Memoir Book Links

Here are links to the memoir excerpts that we read in class.

Dorothy Allison's writing was the one that seem to strike most of you, so here it is in full:

"Where I was born - Greenville, South Carolina - smelled like nowhere else I've ever been. Cut wet grass, split green apples, baby shit, cheap makeup and motor oil. Everything was ripe, everything was rotting. Hound dogs butted my calves. People shouted in the distance; crickets boomed in my ears. That country was beautiful, I swear to you, the most beautiful place I've ever been. Beuatiful and terrible. It is the country of my dreams and the country of my nightmares: a pure pink and blue sky, red dirt, white clay, and all that endless green - willows and dogwoods and firs going on for miles."

from her book Two or Three Things I Know for Sure.

The graphic novel/memoir was Blankets by Craig Thompson.

The book that I read a number of excerpts from and which was about memoir writing (an excellent resource), very well written with a number a great quotes and exercises is called Writing the Memoir: A practical guide to the craft, the personal challenges, and the ethical dilemmas of writing your true stories by Judith Barrington. Her memoir, which some of you read in class (she was looking at photos and remembering her time in Spain and eating tortillas with some male friends there) is called Lifesaving: A Memoir.

The excerpt that some of you read about the exchange student in Thailand who wrote very poetically about escaping her homestay family to go for a swim"in water so deep it's almost cold" in journal-like entries was by Karen Connelly called Touch the Dragon: A Thai Journal. She wrote it when she was only 17 years old. I'm not sure if she rewrote it or if this is simply a reprint but there is a similar sounding book by her under another title called The Dream of a Thousand Lives.

The book which described a woman sitting tiredly on a wall watching some students and then turkeys walk by was by Kathryn Harrison about her journey on the Santiago de Compostela and is called The Road to Santiago.

Finally, the humorous excerpt about the brother's voice was by David Sedaris (one of the most well-known "funny" memoirists) from his book Me Talk Pretty One Day.

All of these writers are fabulous and it is well worth reading any of their work you come across.

Due Week 4, May 10th - Memoir Piece and Personal Piece Form

So in our next class you have 2 things due. The first is you 250 word memoir piece. In it you should:

• explore a memory
• reflect on its broader meaning in your life (present self narrator looks back on past self)
• use of detail
• convey this detail through more than adjectives or long, fancy words

You personal piece form is also due (see the entry below). You don't have to write a lot, just choose a genre, estimate your length, start thinking about a partner, and your idea. Remember the actual personal piece is due May 31. Then you will spend the rest of the semester rewriting it, you don't have to worry about aiming for perfection in your first draft which is what you will hand in on May 31: "don't get it 'right' get it written."

Personal Piece Form

A “Personal Piece” can be any piece of creative writing in any genre on any topic of your own choosing. Length-wise it must be equivalent to 500-2500 words (no less than 500 words for poems or songs, no more than 2500 words for fiction/non-fiction).

Personal Piece Idea Due: May 10, 2007.

Personal Piece Due: May 31, 2007.

You will need to submit 2 copies of your “Personal Piece”:
1 to me,
1 to you Feedback Partner

Student Name:


Personal Piece Idea Title:


Genre (i.e. short story, a series of song, sonnet poem, introductory chapter to an epic science fiction novel, non-fiction essay, opinion piece, children’s picture book for 4-6 year olds, collage poem and so on):



Have you already written this piece of work?



When?


How long do you expect it to be (estimate word count and/or pages)?


Do you have any suggestions for what the marking criteria should be?


Who is your Feedback Partner for the Personal Piece (to be filled in during the class)?

For next Week

For next week (April 26th), please bring 5 copies of your 3 haiku poems:

1 traditional 5-7-5, 3 line nature, immediacy, nostalgic poem.

1 loose haiku-inspired poem.

1 urban haiku (Bielefeld!!).

Remember, contemplate, look around you, go within, examine how you feel, what you miss, what you love.

Wacko for Waku (tanka)

Haiku developed out of an earlier type of Japanese poetry from the Heian Age (795-1185) dominated by female courtesans poets.

