Introduction to Creative Writing
Session 1
Getting Started
·
Exercise: One sentence bio
·
Exercise: Sentence
innovation
· Journal Entry
· Homework: First person narratives - biography
Session 2
Descriptive Writing
·
Exercise: Spicing
up the facts
·
Journal Entry
·
Homework: Draft of first piece – expanded
biography
Session 3
The Elements of
Storytelling
·
Exercise: Choosing
elements for your story
·
Journal Entry
·
Workshop: Manuscript #1
·
Homework: Rewrite
first draft and/or begin second
Session 4
Just Say It! –
Writing Dialogue
·
Exercise: Start
talking!
·
Exercise: Character development
·
Workshop: Manuscript
#1 or #2
·
Homework: Rewrite
previous drafts or begin third draft
Session
5
The Nitty Gritty -
Plot
·
Exercise: Plot
outline
·
Journal Entry
·
Workshop: Rewrites
or draft #3
·
Homework: Final
manuscript
Session 6
The Writer’s Life
·
Exercise: First
Sentences
·
Workshop: Final
manuscript
Resources:
Relative books
The 7 Basic Plots
Introduction to Creative Writing Workshop
This workshop has been designed to accelerate your creativity and get
you started on writing projects. Whether you’re aiming for poetry or prose,
fiction or non-fiction, the purpose here is to get you writing through the use
of tools, prompts, exercises and ideas. By the end of the workshop you will
understand the concepts of character, setting, dialogue, scene and plot and
will have written several original pieces.
What follows is a series of readings and exercises, some of which will
be completed during this workshop and others that may be done on your own. The
material is divided like this:
READING – Completed before each class
EXERCISE – To do in class
JOURNAL ENTRY – Both in class and out
HOMEWORK – Completed between classes
Along with this packet you will need something to write in - a journal
or binder – to use as a workbook. The exercises are pre-requisites for the
journal entries which will be started in class and can be continued at your own
pace. In turn, the journal entries will be used to compose the first drafts of
your writing projects.
What you learn here can be applied to all forms of writing. The same
basic elements of storytelling are used in everything from a newspaper article
to a literary short story, from a blog to an autobiography.
Once you have some writing down on paper, we’ll take a look at ways to
extract the concepts you like most and start the process of fine-tuning them.
Peer review will be established in a workshop setting for those interested in
participating.
WORKSHOP: The word “workshopping” has come to mean the
process of peer review of writing in a round table setting. For those
interested in participating, copies of your work will be submitted to the rest
of the group a week or so in advance for reading and review. Then during class,
time will be set aside in order for the piece to be read out loud and the
critiques shared. You will then have the choice of rewriting the draft or
submitting a new piece for another session.
Session 1
Getting
Started
This is
about broad strokes, not the little details. Think of this stage as applying
the gesso to the canvas before you begin to paint. The idea here is to begin.
Don’t think much about the big picture quite yet, just let yourself get some
ideas down. Share, borrow, quote, or lift! You can’t go wrong here…
EXERCISE: One sentence bio (5 minutes)
As with all
good workshops, let's start by sharing some information about who we are.
Answer these questions:
What is
your name?
What year
were you born?
What event(s)
or other notable things occurred the year you were born? If you don't know,
draw on something from your early years.
Now, string the
sentences together into one. For example:
“My
name is Laura and I was born in 1958, the year of the dog and stereophonic
sound.”
EXERCISE: Expanded bio (15 minutes)
More about you.
Jot down an answer to each of the following questions:
What kind
of day are you having?
What's a
favorite song, book, or movie?
Where are
you happiest?
What's
something you're good at?
Which
family member or friend keeps you most excited about life?
Who is
someone you miss?
What is a
mistake people often make about you?
What's your favorite social activity?
What magical power would you like to have?
What country are you longing to visit?
When combined,
it will look something like this:
I'm
having a marvelous day. My favorite movie is “The Razor's Edge.” I'm happiest
when I'm reading. I'm good at playing guitar. My grandson keeps me excited
about life. I miss my friend Erin from college. People often mistake me for an
extravert. My favorite social activity is camping. If I could have a magical
power it would be to fly. I'm longing to visit Botswana.
The result is a
brief and informative bio but without any color or imagination. In other words
– boring! So how to go about spicing it up?
EXERCISE: Sentence innovation (15 minutes)
Write one
sentence in response to each of the prompts below. When you're finished, the
end result should read as a continuous whole.
For example:
Write a sentence with a wall or boundary in it:
“Even
though the boundary between our land and theirs spanned several acres, the
distance seemed but a shout away.”
