Process Discussions Elsewhere

You all know we've had several process disucssions during the term, trying out several things -- asking questions, offering book recommendations, reading someone else's work aloud for them --

here are some ideas about "how to conduct writing workshops" from sources different from me:

"... Francine Prose talks about her method, which involves strictly forbidding all praise *or* blame when discussing works-in-progress. Students are simply not allowed to say what they "like" or don't. The focus is on analysis, talking about what's on the page, picking apart syntax, clarifying pronoun references, looking for parallels in the imagery and metaphors, describing point of view and how it's working, and so forth."

From workshop participants (various sorts of workshops)

"...I like [written comments] because the first sting of criticism can be rethought when the comments are reread later. ... When someone says they don't "get" something, it is based on the work and if more than one person agrees, it is probably a point to be considered."

"My first workshop ran on the "receive silent" mode, speak only when asked a direct question and afterwards, do not defend your poem, only express thanks or ask questions. ... I note every comment that is made on my copy of the poem in workshop, even the comments I found "foolish". You don't know how many times I have gone back to rewrite after a cooling off period, and found those foolish suggestions had some fingerpointing going on to a weakness that needed revising. Which isn't to say that I incorporate every comment.

What I have discovered about this format is that people are unafraid to make comments that might hurt my feelings, because without a defense, they never get to hear that. The 'look here, and see if you can figure out why this makes me uneasy' comments prove useful."

"... workshop is composed of a series of non-sequitors, each student wants to
have her own say & rarely engages with ideas of other students (until, of course, there's silence, & then someone says "i agree with what blah blah said fifteen
minutes ago"). so, we stick to ideas that get placed on the table, we wrestle with those ideas..."

"... a workshop where the student poems are used to teach something specific. An example: Recently ... I had 3 student poems to "workshop" (I have come to loathe this verb), so I looked for something I could focus on-- endings, in this case. I first went over 2 outside poems: Diane Glancy's "Without Title" and Komunyakaa's "Facing It" so as to show that endings can work differently, that it's possible to talk about difference without ranking."

"One of the things we do at the writing class I am involved in is to critique the works anonymously. Each poem or extract is put up on an overhead projector and read by a volunteer. It can often be really helpful for the writer to hear their work read by someone else. The author is not to respond, explain or defend, but simply to listen to the responses."

A number of people participating in this discussion have mentioned the late Wendy Bishop, Floridian author/editor on many books about creative writing and teaching creative writing.

Several have mentioned that they sibstitute in class free write and exercises for participant comments.

The workshop format was pioneered the the beginning of the Iowa Writers Workshop.
A

Dear Colleagues,

Responding to troubled students is not a new topic for creative writing
teachers. By the nature of the craft we teach as creative writing faculty,
we may see, at times, glimpses into the destructive (or self-destructive)
psyches of our students through their stories, poems, and plays.

You may be aware that colleges have seen a sharp increase in students who
arrive with psychological and psychiatric issues. According to the 2006
National College Health Assessment 43.8% of 94,806 students surveyed "felt
so depressed it was difficult to function," during the previous year and
9.3% had "seriously considered suicide" during the year. In addition, in a
landmark study of school shootings, the United States Secret Service
concluded in 2002, that more than one-third of school shooters "exhibited an
interest in violence in their own writings, such as poems, essays, or
journal entries."

While it is true that teachers at any level, and in any subject, might pick
up on troubling signals from a student, it is college teachers in creative
writing for whom the issue is pressing.

The following brief survey (click on the link below) presents an opportunity
for you as a creative writing teacher to respond to the question: The
Troubled Student and Creative Writing: What's a Teacher to Do?

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ZBw55nQwNhw5lIj6Pwthcw_3d_3d

I appreciate your response (responses can be anonymous) regarding this
sensitive but critical subject. Collected responses will be instrumental to
a forthcoming presentation and scholarship on this issue.

Thank you for your time and contribution.

Best,

Dianne Donnelly

Department of English

University of South Florida

Tampa, Florida

Helen Adam

I mentioned Helen Adam in workshop last week -- well, here she is!

The Electronic Poetry Center has added a new page on the work of poet
Helen Adam.

http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/adam/

Market Segments

Different from ... anything we've been talking about thus far ... is market segment.

Young Adult novels
increasingly many "regular" novels are being marketed in the "Young Adult" segment, split out from regular fiction as -- a marketing ploy? censorship?

When I began teaching, I had many adult students ask me for book recommendations for their 12-16 year old children. As soon as I started listing what I thought was great, Frankenstein, Dickens (if not already read), Russian novelists (Doestoevsky, Gogol, Tolstoy, etc.), Salinger, Updike, Saki, etc. it seemed that it dawned on the overly-concerned boomer parent that really anything so long as it was good or not by Bataille, Artaud, whatnot was probably going to be just fine. Apparently, though, this desire was effectively channeled into "the young adult market." Now, with the market maturing, many writers who wrote their novels as, well, just novels, are finding their work resegmented, especially since the agency view seems to be that young men who are 18-24 are not doing anything but watching Will Farrell movies and NASCAR, or perhaps watching Will Farrell movies about NASCAR.

