Schedule & Current Status
Schedule
We'll be covering everything in this course about the fiction writer's craft. This means we'll have little time to dwell on each particular topic. I thought it might be good to let everyone know what we'll be covering so you can look ahead a bit. I didn't take the time to figure dates but can say that, rain or shine, lesson materials will appear every Tuesday through the summer. Knowing that today (6 May) is the start of week 2, you can figure from there.
The schedule may seem rushed, and it is. But we're flying over the entire process, so that's to be expected.
Foundation
Weeks 1-2: The Seeds of a Story
Weeks 3-4: The Importance of Setting
Weeks 5-7: Inventing People
Weeks 8-10: Plot Strategies
Weeks 11-12: Point of View
Work
Weeks 13-15: Finding Voice in a Story
Weeks 16-17: The Beginning and the End
Weeks 18-19: Dramatic Action
Weeks 20-21: Using Words Well
Week 22: Fitting It All In
Now What?
Weeks 23-24: Revision, Revision
Week 25: Finding a Publisher
Original Group Description
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Note: Discussion and sign-up introductions have moved to the general discussion thread!
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The Mead Hall Writers' Society 2008 Writing Group!
We will be starting a writing group here in about a week's time. This will be a moderator-driven group with weekly assignments and feedback, and discussion with other participants.
Start Date: Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Final Assignments: Tuesday, 30 September 2008
What's Happening?
Tamur will be leading a prose fiction writing course. Emphasis will be on tightly focused assignments which will encourage writers to think about every aspect of their craft: the creation of realistic characters, realistic places, plot creation, the function of action, writing style, word choice - in short, we'll be covering the prose writer's craft from start to finish.
Due to the nature of internet communities, it's guaranteed that our ranks will flow this way and that over the next five months. That's part of the course, and materials have been designed for this reality. Feel free to join us when you can -- this isn't a university, no money's changing hands.
How Does It Work?
Each week on Tuesdays, the course leader (usually Tamur) will post the text of lesson materials, and an assignment related to it. Participants will finish the assignment at some point before the end of the following Tuesday, and post their writing in the weekly assignment thread.
At the end of the Tuesday-to-Tuesday assignment week, the course leader and a couple of offline helpers will review the writing posted in the assignment thread and give helpful feedback based on the lesson material and goal(s) of the exercise. To maintain continuity, no late assignments will be reviewed.
Feedback will be public in the same way that the writing is public. This allows everyone to learn from everyone else. If you wish to participate anonymously, simply PM your assignment to the course leader, who will then post it for you (anonymously) in the assignment thread.
Along with the usual assignments, there will be a discussion thread for the course in which participants are encouraged to discuss the lesson materials for the week.
What Should I Do?
As a participant, you're expected to finish the writing assignments sometime within the week following a lesson's posting, and you're expected to post this in the lesson exercise thread. It's as simple as that.
It's important to note that participants are not expected to review or comment on each other's work. The only obligation of the course is to get your assignment material posted on time. This is about you improving your writing!
That said, you are encouraged to comment on what you liked and thought could be better in each other's writing. Use the general discussion thread to comment on the assignments, on examples of great writing you see elsewhere in the world, on writing theory, etc, etc.
How Do I Sign Up?
Again, due to the ebb and flow of an internet community, we won't keep an official "enrolled" list. You are encouraged to introduce yourself in the general discussion thread. But mostly, just look at the schedule, find the current assignment, and start writing!
Questions?
Feel free to post in this thread with questions, or PM Tamur.
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