Here are some of the examples I read to you in class, poems over a 1000 years old that could have been written yesterday (truly amazing, don't you think?):

Must have its memories too:
after a thousand years,
see how its branches
lean towards the ground
by Izumi Shikibu

When my desire
grows too fierce
I wear my bed clothes
inside out,
dark as the night's rough husk
by Ono no Komachi

Remembering you . . .
The fireflies of this marsh
seem like sparks
that rise
from my body's longing.
by Izumi Shikibu

These are beautiful translations from the original Japanese by Jane Hirshfield and Mariki Aratani. Here is a link to the book on Amazon where you can read some more of their poems. There are also numerous fan pages you can find easily on the Web.

What is poetry? What is a haiku?

The most brilliant description that I know that exists of poetry is by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. I read part of Ferlinghetti's non-lecture "What is Poetry?" when he accepted the Frost Medal to you in class but here is his whole piece if you were intrigued and wanted to read it all...go ahead click, I dare you.

To save me giving you the entire history of the haiku, luckily there are brilliant websites that explain the history of the haiku. This one is my favourite because it also discusses the links with the Modernist and Imagist poets (like Pound) as well as with the Beat poets (like Kerouac).

I also quoted some poems from African-American poet Richard Wright in class. Some of you (Schielan ;-) ) were very taken with:

An old winter oak:
Once upon a time there was
a big black ogre . . .

Creamy plum blossoms:
Once upon a time there was
a pretty princess . . .

Another great one by him:

I am nobody
A red sinking autumn sun
Took my name away
An example of urban haiku from Wright:

From this skyscraper,
all the bustling streets converge
towards the spring sea

However, traditionally haiku should include:

• 5-7-5 syllables
• 3 lines
• a tension between immediacy/nostalgia
• slice of life
• an observation of nature
• an observation of your own emotions
• possibly seasonal
• location, local
• in touch with your senses and your own response to them
• share your emotions/experiences of what it is to be in your skin
• sense of loss/what is missing

Here is a link to the lovely long poem, in haiku stanzas that I read to you by Geraldine C. Little called "Celebrations and Elegies for a Friend Dead of Aids."

Here is a great link on the connection between really feeling the moment, haiku as meditation and contemplation. Sooooo, if you felt stupid sitting under the cherry tree or didn't know exactly what you were supposed to be doing. Read this.

New dates, oh my!!

I have had to rearrange the dates of the course to fit in with a new course that has just been added to eKVV that I am going to be offering this semester on three intense but fun-filled Saturdays ("How to be a Canadian: The Markers of Canadian Cultural Identity" May 5, June 2 and June 16). I also failed to notice the Christi Himmelfart/Pfingsten wonder weekends that may tempt many of yout to disappear the week of May 25 when we have a double class scheduled (and since I so want to see your smiling faces in my class) so here is the new schedule, rearranged to avoid all holidays that may seduce you away from the creativity:
April 19
April 26
May 10
May 31
June 7
June 14
June 28

Hope your "atmosphere" has been working, if not I still expect a piece of finished flash fiction anyway. If you can't think of a plot choose a fairy tale. Even Red Riding Hood will do.

Criticize Me: Pretty Flower

In our next class, you are going to read your flash fiction out in groups and practice giving feedback for the first time. However before you give feedback to each other, I am going to ask you to practice on me and my piece of flash fiction so that we can go over how you give positive, constructive feedback.

The steps you will need to go through in class (and start off with me):

1. Gage how much criticism the person can handle on that particular day. As you know, we all have our bad and good days, and since this feedback is supposed to be for our benefit (not so that you can tell us everything that you think is wrong with our work), it is up to the writer to tell you the level of feedback they want on a particular day. None, of course, is not an acceptable answer in this course :-)
2. Start off with what you liked best about the piece.
3. Be considerate with your criticism, that means word it constructively, make it brief and to the point.
4. Be specific with your criticism and praise (give examples of what did and didn't work for you).

