Phase 1: Foundations
| Date | Topic | Before Class (homework due that class day) | In-Class Resources |
| Week 1 | |||
| Day 1 | Introductions | Activity: First Day Stations | |
| Week 2 | |||
| Day 2 | What is Craft? | Read Matthew Salesses “25 essential notes on craft”* Reading question: What are your expectations for “good” writing? Why? Bring in an example of this (your idea of “good” writing) to class. These readings will be used to fill out our reading choice lists, so please bring your piece into class and post it on our website under the category “GoodWritingis.” —— *Many reading links are Hypothesis links. You should have gotten an invite link to our hypothesis group after our first day of class. If not, contact me. Hypothesis is an app that allows us to annotate webpages and pdfs together. If you feel comfortable, you can make notes, ask questions, and answer our reading question in annotations on this reading. Just remember: (1) remember to post in our group (Name: _____) or else you will be posting publicly, (2) everyone in our class can see your annotations. | Writing Activity: Imitation Telephone |
| Day 3 | The Writer and The Process | Read selections of the writing processes and routines of famous authors Reading Question How does your writing process compare to these processes? | Writing Activity: Use figurative language or visual imagery to represent your writing process To Do: Sign up for Craft Talks |
Phase 2: Poetry
| Date | Topic | Before Class (homework due that class day) | In-Class Resources |
| Week 3 | |||
| Day 4 | Introducing Poetry | Read Adrienne Rich “Someone is writing a poem” Reading Options* 3 of the following poems: 1) Carl Phillips “then the war” 2) Diane Suess “[It is abominable, unquenchable by touch]” 3)Natalie Diaz “They Don’t Love you like I love you” 4) Jericho Brown “The Tradition” 5) Forrest Gander “what it Sounds like” 6) Frank Bidart “Ulanova at Forty-Six at Last Dances Before a Camera Giselle” Reading Question: How do these authors “take that old, material utensil, language, found all about you, blank with familiarity, smeared with daily use, and make it into something that means more than it says”? ——- * We will vote on which readings to assign for each class. The readings we vote on will come from the reading options lists. Your homework will be to read the voted-on favorite(s). | Writing Activity: Write a nuanced poem using one or more of the most popular rhymes in music — explained in this article by Ben Blatt |
| Day 5 | Figurative Language | Read Rachel Richardson “Learning Image and Description” Reading Options 3 of the following poems: 1) Elizabeth Acevedo “Rat Ode” 2) Olivia Gatwood “Ode to my Bitch Face” 3) Kevin Young “Ode to the Midwest” 4) Ashanti Anderson “Ode to Black Skin” 5) Safia Elhillo “Ode to Gossips” Reading Question: How do these authors use imagery to “animate the language and make us feel we have just participated in an experience”? | To Do: Craft Talk 1 Writing Activity: Write an ode to something you have told or made to feel ashamed of |
| Week 4 | |||
| Day 6 | Writing in Verse | Read Rebecca Hazelton “Learning the Poetic Line” Reading Options 3 Sonnet pairs (in themes) from this list Reading Question: How do the authors use lineation to amplify other parts of the poem, like the message or sense, syntax, sound, and rhythm”? | Writing Activity: Choose one of the themes from our examples and write a sonnet on it. |
| Day 7 | Sound | Read James Logenbach “the music of poetry” Reading Options 3 of the following poems: 1) Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye “when Love Arrives” 2) Bob Hicock “Having Merely Meant to Make Fun of an Oil Company, The Poem Goes Awry” 3) Andrea Gibson “Maybe I Need You” 4) Claudia Rankine Citizen “You are in the dark in the car” 5) Harry Baker “Paper People” Reading Question: How do these authors use language & sound devices to express a certain tone? | To do: Craft Talk 2 Writing Activity: Write a poem mean to be read out loud |
| Week 5 | |||
