Week 3: Show and Tell/Plot

Note: I sometimes change or modify assignments, based on what happens in class, so keep that in mind if you get ahead in the assignments.

Mon 1/22 (S): Read Chapter 2 of Writing Fiction, "Seeing Is Believing," pp. 21-42 (you can skip the stories).

    • Journal Entry #3

      • Required prompt:

        • Write about noises you wish you've never heard or tastes you wish you never experienced. Use as much sensory detail as possible when describing these auditory and taste experiences.

      • AND/OR:

        • Lie down wherever you are (carpet, cement, grass, etc.) and describe the textures you feel beneath you. Again, use as much sensory detail as possible.

    • Word count minimum: 350 words (short!)

    • Again, time yourself and write the time the journal entry took you at the bottom of the entry

    • Post here

Tues 1/23 (Block B) or Weds 1/24 (Block E) (L):

    • Assignment posted on Canvas--"Textures and Tastes."

    • Look under "Discussion" on Canvas.

      • Make sure you post in the correct block.

      • NOTE: this assignment will be shared and seen by your classmates (it's not a freewrite per se)

Thurs 1/25 (L):

  • Read Writing Fiction, "Tower and the Net: Story Form, Plot, and Structure," pp. 230-251 (you can skip the short stories)

    • Note: this is CHAPTER 7 so we are not going chronologically through the book.

  • Short story exercise: postponed till next Monday.

Mon 1/29 (S):

  • Short story reading: "One of These Days" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (157-159) in reader.

    • Short story exercise: Write a short story in 100 words. Notice that if you're going to manage a conflict, crisis, and resolution in this small space, you'll have to introduce the conflict immediately.

      • Please use the word "(word to be announced)" in your story.

      • Please write on a word doc that you'll bring to class (it will be shared and posted in Google Classroom).

    • Block B: please use the word "Valentine" in your story. For an extra challenge, try using "pineapple" as well (or "lunge"?).

    • Block E: please use the word "abstain" in your story.

Be thinking about/generating ideas for your first story, which is due Thursday 2/8. Word count: 900 words.