So, here is my second version of my flash fiction piece "Pretty Flower."

Pretty Flower (final draft) by Nadine Wills

“Remember, Poppy!” Her mother called as she skipped into the forest, wrapped tightly in her red cape.
“Getting dark,” a voice leered.
“You scared me.”
“Pretty flower.”
“Do you like it? Here. I’d better get to Gram’s.”
“See you.”

“Gram?”
“Poppet!”
“You okay? You look different.”
“Not too different for a hug.”
Her cape slipped open as she flung herself onto the bed.
“Eeeeeeew, don’t hold me so tight.”
“I’m happy to see you, my pretty flower.”
“Well hold me less happy.”
“Did you give the wolf the poisoned flower like we practiced?”
Poppy smiled and cuddled to her Gram.

Flash! 100 words "A Pretty Flower"

Today in class I asked you all to write a piece of flash fiction in 10 minutes. I will write these pieces alongside you and share them as well since - as I made it clear - everyone in the class has to participate and share their work. That includes me as well. The plot that I gave you for the flash fiction, if you didn't have any instant inspiration was Little Red Riding Hood. Here is the one I wrote on that subject (my first draft):

Pretty Flower (first draft) by Nadine Wills

“Remember what I told you. The path.”
“I will.”
She skipped into the forest, her cape wrapped tightly around her, picking flowers.
“It’s getting dark,” a voice leered.
“You scared me.”
“What a pretty flower.”
“Do you like it? Here. I’d better get to Gram’s.”
“See you.”

“Gram? You okay? You look different.”
“Not too different for a hug.”
Hesitating, her cape slipped open, then she flung herself onto the bed.
“Ow Grams, your nails are getting caught in my hair.”
“You’re so young, my pretty flower. Did you give the wolf the poisoned posy like you were supposed to?”

I will post a final draft later to show you how much my writing changes during the rewriting process.

Notice that I tried to keep to the aspects of "flashing" that we discussed:

1. word limit (not going over 100 words)
2. characters that go through a story (as opposed to "slice of life")
3. a distinct setting
4. conflict (develop much of this through dialogue)
5. implication
6. resolution and/or twist

Please remember that for April 19 you are to come to class with your 100 word flash fiction (bring 6 typed copies of it). I look forward to reading what you've come up with.

Personal Piece Length

To clarify: today in class I think that I may have kept saying that the "Personal Piece" could be up to 250 words, I meant 2500. If you look further down the blog on the "Personal Piece Form" (Benjamin let me know what you think) you will see that is what it says.

What is Flash Fiction?

In our first class we will be briefly discussing flash fiction...then you will have to go home and write some yourself. So, what is it? Essentially flash fiction is a short story, a very, very, very short story (sometimes it is even as short as 100 or 55 words).

This is how Wikipedia defines it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction

Why are we starting with flash fiction? Flash fiction is great for a couple of reasons (and if you are not convinced by mine, here are 10 more reasons to write flash: http://www.kporterfield.com/journal/flash.html).

First, it makes you cut out all your crap :-) You know what I mean: all the extras which a lot of us writers love but no one else does. Ah, glorious precision. It may not be the final style you choose but it is certainly something to experiment with.

Second, it makes you really examine the elements of plot and action. With only 55 words in your story you really have to figure out what it important. Why are you telling this story and what are the basic essnetials that you need to help get you/your characters there?

And finally, flash fiction is fun! Or at least I hope it you will find it to be. It is much much harder than it looks but usually 55 words doesn't feel as daunting as 5500 so the dreaded "writer's block" isn't as much as a problem for most of you. What I want to get you doing in this first assignment is focusing on getting the basic writing done as quickly as possible so that you can work on polishing and refining your ideas in a critical manner that will help improve your work.

Here are a couple of good online sources for flash fiction, so you can read a selection of current flash fiction for yourself:
http://newtimes-slo.com/index.php?p=showarticle&id=1158

http://www.creativenonfiction.org/brevity/index.htm

http://www.nefarious-tales.com/

http://www.wordriot.org/shortshorts/

http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/index/flash-fiction/

http://www.flashquake.org/

So, what are you waiting for? Write!

