Novel I
Beginning Your Novel--
Spring 2010
NYU X32.9355
School
of Continuing and Professional Studies-- New York University
Instructor: Meredith Sue Willis -- Email: MeredithSueWillis@gmail.com
Spring 2010: February 8- April 26, 2010
Monday 6:30 pm– 8:50 pm Tisch Hall, Room LC-1
Updated 3-9-10
NYU-SCPS Programs in Writing and Speech Present
The 2010 Spring Term STUDENT READING
featuring EYTAN BAYME, HALEY FLANNERY, GUN GAREL and GERALD HARRIS
Date: Friday, March 12
Time: 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Place: KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th Street
Admission: FREE
In the second of three events presented this spring by NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and literary venue KGB Bar, four NYU-SCPS writing students will read from their work.
Please join us in supporting this term’s student readers. Family, friends, and faculty are welcome to attend.
MSW's article "Apply Film Techniques to Fiction Writing" is in
the April 2010 print issue of The Writer magazine.
A sample from the article is free online here.
You may have to register for the site, but there is no charge.
Do you know these novelists, past and present?
Left to right: Charlotte Brontë, Zora Neale Hurston, Binnie Kirshenbaum, Richard Wright, José Saramago
Note: Class begins at 6:30 PM promptly-- see you then!
Syllabus/Schedule of Assignments
Current week
Schedule of Presenters
Resources for Writers
To Earn a Certiicate Using this Course
Recommended Novels and Novelists
This page has the latest, updated version of the syllabus plus other information, materials, and links for students in
Novel One , Spring 2010, at NYU with Meredith Sue Willis. To read some recent short fiction online by Meredith Sue Willis, go to: "My Most Embarrassing (Scroll down) " or "Tara White." For more online writing, cick here. For information about her novels, go to commentary.
Here are some resources for this course:
Resources for writers: Resources.
Books about writing: Bibliography.
Some quotations about writing.
Typical novel lengths: click here.
Article about fiction writing by Walter Mosley.
A few novels recommended for reading/study by students
Notes on Point of View
Proof reader's marks
Marketing notes
A Selection of Articles and other materials:
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"The Business of Books, by André Schiffrin" (review by Meredith Sue Willis of a book on the status of publishing)
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A literary agent's advice: Should You Hire a Book Doctor?
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From The Guardian online: Elmore Leonard’s funny rules of writing, plus those of Margaret Atwood and others:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one -
Some model novels (and a few memoirs) recommended by members of Advanced Novel Workshop
Schedule of Topics and Assignments
Please communicate with the teacher by email at meredithsuewillis@gmail.com. Changes, updates, and links to readings will be found here on this website at http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/nyunovelone.html. Please check this website at least weekly.
The text for this course will be the assignments and presentation pieces of the other students plus occasional online readings and hand-outs. You are expected to attend all classes, as the course is planned around your critiques and discussion. Please let the instructor know by email if you must be absent.
Plese turn in all assignments in hard copy, double-spaced with one inch margins on all sides and a font similar to Times New Roman 12 point.
Homework assignments should be 2-3 pages (up to 800 words).
Most sessions will include in-class writing. Students who attend and complete all of the assignments should finish the course with an outline and thirty or more pages of a novel.
See NYU' SCPS Certificate in Creative Writing for information. Click here for specific information on the grading for this class.
1. 2-8-10. Introduction. In class topics: True Stories of Real Writers. Process and product; story, plot, and architectonics. What fiction does that movies can't. Fiction as the art of doing many things at once. The importance of the concrete in fiction writing--description using the five senses.
Just for Fun: Lucy Writes a Novel .
NO CLASS PRESIDENTS' DAY FEBRUARY 15
2. 2-22 Assignments due
Write-- homework due: The first time a character visits a place in your novel– describe the place using all five senses if possible. In class topic: More description using concrete language based in the senses.
Read Chapter One of Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady found online here.
In Class Discussion: Be prepared to talk about the opening of the Henry James novel, and about one favorite novel of yours.
3. 3-1. Assignments due:
Read: Mr. Slope, Alice, Dave Rivers, characteristics list , some notes on the scene, and the sample demonstrating how to punctuate thoughts in third person writing.
Write-- homework due:The first appearance in your novel of a character who is not the main character. Emphasize physical description using concrete details based in the senses. Feel free to include dialogue, action–whatever you'd like.
In class topic: Centrality of Dialogue to Novels.
4. 3-8. Assignment due:
Write-- homework due: Another appearance of the character in the previous assignment but from the middle of your novel. Have
this scene reveal more about the character through action and dialogue. Read: these examples of scene versus summary (showing versus telling.) Be sure you've read the material on dialogue tags, logistics, the article on scene , and the sample demonstrating how to punctuate thoughts in third person writing. Read also the instructor's article on dialogue "Dialogue: The Spine of Fiction". and (optional) the classic short story, "The Necklace," to which I refer in the article on dialogue.