In answer, though, to Kate Weber's query, there are several novelists whose novels are being pushed into young adult, and if one wants to be a novelist and actually sell a novel occasionally, young adult is not a bad place.

The novels from the McSweeneys / Believer group of editors and writers, including Heidi Julavits, are often listed as young adult.

Tod Theilman's novels are listed as Young Adult. Many of Joyce Carol Oates' are. Juliana Baggott.

Since the LA Times Book Awards have a young adult category, I thought I would search there.

· Kate Banks, "Dillon Dillon" (Frances Foster Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
· Sarah Dessen, "This Lullaby" (Viking/Penguin Young Readers Group)
· E.R. Frank, "America" (A Richard Jackson Book/Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
· Joyce Carol Oates, "Big Mouth & Ugly Girl" (HarperTempest/HarperCollins)

M.T. Anderson’s 2006 National Book Award-winner The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party (Candlewick -- a YA press); John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines (Dutton); Meg Rosoff’s Just in Case (Wendy Lamb); and Nancy Werlin’s National Book Award finalist, The Rules of Survival (Dial)

Publications

There are thousands of listings of litary journals, commercial magazines that include creative writing, eZines, etc., including Poets & Writers classifieds (http://www.pw.org), AWP Chronicle, Writer's, Artist's, Poet's Market, Writer's Digest, etc. etc. But how to use? How to decide?

1) By content.
Identify your subject, and who is likely to be interested in publishing creative writing on that subject. Is it Feminist? Serbian? Formal? Visual? Look for publications which specialize in publishing creative writing on the same theme, or look for publications with special theme issues, or look for publications which publish all sorts of content on a theme who occasionally publish pieces of creative writing on that theme.

2) Write "to" the publication / CFW.
Maybe you don't have anything ready to send, but are seeking some writing prompts. Why not look at what publications are asking for, and attempt to deliver it? For example, here are calls for work for anthologies (generally more prestigious credits than periodical publication) from the most recent pw.org classifieds:

(BLANK) BEGINS at conception. Seeking essays for an anthology about female experiences with reproduction. All perspectives welcome: infertility, pregnancy, adoption, abortion, parenthood, deciding to remain child-free, etc. Target audience is anyone looking for a broader perspective on reproductive choices. Send queries and submissions to blank.begins.at.conception@gmail.com.

THE POWER of the Center, a Wising Up Press anthology. In a time of troubling polarization, we invite submissions on how we have used social centrality to promote inclusion and change. Essays/memoirs personal experience, thoughtful and emotionally evocative. less than 4,000 words. B&W photographs/artwork: less than 5. Deadline: June 1. E-mail to powerofcenter@universaltable.org. Guidelines: www.universaltable.org/powerofcenter.html.

and another

Say it Loud: Poems about James Brown. Edited by: Mary E. Weems, and Michael Oatman.

We grew up on James Brown’s Hit Me! When he danced every young Black man wanted to move, groove and look like him. Mr. Brown wasn’t called the hardest workingman in show business because he wasn’t. Experiencing a James Brown show was like getting your favourite soul food twice, plus dessert. His songs, like black power fists you could be proud of and move to at the same time. When Mr. Brown sang make it funky we sweated even in the wintertime. Losing him was like losing somebody in our family. This is a shout out for poems about the impact James Brown had on our lives. Poems that will help people remember, honour, and celebrate his legacy. Don’t be left in a cold sweat, send us your old and new James Brown poems today.

Submission Guidelines: 3-5 Unpublished and/or published poems with acknowledgement included. No longer than 73 lines Deadline: April 30, 2008 (Receipt not postmark) Send hard copies along with a Word Document and short bio on a CD to: Dr. Mary E. Weems / Education Department / John Carroll University / 20700 North Park Blvd. / University Hts., Ohio 44118 / Send via e-mail attachment (Word Documents Only) to: mweems45@sbcglobal.net, and mikeoatman@hotmail.com

3) Track writers: where writers you admire or writers whose style or subject matter may be similar to yours are publishing. Use these publications to track down other writers as well as the publications.
You read a work by a younger contemporary writer you admire. Google the name or do another search to find a bio which lists credits, such as "published in blah, blah magazine, the journal of blah, and the annual best of blah anthology 2007." Then look at blah, blah magazine. Look at the work of the author that they chose. Read any editorial statement (with a grain of salt -- read it alongside what seems to be chosen in practice, and compare it to the statements). Read the other works published in the publication.

Variation: read a book published by a writer you admire, etc. Read other writers published by the press, but also look at the acknowledgements page. Are you familiar with the journals which have published the writer you admire? Look them up.

4) Track publications. If you have the "best genre work year" anthologies, take a look at the list of publications contributing to the anthology. Are you familiar with them? Look at the link list for online journals, especially for journals that keep appearing on list after list. Look at the bios in a publication you admire. Are there are publications that appear in one or more contributor's credits? Look it up!

Week Seven

Version and Format

Revision is different from version. Lessons from software version control. The police in different voices. Format – utterly different from form. Presentation of content.

It is midterm week. While you have no unusual assignment, it is probably time to begin thinking about your final project.