| Day 8 | Message | Read Matthew Zapruder “Understanding Poetry is more Straightforward than you think” (All city college students have free access to the NYT. See link for instructions) Reading Options 3 of the following poems: 1) Natalie Diaz “My Brother at 3 A.M.” 2) Melissa Lozada Oliva “Yolanda and Selena don’t talk anymore” 3) Ocean Vuong “Aubade with Burning City” 4) Richard Siken “Litany in which certain things are crossed out” 5) Mary Oliver “Wild Geese” Reading Question: What words do these authors use that help the reader understand the message of the poem? | Writing Activity: Write a poem that is not what it seems. |
| Day 9 | Open Mic | Submit Messy Draft of poem | Activity: shop&share |
Phase 3: Drama & Screenwriting
| Date | Topic | Before Class (homework due that class day) | In-Class Resources |
| Week 6 | |||
| Day 10 | Dialogue | Read Teddy Wayne “Tips for Writing Great Dialogue” Reading Options: 1)Choices from Fifty Contemporary One Act Plays 2)Choices from Selected One Act Plays 2) Greta Gerwig’s Little Women Script Link Reading Question: How do the authors use dialogue to characterize, provide exposition, set the scene, advance the story, and/or foreshadow the action? | Writing Activity: Nonverbal Communication prompt |
| Day 11 | Scene | Read Masterclass “How to Write the Perfect Scene” Reading Options 1)Choices from Fifty Contemporary One Act Plays 2)Choices from Selected One Act Plays Reading Question: How do these authors use any of the “8 elements of a good scene” in their pieces? | To do: Craft Talk 3 Writing Prompt: Chekhov’s Gun Prompt |
| Week 7 | |||
| Day 12 | Theme | Read Scott McConnell “Storytelling and the importance of theme” Reading Options 1)Choices from Fifty Contemporary One Act Plays 2)Choices from Selected One Act Plays Reading Question: How do these authors integrate theme into their pieces? | Writing Activity: Write a scene that integrate one of the themes listed by Sean Glatch in “What is theme?” without saying any of the words involved the theme. (So, if you chose man vs nature, you cannot use the words man or nature in your scene.) |
| Day 13 | Open Mic | Submit Messy Draft of Scene | Activity: shop&share |
Phase 4: Prose
| Date | Topic | Before Class (homework due that class day) | In-Class Resources |
| Week 8 | |||
| Day 14 | Introducing Prose | Read: “What is prose?” by Masterclass and “Prose vs. Poetry” by Sean Glatch Reading Options Chose 2 (all are flash pieces): 1) George Saunders “Sticks” Link 2) Brigitte Leschhorn Arrocha “And We Inherit Everything” Link 3) Ed Park “The Wife on Ambien” Link 4) Roxane Gay “There are Distances between us” Link Reading Question: How do these authors/pieces fit into the genre of prose writing and how do they break away from the genre of prose writing? | Writing Activity: Choose one line from one of the reading options for today’s class. Write a flash fiction or prose poem piece that begins with it. |
| Day 15 | Details & Description | Read: Jack Smith “The Definitive Guide to Show and Tell” Reading Options Choose 1: 1) Karen Russell, “Line 19 Woodstock/Gilsan” 2) Habibe Jafarian “For the Love of Books” 3) Nicole Walker “Fish” Reading Question: Find moments where the writers show and where they tell. Why is one technique employed over the other in that moment? Bring in: photo or postcard (without people in it!) | To do: Craft Talk 4 Writing Activity: Postcard Prompt |
| Week 9 | |||
| Day 16 | Narration & POV | Read Moriah Richard “Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Not Understanding Point of View” Reading Options Choose 1: 1)Jamil Jan Kochai “Playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” 2) Carmen Maria Machado “You can’t go your own way” (Warnings for sexual content and mentions of DV) Reading Question Both authors use a 2nd person POV, which is uncommon. Do you think they employed this technique successfully? Why or why not? And How? | Writing Activity: How To Guide |
| Day 17 | Character | Read: David Corbett “How to Craft Compelling Characters” Reading Options Choose 1: 1)Aoko Matsuda “Smartening Up” 2) Esme Weijun Wang “Perdition Days: On experiencing psychosis” Reading Question: what techniques do your author use to create their character(s) and how are these techniques used? | To do: Craft Talk 5 Writing Prompt: 7-8 Things I know |
| Week 10 | |||