Read: piece on Grammar for Fiction writers. Also look at material on Point of view at Matching quiz and Point-of-View samples. You may want to take a look at an article on using present tense in fiction.
In class topic: Point-of-view.
NO CLASS NYU SPRING BREAK MARCH 15
During the rest of the course, class members will present passages from their novels for critique. Please bring enough copies of up to ten pages for each member of the class and the teacher one week before your presentation. Sign notes you write to the other students. See Proofreaders' Marks.
5. 3-22. Assignments due:
Write-- homework due: a passage with dialogue and conflict. Conflict can, of course, be overt, subtle, interior, etc.
Read: Take a look at flashback.
In class topic: Using time: flashback, jump-cut, stretch, etc.
Presentations by class members.
6. 3-29. Assignments due:
Write-- homework due: a passage inside a character's head. This can be internal monologue, stream of consciousness, internal third person (also called "the reflector"), or other. The character may be simply thinking, or the thoughts may be happening while the character is doing an action. If you haven't already, read http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/materials.html#dwight for an example of a character thinking. Also look at free indirect speech, and see long-shot & close-up, logistics and an interesting example of flashback.
In class topic: The Writing Life and Publishing. For information, go to the resources page, and in particular to the links in the left hand column for: Agents, Articles of interest to writers, online places to submit fiction, Book Doctors & Private Editors, Book Publishers (small), Copyright , Literary Agents, Markets for Literary Fiction, Printers: Recommended book producers (not publishers), Publicizing Your Book , and ; more online resources for writers.
Presentations by class members.
7. 4-5. Assignments due:
Write-- homework due: A complete scene from your novel.
Read: Chapter Two from The Mount by Carol Emshwiller. (Image right of author Carol Emshwiller with Ursula LeGuin)
In class topic: Outlining pro and con; flashback and also flashback two .
Presentations by class members.
8. 4-12. Assignment due:
Write-- homework due: An outline of your novel. The outline might be chapter titles, scene treatment, flow chart, webbing, etc. Read: Review of "The Business of Books, by André Schiffrin" by the instructor.
In class topic: Logistics-- see physical action.
Presentations by class members.9. 4-19. Important note: This is the last date to turn in homework.. Assignment due:
Write-- homework due: A revision of any scene or passage in response to suggestions. Please turn in the original version with notes for comparison. Just for fun: Here's an interesting article about fiction writing by Walter Mosley and some quotations by famous writers about writing. Also, here is a short discussion of the lengths of prose works.
Presentations by class members10.4-26. In Class Topic: Revision exercises and discussion. Farewells!
Presentations by class members.
All assignments should be PART OF YOUR NOVEL. If you already have a substantial number of pages drafted, you may substitute any short section for regular assignments.
This course may be used toward the departmental certificate in Creative Writing. In order to earn the credit, your work must be evaluated by the professor. To receive credit for the course, you must turn in at least six of the eight writing assignments. You may choose a pass/fail option, or you may take the course for no grade (NE).
You may also request a letter grade. No grade will be given below a B. To earn a B, you must complete at least six of the eight writing assignments to the professor's satisfaction plus present work for critiquing by the class at least once. To earn an A, you must complete all homework assignments, present work for critiquing by the class at least once, and show evidence of having done the outside reading.
Presenters
3-22-10
Denny Sheehan
John Alexander
3-29
John Leighton
Trevor Boyer
4-5
Carrie Tucker
Janet MacKenzie
Stacey Campbell
Tom Clifton
4-12
Jon Durbin
Burt Dicht
Milagros Garcia-Sobryan
4-19
Joe Schuster
John Alexander
Carrie Tucker
3-26
Emma Spear-Brodsky
John Leighton
Danny Sheehan
Tom Clifton
Some Recommended Novels and Novelists
Siri Hustvedt What I Loved
Sapphire Push
Elizabeth Strout Olive Kitteridge
Tolstoy War and Peace
Tom Wolfe Man in Full
Carlos Ruiz Zafron Shadow of the Wind
Richard Yates Revolutionary Road
Recommended authors included: Orson Scott Card; Barbara Kingsolver; Hemingway; Richard Morgan; Alice Munro; Robert Gay
Also, take a look at National Novel Writing Month!
Special Book Deal!
Buy any book by Meredith Sue Willis by mail order and get 10% off your entire order (exclusive of tax, shipping and handling). For information on books (or to order online--no discount), see Commentary. To order by mail with discount, go to Orders.
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