Creative Writing I
Objectives
1. To enable students to explore, in their own writing, four major genres of creative writing:
poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and drama.
2. To cultivate habits of reading, writing, speaking, and thinking which characterize lifelong
learning and enjoyment.
3. To read a variety of texts of recognized literary merit and to respond to them in different
ways—through class discussion, informal and formal writing assignments, and oral
presentations.
4. To cultivate the habit of using creative writing to explore oneself and one’s world.
Quarterly Assignments and Grading
1. Daily Writing Prompts (loss of 10% if not done on a given day) 15%
2. Classroom Participation and Presentation(s) 15%
3. Formal Writing Sample(s) (10% for mechanics; 90% for
completion; daily late fee of 10%, three days only) 70%
Course Outline
1. Poetry
2. Fiction: traditional and modernist
3. Creative Nonfiction
4. Drama
5. Miscellaneous projects (allowing a choice of genres)
6. Instead of a final exam, The Chapbook (5 pages of new creative works)
Creative Writing II
This course is set up to model the way critque groups often work in the real world (that is,
somewhere outside of the traditional classroom).
If you make Creative Writing a lifelong activity (and, having signed up for this course in the first
place, you are a likely candidate!), eventually you probably will want to join or create an informal
critique group of fellow writers. By joining such a group, one can:
(1) Practice tapping into the creative part of your brain;
(2) Create a journal containing fragments of writing from which you later can “steal” for larger
projects;
(3) Give yourself specific deadlines so that you truly complete writing projects rather than fritter
away your hours by watching television or sending text-messages; and
(4) Gather some feedback on your current strengths and weaknesses as a writer.
When setting up a “real world” critique group, one strategy is to run a small ad in a local newspaper
announcing the formation of a writers’ critique group (or to post a notice on a local-college bulletin
board or an internet bulletin board); to screen out the lunatics; to specify a location for monthly,
weekly, or bi-weekly meetings; then JUST DO IT.
How this Course Works:
In contrast to Creative Writing 1, students mostly run Creative Writing 2, and Mr. Kleist becomes just
another writer. This gives students both more freedom and more responsibility.
(1) Daily Quotations: At the beginning of class, two assigned students must write on the blackboard
their Quote of the Day. These should be memorable, poignant, infuriating, witty, thoughtful, funny,
or all of the above. Find quotes anywhere: books, magazines, cereal boxes, billboards, your own
brain, etc.
If you know you will miss class on the day of your quote, you must swap days with someone else by
prearrangement. Failure to do so results in the loss of one percentage point for the quarter.
(2) Daily Book Talk: Your personal reading always should be a primary source of inspiration for your
writing. Successful creative writers constantly read for fun and for learning. Writers tend to choose
books not assigned by a course.
Thus in this course, each day after the quotes of the day are read aloud, two different assigned
students will hold up and show the class one book they’re currently reading for fun, explaining for
the class what is good or bad about it (language, setting, plot, theme, characters, pacing, etc.).
If you miss class on the day of your book talk, you must swap days with someone else by
prearrangement. Failure to do so results in the loss of one percentage point for the quarter.
(3) Daily Writing Prompt: At the beginning of class, two assigned students will write on the
whiteboard their Prompt of the Day. Students should model these on the daily prompts used in
Creative Writing 1—but please add your own spin and creativity!
Any genre can be chosen. You might introduce a new poetic form, a specific genre of fiction, an
exercise in dialog, a theme for a creative essay, a play’s setting, a first line, a title for the day’s
writing, etc.: it’s entirely up to you.
Then each class member will choose which of the two prompts to follow in her/his current journal
entry.
As usual, journal writing will take up the first 20-40 minutes of class. WRITING TIME IS SACRED AND
DEMANDS SILENCE!!
If you miss class on the day the writing prompt is yours, you must swap days with someone else by
prearrangement. Failure to do so results in the loss of one percentage point for the quarter.
(4) Daily Workshop/Critiquing: In general, the class will workshop as a whole group (that is, read
drafts aloud at the podium and give concrete feedback) .
(5) Weekly Projects: Each week, three students will be assigned to bring in (on Monday) a “model”
(this could be a poem, essay, play, story, film, painting, etc.—or a section of any of these) and a
related writing assignment. The writing assignment should grow out of the model.
(For example, suppose you bring in a poem with a specific theme and with three parts: the
assignment might be to write a poem with the same theme and with three parts.)
Each weekly writing assignment must be a minimum of three double-spaced, typed pages in length.
If you miss class on the day the weekly project is yours, you must swap days with someone else by
prearrangement. Failure to do so results in the loss of ten percentage points for the quarter.
The presentation of the model and explanation of the assignment shouldn’t take more than ten
minutes (unless you make special arrangements with me).
At the end of the presentations of the three models and assignments, one third of the class will sign
up for each assignment. (Each presenter should carefully write out his/her own assignment: no
winging it!) These weekly writing projects will be due Friday.
Over the weekend, the student who created the assignment must read each submitted draft
(including his/her own). Then s/he must write at least three insightful, specific comments on each
draft and assign a score out of 100. (Take off no more than 10 points for poor GPS.)The best of these
works will be read aloud Tuesday to Thursday in class.
(6) Final Project: Another 5pp. Chapbook.
On the last Friday of the course, a 5pp. chapbook (or “small book”) of new writing, or of writing
drawn from one’s journal (the “best of”), will be due. The chapbook’s only requirement is its length;
it can contain any genre or combination of genres.
Caution: If on any given day you experience writer’s block, simply borrow a novel or poetry collection
from the bookcases and copy the words of another writer. This actually is an excellent method for
learning an author’s style. Just sitting and staring at a blank page, writing nothing, will cost you five
class-participation points!
