Fiction Writing and Literary Analysis

Friday, September 21, 2012

Homework Due 9/24,9/27 and 9/28

***There is no school on 9/25 and 9/26.

Homework:
***Read Chapter 2 and take really great notes.  Please remember that you are now entering the technique portion of the class and you should keep a running list of all techniques and how to write them.

Here are the instructions for Journal #3 (Turning Memoir into Fiction).  This is not due until Sunday, 9/30 at 8pm.  I am giving you plenty of time so that you can really follow a process with this piece.

This journal will help you learn how to translate emotions and facts from truth into fiction.

Draft #1:  Free-write (1-2 pages) on an emotional event from your past.  Did this event make you cry, terrify you, make you weak with shame, triumphant with rage, or laugh with glee?   Free-write to unlock the memory from your mind, pour your emotional heart out on the page and then put this piece of writing away for a couple of days.  You do not have to show this to me, or post it.

Draft #2:  Revisit your free-write and pick one moment that you will focus upon.  Add as many sensory details as you can to that one excerpt. (1 page of writing).  Put this piece of writing away and let it rest.

Draft #3:  This will be the draft that I wind up reading; the one that you will post on your Portfolio by 9/30 at 8pm.    You are now going to fictionalize your 2nd Draft.
You can do this by:
-Switching the gender of the protagonist
-Change the setting:  Set it in a different country, state, planet.
-Change the time period:  Set it in the past, the future....
-Change the location of the incident:  If this happened in a kitchen, now set it in a restaurant...
-Change the Plot, but keep the Mood/Tone:  Borrow the emotional content from the original piece, but change the story line.
-Point of View

The Final Draft should be approximately 1-2 pages....it should not go over that.  You are not writing a whole story, you are writing one moment, using as many sensory details as you can in order to capture the emotional content of the piece.