Or:
“All
we needed to accomplish that summer was finishing the mortar on the wall.
Now, your turn.
Write a sentence with...
·
a
wall or boundary in it
·
weather
·
sound
·
a
gesture
·
a
line of dialogue or two with six words or less in each
·
light
in it
·
a
line of dialogue of ten words or more
·
a
ceiling or floor in it
·
texture
·
an
object smaller than a hand
·
a
sentence fragment
·
a
piece of furniture
·
a
line of dialogue that's a question
·
a
hand or fingers in it
·
a
line of dialogue that is whispered
JOURNAL
ENTRY: (15 minutes)
Now let's write
a first-person narrative using all the prompts in the second exercise. Use as
many details from the first exercise as you can. Don't give a thought to “fact”
or “fiction.” There will be plenty of time later to determine when you want to
separate the two.
Here's an
example:
“Some
would say I wasted the whole summer sitting on the stone wall, reading
or playing my guitar. References were made to how the temperature was
perfect for grouting. I ignored everything except the voice of my
grandson. Heads turned each time someone drove by. “Oh, whatever,”
I muttered to myself.
“But
finally another day would end and the darkness gave me a bona fide
excuse to not have to work on that damn wall. “But are you going to just
leave it the way it is?” my neighbor asked. “Seems a shame after all the
hard work you done.”
“I'd
taken to sleeping on the floor. Since my plans to spend the summer
camping with Erin had swiftly changed, I felt compelled to rough it anyway. The
only other reason was it seemed I needed the feel of the polished wide planks beneath me. One drawback to this bright idea
was that it made it easier for the spiders to reach me. Who knows? Every since we'd all arrived a month
ago it was clear there were more serious answers needed than whether or not to
sleep on the bed. I moved my hand far enough from my face until
its shape disappeared in the dark. “I wish I could fly away,” I
whispered to myself.”
Yay! You're
writing! Easy, hunh? Compare the differences between the two sets of writing.
The second is much more compelling and interesting. Perhaps you’re inspired to
continue with the story you started or maybe return to the expanded bio and
make it come alive.
Session 3
Elements of Storytelling
READING:
From the 100 word flash fiction piece to a
thousand page history book, all storytelling contains the same basic elements.
In this section the use of the word “story” can mean non-fiction, poetry, song
lyrics, a travel blog… any written (or oral) piece used to communicate
information. Although there are different techniques for various forms, a good story has a character(s), a setting, and
some sort of conflict to resolve.
Characters
A character doesn’t have to be a human nor does
she have to be alive. Amazing characters have been created out of dogs, aliens,
and ghosts. What’s most important is that the characters you create are
authentic and believable. There is no denying that E.T. was real, regardless of
whether or not one believes in extraterrestrials.
Setting and Time
Every
piece of writing includes a setting which can also be thought of as a backdrop.
The setting establishes the time, place, and context of the story. A writer
will select a particular setting for many reasons – as a motive, a metaphor, to
create conflict or a mood. The passage of
time is
also important. A writer can use scene, summary, or flashbacks to show the
passage of time.
The
setting refers to the time, place, and context of the story. In Jack London’s
“To Build a Fire,” location is critical. Set in the Yukon, the man is traveling
through the winter snow with his dog, the temperature is 50 below zero, and if
he doesn’t get to the camp by nightfall he (and the dog) will die. Without this
particular location there would be no story. The writer must create a setting
which allows the reader to suspend disbelief and continue reading. In order for
this to occur the setting must be believable. This is not to say that it must be true. All sorts of genres of writing
rely on settings that can’t possibly be true – science fiction is a prime
example. But yet a good writer can make any setting completely believable.
The
setting also includes the time of the
story. Time is fictional, not real. Stories can take place during a
specific period of time, such as a conversation, hour, few hours, or few days.
Sometimes the stories span many years. In addition, the story will take place
within a particular social, political, economic, or historical context.
The role of setting
The
most important reason for setting is to create a backdrop for the story. A
setting can be established in various ways. Here’s a look at some:
· Conflict
Sometimes
setting is the conflict of the story. The setting stresses the tension between
the main character and the setting. A common example of this is man vs. nature.
For instance, in London’s story the conflict is between the man traveling on
foot in the cold and snow of winter. He attempts to hike with his dog to a camp
site where his friends are. In order to succeed he must endure snow, ice, and
cold. He is in a race against nature. Without this particular setting there is
no story.
· Metaphor
Setting can
also act as a metaphor of the story. In Hemingway’s “Hills Like White
Elephants” the dialogue of the story reveals the metaphorical nature of the
setting with the hills representing fertility.
