Note to students: this public syllabus is designed to give you a glimpse into this course and instructor. If you have further questions about our courses or curriculum, please contact the Writers Program at (310) 825-9415 or via email at writers@uclaextension.edu. We are happy to answer any questions and to help you find the best class to achieve your writing goals. Novel Writing II: Writing a Novel the Professional Way Workshop (online) Instructor: Jessica Barksdale Inclan www.jessicabarksdaleinclan.com / www.redroom.com/author/jessica-barksdale-inclan January 25 through March 28 It is useful, I think, to print this out and read it often. The answers to most if not all of the questions that come up are here, though I know it's not sexy to read a syllabus. Required Text: Beginnings, Middles, and Ends by Nancy Kress Recommended Text: The Scene Book by Sandra Scofield Welcome to Novel Writing II: Writing a Novel the Professional Way Workshop. This online workshop helps participants who are working in long-form fiction to develop a project and move on from the idea stage to a refined story outline or plot plan. We will work with character profiles, experiment with point-of-view and voice, and write dramatic scenes. To help develop these skills, assignments include writing scenes using characters and situations from the projected novel. Lectures on novel/story craft as well as discussions among and between class members are key elements of this workshop. At the end of this workshop, you should have 50 well-crafted pages of a novel. This class is intended for people who've taken fiction classes before, preferably Novel Writing One or the equivalent. Introduction to Fiction or The Short Story would likely be fine. We will be moving right ahead with story and scene, so if you are just at the idea stage only, this might not be the class for you. Intro to Fiction or The Essential Beginnings would be a great place to start. Because you are here, reading this, you have a story to tell that can't be wrapped up under twenty pages. You can't NOT write it and maybe you've already begun. Maybe you've written quite a bit, working hard in Novel One. Perhaps you have no clue what to do now or you don't know how to finish. Maybe you think your opening is great but that your middle sags. In this class, we will take your stories and push them forward, grow them, and get you on a path that will lead you to completion. Along the way, we will work on character, theme, structure, and POV. As we move through this class, I will also teach you some about the business side of things, working with outline, query, and synopsis. You might find that some of the assignments are not sequential, but you will always be writing in the "world" of your novel.
A novel takes months, years, sometimes decades to finish. We are merely going at it, with the end in mind. In very rare circumstances (and I wouldn't use those few cases as comparison, ever), does a writer find him or herself with a completed novel in ten weeks. The end product of this class will most likely not be a novel, but you will be on your way to that end; you will have material, a plan, and a path. Each week, I will post a "lecture(s)" on the topic(s) we are covering that week. These lectures are to be found under the folder Week One and Week Two and so on in the Course Documents Section. At the end, I will also post essays and random files of interest for you to you. I have loaded you up with reading, and it makes sense to do what you can--there are three books as well. There will be no scantron test on the lectures, so if you are overwhelmed, just print them out and read at your leisure, maybe even after the course is finished. Also note that many of these lectures and handouts come from a work in progress textbook of mine--and some come from lectures I have given at various workshops. I use a variety of genres to describe certain things-including poetry-but, of course, the focus here is always fiction. Do not feel that you have to do any of the assignments in the lectures themselves. The work to do is on the board. While I tried to put a good deal of information in these lectures, half of my "real" class discussions on land come from questions posed by my students. Certainly, I don't have the answers to everything! Feel free to ask some follow-up questions in The Water Cooler section in Communications/Discussion Thread. Or (and I will likely respond to these faster than those posted in the water cooler) feel free to email me questions about lectures or comments that I make to you about your writing. Sometimes I will share your idea with the whole class. From these opening lectures, you will then proceed to the homework. All homework assignments are listed on the syllabus below. You will post your homework on the discussion thread where indicated by the date indicated-and that includes the comments you will give to others. I will respond to you on the discussion thread, and your classmates will respond to you as well. Class participants can learn from each other's work, can note how others completed an assignment, and will respond in some detail at least twice (but you don't have to do any more than twice, preferably to two different people) a week to each other's ideas and work. While it is often easier to give feedback than to receive it, we will see how often a comment will help us see the turn in a story or idea. Not participating rocks the karma boat--you post and then do not give what others are giving you. Three assignments "not" fiction. You will write the "List of Twenty Things," a query letter, and a synopsis. All of this helps with the writing of a novel and the business of novel selling-which is, I believe, a goal that most writers have. If not selling the novel, having it read by a bigger audience...
