Students will learn terms relevant to most short stories such as protagonist, antagonist, plot, narrative arc, conflict, tension, hooks, POV (point-of-view), backstory, and interiority, and will learn how to go about writing a short story or vignette. The recommended story length is from 2,500–5,000 words (the most widely accepted range for literary journals). This length will also be doable for students in the time frame of the course.

I have an MFA in creative writing from Spalding University. I am also a senior prose editor for Typehouse Literary Magazine where I provide feedback to authors on some short story fiction and creative nonfiction submissions if requested. I am also a freelance proofreader and copy editor, who has worked on dozens of published books. I am a published short story author with over a half-dozen published pieces in journals such as The Louisville Review, the Notre Dame Review, and F(r)iction. Additionally, I am a manuscript reader for Coffee House Press and comb through their solicited manuscripts for possible acquisitions to publish. I am a 2019 McKnight Foundation Writing Fellow.

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***IN ADVANCE OF CLASS, students will be expected to read a short story published by Narrative Magazine (approximately twenty pages).***

Week 1 Homework: Students will use the provided worksheet to jot down their story idea and the approach they’re going to take to write (“plotting” or “pantsing”).

Week 2 Homework: Students will either diagram their outline or write out a game plan for their piece.

Week 3 Homework: Students will be guided to watch my YouTube video on how to come up with character names. They will also complete their worksheets to create “dossiers” for their story’s protagonist, antagonist, and supporting characters.

Week 4 Homework: Students will use all worksheets and outline or game plan completed to date and the "opening line" exercise completed in class and write the beginning of the first draft of their story. Students will post it to the classroom two days prior to the next session so that classmates can read it and be able to share what they think is working the best in the pieces and what needs the most work in Week 5 of class.

Week 5 Homework: Students will complete the draft of their work-in progress and post it to the classroom two days prior to the next session so that classmates can read it and be able to share what they think is working the best in the pieces and what needs the most work in Week 6 of class.

Week 6 Homework: Students will incorporate teacher and student feedback in the first revision of their story or vignette. They will post their work-in-progress to the classroom two days prior to the next session so that classmates can share how they think the pieces have improved in Week 7 of class.

Week 7 Homework: Students will post their revised work-in-progress to the classroom two days prior to the next session so that everyone can provide supportive feedback.

Week 8 Homework: (Optional) Students can download resources that show how to format a short story, lists of sites that name journals that accept short fiction submissions, and proofreading and copy editing tips.
4+ 每週課外時間
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The main site for the course story is https://www.narrativemagazine.com/ but the direct story link and printable PDF of the selected story will be posted to the classroom when the section is listed.