SYLLABUS SUMMER 2005

CREATING FICTIONS HUAS 7351.521 W 6-10

Instructor: Clay Reynolds Office: Jonsson 4.624 Phone: 972-883-2763**
email: clayr@utdallas.edu Office Hours: Wed. 5-6:00 p.m. or by appointment

*I can be reached in my administrative office, 4th fl. of Jonsson Hall, during other times
** 972-883-2980 (administrative office number)
DESCRIPTION OF COURSE

This course will proceed as a combination of lecture, discussion and workshop production. It will
focus on the writing of modern short fictions. The prerequisite for this course is at least three
hours of graduate level creative writing. It is otherwise assumed that students enrolled will have
had some experience, either academic or professional, in the writing of short fiction. The focus of
the course will be on the composition and revision of a final draft of at least four short stories.
Brief lectures and discussions of the primary element of fiction—character, narrative, dialogue,
description, point of view, internal thought, action, etc.—will take place, but these will not be the
primary content of the course. Additional focus will be on individual style and experimentation.
Examples will be taken from texts as well as published works. Aspects of the business of
publishing will also be discussed.

Students will engage in the composition of a series of completed short stories—four in number—
plus some exercises in common. They will share and critique one another’s work with an eye
toward effectiveness and originality. Students should be prepared to write more or less constantly
throughout the semester and at an accelerated level of intensity. Considerable distribution of
original work will be required. Students should be prepared to photocopy and distribute all original
work at their own expense.

REQUIRED TEXTS:
Charles Bohner and Lyman Grant: Short Fiction : Classic and Contemporary
Ann Bowling and Michael Schweer, 2005 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market
Rick DeMarinis. The Art and Craft of the Short Story
Garibaldi, The MLA Style Manual, 2nd Edition
REQUIREMENTS:

All work must be computer printed or typed, and double-spaced; therefore, students should have
access to a computer word processor, or at the very minimum, a quality typewriter. Multiple
copies of original work will be required in numbers sufficient for complete classroom distribution.
Photocopying is to be done at the student's expense. (For purposes of class distribution only,
students may offer single-spaced drafts for the class using two sides of each page.). Material
handed into the instructor should not be double-sided or single-spaced..

MLA style (particularly as regards punctuation) will be required on all written work; other style or
rhetorical or grammatical formats will not be acceptable, regardless of a student’s major discipline
or background. This especially applies to style manuals published by the APA, ABA, AMA, or
your high school or junior college English teacher.

EVALUATION:

Students will be required to attend all meetings, and to be on time and prepared to begin when
the class commences. Students will be expected to complete all assigned work, all exercises on
time and in good order. They will also be asked to provide written critique of peer work in addition
to written assignments based on general reading. In addition, students will be required to read
assigned work from the text and to be able to discuss it on the assigned date.

Work will not be evaluated on individual talent, taste, or choice of material. Rather, students will
be evaluated on completion of assigned work, on the structural and mechanical correctness of
their work, on their willingness both to respond to criticism and to offer positive, corrective
critiques to their classmates' work, as well as on their demonstrated improvement and
accomplishment of the fundamentals of fiction writing. Class participation is a major component in
final grade evaluation. A primary criterion, however, will be a student’s measurable progress as a
writer of short fiction.

Students are advised that creative writing is not a leisure activity. The workload in this
course will be extraordinarily heavy, intense, and fast-paced. Students are also advised
that the production of original creative work is a considerable undertaking all by itself;
when the burden of reading and discussing texts, reading others’ work for critique, and
production of written critique is added, the load increases proportionately; when the
prospect of doing so for graded evaluation is concerned, crises can develop. Students
should anticipate such crises and strive to avoid them.

Class participation is a vital part of the student grade. Students who must miss class for
any reason are subject to grade penalty, even failure of the class.

Late or incomplete work is not acceptable; incompletes will not be given in this class.
All installments of work must be completed and distributed according to the dated
assignments or grade penalty will result. Failure to provide sufficient copies for
distribution constitutes incomplete and/or late work. Work that is not distributed at the
assigned time may not be discussed or critiqued. Attempting to make photocopies
during class breaks or just prior to the class is an uncertain practice that often results in
disaster.

Please Note the Following:

--The use of tape recorders, personal or laptop computers, cellular telephones, beepers
or other electronic gimcrackery and geegawery is not permitted during any portion of
this class. Students are encouraged, however, to take notes in long-hand. Children and
other guests are not permitted in class without prior permission of the instructor.

Format and Procedure

An integral part of this class will be predicated on each student bringing before the
group a completed short story.

The class will be divided into groups. The size of the group will be predicated on the
number of students enrolled. This will also determine the number of assignments that
will be required for the term. In every case, each participant will receive a full hard copy
of every other student’s submission. These submissions will be read by all, commented
on by all in an open forum. This will permit each student maximum exposure to critique
sessions in the course of the term and to prepare revisions as needed or desired. It is
absolutely essential that deadlines for turning in work be strictly maintained and that no
one skip a deadline .

Written hard copy critiques will be provided for each member of a group by each
member of the group, as a requirement. If students who are outside a group wish to
offer written critiques of another group’s student’s work, such would be encouraged, but
it is not required. Copies of the critiques should be given to the individual student
writer; one copy should be turned into the instructor at the point when the entire group
has been critiqued. Critiques may be single spaced for class distribution. Please be sure
to bind the critiques with paperclips or staples for each group when they are turned in.
Marginal comments on the manuscript pages are always encouraged.

Critique format will be established by a handout in the first few weeks.

Manuscript format is professional in requirement. Hard copy is required. Material

should be titled, typed, double -spaced. For class distribution purposes, both sides of a
page may be used, except for the instructor’s copy. A sufficient number of copies must
be provided so each member of the class has one. Each page should be numbered.
Handwritten alterations of small changes are permissible. Each manuscript should be
bound loosely with a clip, never enclosed in a folder, envelope, or stapled.

Verbal critiques should be succinct and on point, dealing with the specific content of a
manuscript and focusing on the elements of fiction as defined in the class and
accompanying texts. Personalities should be excluded. Participation is part of the
evaluation element of the course, and failure to engage in the verbal critiques will not
aid an individual student’s grade.
Textbooks for the course are also established. Specific assignments will probably not be
made from these texts, but each student will be responsible for a brief overview and
discussion of the contents of the texts as relevance dictates.

Students who are physically challenged or otherwise in need of special assistance are
advised to contact the office of student services.

Cheating, counterfeit work, dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated in this course.
Unless prior permission is obtained, students should not turn in work for this course
that was created, all or in part, in conjunction with another course.

A calendar will be provided by the second class meeting.

Calendar:
All dates and assignments are tentative and subject to change. Assignments will be
made with ample time for completion given. Please be alert to impromptu alterations
and mistakes in the schedule.

May

18: First Class Meeting; Introductory Lecture—First Story Assignment

25: Second Class Meeting—Elements of Fiction

June

1: Third Class Meeting—Story One Due

8: Fourth Class Meeting—Story One Critiqued; Report on Character Due

15: Fifth Class Meeting—Story Two Critiqued--Story Three Due ; Report on Point of
View Due

29: Sixth Class Meeting—Story Three Critiqued—Story Four Due—Report on

Dialogue Due

July

6: Seventh Class Meeting—Story Four Critiqued—Report on Setting Due

13: Eighth Class Meeting—Final Revisions Due —Report on Structure Due

20: Ninth Class Meeting—Final Revised Story Critiqued

27: Final Exam Meeting