·
Atmosphere
or Mood
Edgar Allen Poe uses gruesome moods to add to
the tension of the story. In doing so he reveals the character’s emotional and
psychological state.
· Motive
A character’s
actions can be driven by motive as in Tom Franklin’s “Alaska,” a story about a
planned trip. The writer tells the story about what would happen if the trip
were to take place, how the men would quit their jobs, sell their cars, leave
their girlfriends, and set out for Alaska to start a new life. The story begins
with, “Our aim was this: Alaska.”
Time
Since time in a story isn’t real the writer must make is seem as though
it is. Here are some examples of how to do so:
· Summary
By summarizing, a writer can explain blocks of time in the past in
order to bring the reader up to the present, providing the reader with an
understand of what has happened previously.
· Scene
A typical scene includes setting,
dialogue, and action. All of these can establish a sense of time for the reader.
A scene will have a beginning, middle, and end which will evoke the passage of
time.
·
Flashback
A writer can employ the technique
of flashbacks to share information about what occurred in the past. Often a
writer will deploy a flashback to write about something significant that
happened in the character’s past which allows the reader to understand the
story in the present.
Session 6
The Writer’s Life
READING:
There is advice for
writers everywhere, scores and heaps of advice for writers, books on the craft,
articles on publishing, blogs with prompts and tips… a seemingly inexhaustible
source of advice for writers.
However, there are
two things that determine the success of a writer more than anything else:
reading and writing. Your writer’s voice and style will emerge the more you do
both. You can improve your style and develop your own voice by studying what
you read. Ultimately, you will write
what you read.
More than all the
how-to books however, the memoirs by writers themselves may prove to be the
most rewarding and insightful. The art of writing boils down to living the
“writer’s life” whether it’s a block of time after the kids are in bed or on a
daily, intensive basis. The list of memoirs, as well as other reference
materials, are at the end of this packet.
As much advice as
there is for writers there’s even more for readers. For centuries writing has
been analyzed by scholars and academics. However, it’s absolutely possible for
anyone to study outside the hallowed halls of academia, either on one’s own or
in groups. Your goal as a reader intent upon writing is to pay attention to language, realizing that the author has,
in all cases, paid painstaking attention to each word.
As an example,
here’s a poem by Anne Sexton. There are so many things going on here it would
take some time to analyze, but by merely reading it through one is left with
vivid imagery due to the language.
I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil, I have done my hitch
over the plain houses, light by light:
lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.
A woman like that is not a woman, quite.
I have been her kind.
I have found the warm caves in the woods,
filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,
closets, silks, innumerable goods;
fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:
whining, rearranging the disaligned.
A woman like that is misunderstood.
I have been her kind.
I have ridden in your cart, driver,
waved my nude arms at villages going by,
learning the last bright routes, survivor
where your flames still bite my thigh
and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.
A woman like that is not ashamed to die.
I have been her kind.
Each genre of writing demands a particular use of language. It’s
possible to make a comparison to painting, where every brush stroke is like a
word. Michelangelo, for example, with his layers upon layers and minute
attention to detail could be representative of a novel. Modigliani on the other
hand, paints only the essence of a character while still presenting a complete
picture, much like a short story.
Franz Kline, an abstract expressionist, is similar to a poet
employing only the barest detail in broad strokes.
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Some first sentences
The first sentence of a story reveals a great deal of what’s to
come. Often, in hindsight, it can be read as a synopsis for the whole piece. Here’s
a look at some famous ones:
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll
probably want to know is, where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was
like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that
David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you
want to know the truth.” Cather in the
Rye, J.D. Salinger
“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the
Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.” The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
“They shoot the white girl first.” Paradise, Toni Morrison
“It began as a mistake.” Post
Office, Charles Bukowski
“To put us at our ease, to quiet our hearts as she lay dying, our
dear friend Selena said, Life, after all, has not been an unrelieved horror –
you know, I did have many wonderful
years with her.” “Friends” from Later the
Same Day, Grace Paley
“I have never begun a novel with more misgiving.” The Razor’s Edge, Somerset Maugham
“We slept in what had once been the gymnasium.” The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
EXERCISE: (30 minutes)
Write some first sentences of your own. Work in conjunction with
something you’re already writing or use this exercise to spawn new ideas. Or,
if you prefer, use the examples below as prompts.
There wasn’t nearly enough light.
It wasn’t her fault.
It was Sunday, so there shouldn’t have been a letter in the
mailbox.
The train was late today.
The snow fell late into the night.
No one thought to look in the trunk.
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