Workshop (a verb and a noun) --As well as posting completed assignments and exercises, we will be workshopping our writing twice during the class time in the Group area (button on the left). A workshop is where individuals in groups (maybe three, maybe four) respond to each other's pieces, giving and receiving feedback and criticism (in the best sense of the word). This process will be described in more detail as we get closer to the end of the class. However, participating in the workshop is mandatory. Final posted "chunk." When I go to my writing group, they are used to getting a chunk of a novel. We meet once a month, and about two weeks before the meeting, I send them a chunk of my novel. Your group will have seen parts of your "chunk" during workshop, but on the last day, you will post your piece in its entire "chunkness." This exercise is mostly for you and not something we will all read critically line by line as it will be very long. But I will give you overall suggestions and comments as will your fellow classmates. Participation is responding to two different class members on the discussion thread and working and posting in the group setting when appropriate. Due Dates Your homework is listed on the syllabus below and in the assignment area. The first official day of class is on a Wednesday. Therefore, work--and work means posting and responding both- - will be "due" in the Discussion Thread by the following Tuesday afternoon at 12 pm PST. I will usually post my responses to your work by Tuesday afternoon/ evening. I do not read late work nor do I count it. I also am less able to respond with fullness and alacrity if you post at 11.59 am on Tuesday morning. The earlier you post, the more in-depth feedback you will get from me, and, frankly, from the class. If you miss a deadline and decide to comment anyway, that is great--i just won't count it. You are doing it out of the goodness of your writer heart. Because "work" means posting and responding both, it is very much worth your while to get work up with a day, two, three to go so that you get the most out of the class. Those who post late will, clearly, get much less feedback. Work due includes both your scene and your comments to others. Currently, materials through Week Ten are posted in the Course Documents area, and the entirety of the assignments are posted. Do not post ahead of time, however. If you want to work ahead, you could write up your homework in your word processing program, and then transfer it to your email at the correct time. Below, you will see the course schedule. I provide you with the topics for the week (the areas the lectures will focus on in detail). Then comes the in-class assignment and (three times) the other course work, which is described in much greater detail in the discussion board. Finally, I list the due date. This is just a skeleton of the week's work. Remember that everything is detailed in Course Documents and the Discussion Board.
Important note: Every scene you write for this class should be done so with your novel in mindall scenes, whether or not in order or sequential or sensical, are for this piece. Rather than worry about where these scenes fit, just write them. It's possible, they may later be discarded. One last thing: I ask you to write more than we can read. Please keep your posts to under 2000 words. Don t post more and then tell us to stop when we feel like it (we won t, and we will resent it). Don t post more and think we won t notice we will. Don t cut or cull. Simply post 2k words and save what you don t put up workshop it during workshop week and certainly put it in your big chunk at the end of class. January 25 Reading for the week: Beginnings, Middles, and Ends: pages 1-16 Moving on with your story/novel approaches to novel writing. Discussion thread: In the Discussion Thread, introduce yourself. Give us details about your writing life, your work life, your aspirations, your hopes for your writing. Briefly, introduce your novel. "Not" fiction work: List 20 things that you think absolutely have to happen in your novel. These "things" can be in reference to character, plot, theme, setting, POV, etc. Due January 31. February 1 Reading: BME: 17-33 What is a scene? Tension. Structure. Central problem. Discussion Board: Write two scenes in an early part of the novel that begin to present the beginning of the conflict. Due February 7 February 8 Reading: BME: 34-50 Character. Details. POV. Discussion Board: Write two scenes where you have characters in revealing situations where their personalities, motives, desires, and feelings are revealed. Due Feb 14 February 15 Reading: BME 51-67 Description. Character dreams. Discussion Board: Write a scene further along in the plot that the scenes from last week. In this scene, show your character or characters in a complicating situation, a scene that develops the plot, tension, conflict. February 21 February 22 Reading: BME: 68-84 Dialogue. Voice. Mood. Tone.
Discussion Board: Go to the list with twenty things you think will happen that you wrote the first week of class. Write two scenes where two of those things DO happen. Due February 28 February 29 Reading: BME: 85-101 Working in groups. Responding. Discussion Board: As you will be posting work in the group pages, you don't need to post anything new here. Due on small group board March 6 March 7 Reading: BME 102118 Revising. Editing. Discussion Board: Write another two scenes from your list of twenty things. Due March 13 March 14 Reading: BME: 119-135 Development. Research. Discussion Board: Write another two scenes, but this time, write one of the scenes from a different POV. This could be from another person, time, or even, a dream. Due March 20 March 21 Reading: BME: 136 to finish Rewriting. Publishing. Agents and such. Post your work on your small group board. "Not" fiction work: post a detailed outline, beat sheet, or synopsis here that covers your novel as you know it right now. Due March 27 March 28 Last Day of Class Extended due date March 30 12 noon Keeping on! Discussion Board: Put up your "Final Chunk." As this may be quite long, consider doing so in attachment (s). This exercise is more for you than for me or the class. As we have all read most of this, don't expect critical reading. I will comment on the general shape and theme and writing and suggests ideas for future scenes and writing. "Not" fiction work: Query letter--see lectures and give one a go Note this due date is not Tuesday, as class ended already! Due by March 30 12 noon PST. Grade Scale Participation 10x7 70 Discussion Board/Homework 10x7 70 Workshop 100
Query 20 Synopsis/Outline 20 List of 20 things 20 Final "chunk" 100 400-360 A 359-320 B 319-280 C 279-240 D Below 239 F