If you include in your writing for our class any words
or ideas — anything — which you have taken from another source
(including websites), you must credit that source or you are
plagiarizing. If you are not sure whether something should be cited,
either check the University’s plagiarism statement or ask me. The
penalty for plagiarism is a failing grade for the plagiarized work, and
presentation to the Academic Judiciary Board, without exception.
Students found to be plagiarizers by the Board have, at times, been
expelled from the University.

GRADES: Your final grade for this course will be determined 50% by
the quality of the work you turn in to me, and 50% for your
attendance and participation in our class, including: discussion of
assigned readings, your written answers to reading questions and
random quizzes and other miscellaneous assignments, and your
critiques of peer drafts. As mentioned above, final grades will be
lowered for absences, or for lack of full participation in class
discussions.
 OUTLINE for PEER EDITOR RESPONSE PAPERS

1. Your name
2. Author’s name
3. Title of story
4. Workshop date

- Summarize the story in two or three sentences. If this summary is difficult

or problematic for any reason, comment on the difficulty and point out
trouble spots.
- What did you like best about this story? Think about events, characters,
descriptions, tone, language, theme, or anything that appeals to you,
interests you, or pleases you. Explain why you like these things. Be specific.
What is the story’s main strength?
- What did you like least about this story? What is the story’s main
weakness? What can you criticize? Explain.
- What issues does the author raise? What were your reactions to those
issues? Why do you think you responded in this manner? Which issues
needed to be further addressed, and why?
- What might you cut, and why? What else might you change? Be sure to
consider the repercussions of adding, cutting, or altering something in the
story: what will happen to the story as a result of those changes?
- Are the ideas presented in an order that makes sense to readers? If not,
how does the writer deal with the organization? How is the story’s
organization helping or hindering your understanding of the author’s
intentions?
- What does the opening accomplish? How else might the story open? What
does the ending accomplish? How else might the story end?
- What do you consider to be the story’s message? How does the title relate
to that message?
- Which writing strategies or risks taken, in ideas or mode or style, or
anything at all, do you find most effective and why?