| Day 18 | Plot | Read Sean Glatch “What is the plot of a story?” (Alternate Reading: Emily Barton “Literary or Genre: it is the plot that counts”) Reading Options Choose 1: 1)Shota Iatashvili “My Story of Chess “ 2) Anthony Veasna So “Three Women of Chuck’s Donuts” Reading Question: Use Freytag’s Pyramid to map the plot of your reading. Then reflect: Does the plot of the story fit perfectly on the map? What is the effect of this traditional western plot structure? Does the writer deviate? What is the effect of this deviation? | Writing Activity: By the time you read this letter |
| Day 19 | Setting | Read Courtney Carpenter “Discover the top 10 elements of setting in a story” Reading Options Choose 1: 1) Colson Whitehead excerpt from The Colossus 2) Octavia Butler “Speech Sounds” 3) Wang Dan “Prison Memoirs” Reading Question: How does the author describe the setting? What elements of setting do they employ? | To do: Craft Talk 6 (extra) Writing Activity: Goodbye classroom, hello world |
| Week 11 | |||
| Day 20 | Transferring Emotions | Read “Writing Emotional Moments” From NY Book Editors (Alternate: K.M. Weiland “How to write emotional scenes without making them cringey”) Reading Options Choose 1: 1)Michelle Zauner “Crying in H Mart” 2) Jennifer Egan “‘Great Rock and Roll Pauses’ by Allison Blake” 3) Erik Cofer “Sorry Dan, But it’s no longer necessary for a human to serve as CEO of this company” Reading Question: What did you feel when reading this story? Is that what the writer intended you to feel? If so, how did the writer convey that emotion? If not, what in the story conveyed that emotion? | Writing Activity: I don’t know why I remember |
| Day 21 | Open Mic | Submit Messy Draft of Short Story or Essay | Activity: shop&share |
Phase 5: Review
| Date | Topic | Before Class (homework due that class day) | In-Class Resources |
| Week 12 | |||
| Day 22 | Revision | (Depending on Chosen Messy Draft) Read: 1) Poetry: Maggie Smith “How to Revise Poems without losing the initial spark” 2) Drama: Rolf Potts “9 Strategies to consider when revising a screenplay” 3)Prose: Charles Johnson “The art of revision: most of what you write should be cut” Reading Question: What is your revision goal? Why? How can you achieve it? | |
| Day 23 | Workshops | Read: Meredith Quinn “How to be a good writing workshop participant” Read: Beth Nguyen “Unsilencing the workshop” Reading Question: In your own words, describe what is needed for a workshop to be helpful, effective, or successful? How can we achieve this in our class? Bring in Peer Review Response Sheet Submit: In-progress Draft | Activity: 2-on-2 Workshop groups |
Phase 6: Publishing
| Date | Topic | Before Class (homework due that class day) | In-Class Resources |
| Week 13 | |||
| Day 24 | The Importance of publishing | Read Travis Kurowski “Some Notes on the History of the Literary Magazine” Read Katherine Barret “6 things I’ve learned publishing a literary magazine for 10 years” Reading Question: Compare what you knew about the publishing industry before you read these two articles to what you learned while reading. | To do: Journal Tasting To do: Intro Group Lit Pub Project Activity: work time |
| Day 25 | Genre & Inspiration | Read Stephanie Burt “The Persistence of Lit Mags” Bring In a Lit Mag/Journal to use as a model for yours. This can be a model in design, genre, audience, writing, theme, etc. Post under category “MagModel” before class. If you do not know where to look, please see this guide on places to look: Link Reading Question: How does your model promote a clear goal and/or aesthetic | To do: Project Proposal Activity: work time |
| Week 14 | |||
| Day 26 | Submitting | Read Lincoln Michael “Lit Mag Submissions 101” Read “Ask the Writing Teacher: Fifty Shades of Rejection” by Edan Lepucki Reading Question: Summarize the submission process — in your own words — the authors describe. Kind of like you are creating a cheat sheet or how to guide for yourself. | Activity: work time |
| Day 27 | Peer Review | Submit Messy Draft of Group Lit Pub | Activity: peer review |
| Week 15 | |||
| Day 28 | Group Presentations | Submit Transformed Draft Group Lit Pub | Activity: presentations! |
