Last evening I submitted final grades on behalf of the seven writing students I had the pleasure of working with in Intermediate Fiction at Grace College this Fall. On August 25^th I wrote six “guiding principles” I wanted them to take away from the class—ways I hoped they would come to think about their creative work.

As I look back over these past weeks we were successful in discussing these, often hitting on them multiple times. We were also able to form a creative community and workshop their writing––a diverse mix of realism, fantasy, thriller, young adult, and children’s literature.

In that August post I also said I’d remember what I learned from them. The first step in remembering is to record, so here are a few of my take-aways.

• There are many books I need to read in order to diversify my perspective on the craft and be tuned into what is influencing these students. I am severely under-read in fantasy and young adult fiction.
• Confidence is an essential element. Youth often appears to be over-confident (whether in writing or life); however, it is this trait that allows them to dive headlong into a life and a world that might otherwise frighten them into inaction.
• Grading creative work is a skill unto itself. A skill which, to the benefit of these seven students, is one I’m only beginning to acquire. I imagine a balance of objective measure and creative playground that could somehow be codified and reflected in percentages. I fear this will be not  unlike the imagined aesthetic I have for my own creative work––one for which I’ll strive and more closely fail to meet at each outing.

But above all such musings, I’ll remember each of these young writers––AS, RM, HK, BW, MB, JS, and RH. And I’ll be here should they reach out. This was only the start of the support I hope to offer them.

Today was the first day of class. My Intermediate Fiction creative writing class will meet twice weekly for the next eight weeks (taking a week off for Thanksgiving).

Planning: I spent mid-August to mid-October reading textbooks, building and re-building a syllabus, reading fiction to place in assignments, re-reading all of the above, completing adjunct employment paperwork, and designing the course on the college’s learning management system. I had a great deal of help and guidance (i.e. I would have failed without it) from my wife, and my colleagues Lauren, Brent, and Thad. I learned a great deal about what goes into sound planning while leaving room for flexibility—especially in a creative writing course.

Producing: The goal is to generate student enthusiasm over and growth in writing and ensure this results in a creative community of productive writers, of which I am seen as one. There’s evidence from this first meeting that this goal is within reach.

While the students were clearly interested in understanding how this course will fit into this quarter’s workload, they were also attentive and engaged. They are readers and writers and I believe together we identified the raw material among us that will result in a creative collaboration. Here’s to the weeks ahead!

One recent evening I had the opportunity to listen as a panel of college writing professors discussed various aspects of their job – from generating interest in writing to grading to syllabus creation.
The panel spent several minutes discussing the question of where to focus beginning writers – on quantity or quality. One of the panelists stated without opposition that the focus for beginning writers must be on process and production over, but not to the exclusion of, revision.

The beginning writer should not be concerned with finding a high concept (a “great idea”) and executing it, or achieving perfection by the end of the semester on a ten-page short story or a set of three poems. Make either of these a focus – or allow the student to – and then he or she will not gain the foundation for craft but will instead develop the false concept that writing a story or poem or essay is simply another problem to be solved (like solving an algebraic equation or calculating molecular weight).
One teacher wisely has students write in volume – as much as 40,000 words over a two-semester freshman year seminar (FYS). This accomplishes two things. First, the student is a better writer at the end of that year than they were at the start. Indeed, this is inevitable for anyone who writes so many words in a year. Second, their relationship to writing is changed. It is no longer intimidating to stare at a blank page. Any mental blocks that suggest to the student that they are not a writer or that they lack “material” are eliminated. Essentially, this quantity-based approach makes a writer of the student, a collegiate who sees the value of writing as a cross-disciplinary skill.
Revision of a single piece remains important and is not to be abandoned. Revision allows the student to apply instruction, especially comments written on their paper by a professor.
Part of this mass of writing should be spent in a revision or two of a couple of pieces. However, most of the writing should be either in response to reading (a perfect alternative to the quiz) or in discovery writing – writing not to produce a fully faceted piece but to understand better some idea or observation.
By design this writing is done every day, or at least three times a week. This creates an opportunity for the beginning writer to see how scheduled and disciplined work acts as an engine for productivity.

Inside or outside the classroom everyone in the writing world sees it as fact – writing as often and as much as you can is the sole route to successful practice of the craft. Quantity is the sole route to quality*.

*If you end up talking with someone that doesn’t agree on this point, you can presume they don’t write on a regular basis, if at all. They are either a reader or a weekend writer – their writing is a hobby. Ask them how often they write, ask them about their process. This will clear it up.

This semester I am taking a course on Teaching Creative Writing. We are gaining instruction on and practicing teaching an imagined freshman Intro to Creative Writing course. We role play being college freshmen for each other as we take turns leading the “class”.
In October I will be teaching one piece of literature of my choice, and I’ll be leading one workshop of a freshman student’s writing (that piece is being provided).
Which piece of literature – short story, essay, or poem – to teach to the class?
By way of this blog post, I am opening the field to suggestions.

I have several collections of short stories/essays/poetry from which I am considering a piece (all of which, btw, I would suggest you read):
Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons – Kurt Vonnegut
Horoscopes for the Dead – Billy Collins
Kentucky Straight – Chris Offutt
If I Loved You, I would Tell You This – Robin Black
The Bridegroom – Ha Jin

In the Vonnegut collection is a piece called “Address to the Graduating Class at Bennington College, 1970”. This is an actual address (I assume) given by KV and is a snapshot of the writer at his height. I am leaning toward it. There would be a lot to talk about regarding the piece, a lot around setting the piece in its period as well as how freshly it translates to 2014. And plenty to investigate around what hallmarks make it a great piece of writing. There are craft points to take away from the piece. For instance there is a lot to learn about the value of making provocative claims in writing that draw in your reader.

My son suggested Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder”. I am considering it as well. This would be a classic story to teach, a well-known standard. There is a lot of benefit to that. One can research the questions that have swirled around it since its publication in 1952. The story first appeared in Collier’s and then a few years later in Playboy (June ’56). You may not recognize the title, but I’ll bet you read the story in high school. http://www.lasalle.edu/~didio/courses/hon462/hon462_assets/sound_of_thunder.htm

Regardless of which piece I pick it’ll be a hoot to try my hand at teaching lit and leading a workshop. I wasn’t an English major, so I don’t have a lot of preconceived notions of how this should go. I hope I know whether it went well or not.