Course Description

This course introduces practices of writing poetry, memoir, and short prose (flash fiction) through a range of traditional and contemporary approaches. Through practical workshops, students will experiment with textual form and content. Particular attention will be paid to: developing plot, action, geography/time/space, detail, character, point of view, rewriting, and giving and receiving feedback. Students will be encouraged to explore and improve their own style and interests.

A Schein will be awarded for regular attendance, active participation, and a portfolio. This portfolio will include a piece of flash fiction, poetry, short memoir and a longer creative writing piece of the students’ own choosing.

Welcome Students!

Welcome students to the website of the Creative Writing Course at the University of Bielefeld, Summer 2007.

I am your teacher Dr. Nadine Wills and will be posting all the important information that you need to know for the course here.

I look forward to meeting you.

Course Outline, Details

Time: Specific Thursdays 16-20.

Date: On the following dates the class will take place

Week 1, April 5, 2007 (equivalent to 1 class): Introduction

Week 2, April 19, 2007 (equivalent to 2 classes): Flash Fiction and Plot/Action

Week 3, May 3, 2007 (equivalent to 2 classes):
Poetry and Geography/Time/Space
PERSONAL PIECE IDEA DUE

Week 4, May 10, 2007 (equivalent to 2 classes): Memoir and Detail

Week 5, May 24, 2007 (equivalent to 2 classes):
Workshop 1: Rewriting and Feedback
PERSONAL PIECE DUE

Week 6, June 14, 2007 (equivalent to 2 classes):
Workshop 2 : Character and Point of View
FEEDBACK AND PORTFOLIO DUE

Week 7, June 28, 2007 (equivalent to 2 classes):
Workshop 3: Showing vs. Telling and Style
PERSONAL PIECE REWRITE DUE

Week 8, July 12, 2007 (equivalent to 1 class): Readings
PARTICIPATION MARK FORMS DUE

Participation Mark

Your participation mark for this course will be based upon three things:

1. my observance of how you participate in-class (this means how you speak, the quality and frequency of your contributions in large group discussions, and how I see you interacting in small groupwork)
2. your own assessment of your participation in class (you will have to fill out a form and give yourself a mark)
3. your partner's assessment of working with you and the quality of your feedback (how thoughtful, in-depth and useful it was, rather than whether or not it was positive or negative).

In the following post, I will give you a guideline as to how the marks will be distributed for participation so that it is clear what you have to do to get a certain mark. Of course, the main requirement of participation is regular attendance.

Participation Marks Range

At the end of the course, you will be asked to hand in Participation Mark Form.

Here is a guideline for the things that you will be marking yourself on and the range of marks that will apply and for how I will be marking you on participation.

1.0: To get this mark you should be a “stand-out” in class: extraordinary, a leader. You have to be confident in your class contributions, sophisticated in your analysis and lead/guide the group discussions in some way. In the top 2 percent of the class.

1.3 To get this mark you should be contributing well above-average. You should contribute regularly in class and make thoughtful comments and ask thought-provoking questions. In the top 10 percent of the class.

1.7 To get this mark you should be a strong contributor to class discussions. You should regularly voice your opinions and have well-formed ideas and opinions with a high level of analysis evident.

2.0 To get this mark you should contribute often to class discussions, show your interest in the topic and thorough preparation for class.

2.3 To get this mark you need to have contributed to at least a few class discussions and demonstrated an understanding of the material discussed and completed all assignments.

2.7 To get this mark, you need to have shown your interest in class discussions, even if you were not a frequent vocal participant, and have fulfilled all your assignments.

3.0-3.7 To get a mark in this range, while you may have contributed to class discussions, you may also not have come to classes properly prepared and/or have not fulfilled your responsibilities in group assignments and/or had problems with attendance.

4.0 To get this mark, you need to have shown little interest in class discussions combined with poor attendance, and a lack of preparation.