Thursday, January 28, 2010

Week 1 Assignments

Course Reader and Field Trip
Bring $20 cash or a check to cover your course reader and the field trip to see Juliet on March 18, 2010.


Read for Next Week
The School, Donald Barthelme (re-read)
The Perfect Gerbil: reading Barthelme’s The School, George Saunders


Writing Assignment
Choose One:
1) This week, make a habit of noticing everything around you. Choose two or three concrete, specific, images or details that seem particularly telling about a character or a situation. Using those images, write a poem of no longer than ten lines, or a story of no more than one paragraph. Remember – be brief. Let your images do the work!

2) Take an abstract word used to describe someone, (for example, ugly, stupid, pretty, funny, kind, crazy, heroic etc.). Writing no more than a page, use concrete images and details to convey the quality you choose, without ever using that word. For instance, if you choose ugly, make the reader know that your character is ugly without ever sayings so.


Blog
Accept your invitation to the class blog. Visit the site at www.creativewriting302.blogspot.com and acquaint yourself with posting entries and comments. Post at least one comment with a suggestion for improving the site or a writing related link to include. Email me if you have any problems accepting your invitation.

18 comments:

  1. Hello!

    So, I don't really visit writing websites on a regular basis, but there are a few author blogs that I religiously read due to awesomeness...

    http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/

    Scott Westerfeld is a scifi/fa YA writer who is pretty much amazing. His latest blog post was about the Kindle vs Macmillan debacle. He writes a lot about his own writings and about the world of being an author (i.e. publishing, marketing, and all that jazz.)

    I can't say that I'm a fan of this blog's color scheme, perhaps someone who is computer literate could redesign it? Oh, and maybe a thing on the side of the blog where people can recommend books. Someone in class mentioned a book about Time Traveling... and I forgot tot ask about the author cause I loves me some time traveling. Mmhhmm!

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  2. Check my blog. I am a character in the book Flawed by retired actor B.R. Harwell

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  3. i like what aliset suggested about the author/book recommendation thing on the side of the page, i've been looking for some new books to read and that could be really helpful in finding out about new authors.
    as far as writing resources go, I guess the closest thing I can think of that would be a resource is the website getfuckedon.com (pardon the name). I put a lot of my writing on there, and it's open to anyone who has something they want to put up, whether it be writing/photography/music/art/whatever. Check it out, it's a cool site, and put stuff up if you have anything you want other people to read! On the real though.

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  4. Hello Class!
    I have to agree with Aliset about the reading recommendations! Last class, after we had reached about half the students with introductions, I wished I had written down every book that was brought up in class. A link/blog/space where we can share our comments and feedback for favorite books or books we are currently reading would be fantastic. A place for feedback, thoughts, feelings about the read would be even more thorough, kind of like the SFSU Bookstore where students respond to the read on notecards throughout the library.

    1. Recommended Reading
    2. A short response about the book; what you liked/feedback/summary

    And in terms of a writing related website, this might sound silly - but I love Dictionary.com/Thesaurus.com. I have it bookmarked and use it frequently when I write! It's such a great resource, & just a click away.

    Best,
    Andi

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  5. Question: I'm sure it's right here under my nose and I am missing it...? But where is the link to upload the week 1 writing assignment? Or do we bring in a hard copy Thursday night? If someone could remind me, that would be great. Thanks!

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  6. Hey!

    Um, I'm not really a huge blogger, so I HOPE I'm doing this right... But yeah, here's my post.

    Um, as for a writing resource, here's a really interesting series of rants about the fantasy genre. It's a really good organization of thoughts about the genre if you're interested in that kind of thing. I've been reading it, and it's done ME a lot of good, so I hope someone else finds it useful too.

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  7. I have no idea where to post my assigment so I'll do it here.

    Fabian Medina
    CW302 Assigment #1

    Ring, Ring, Ring.
    I look up hoping to see the one who left.
    A vibration that reins the insipid life I lead.
    That gives me a possibility to become existent.
    But isolates and drowns me in a decrepit soul.
    Afraid to do anything but wait.
    Overpowered by the incessant need to hear the one who wont speak.

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  8. Hey all,

    I completely agree with Aliset's suggestion. New books are always an adventure.

    As for websites, I have a few.

    Check this one out for free literature (I prefer holding a book in my hands, but free books are always helpful.):
    http://www.readprint.com/

    If you enjoy spoken word/written poetry, check out Rives. He's fantastic.
    http://www.shopliftwindchimes.com/

    And, finally, the website of Charles Bukowski, my favorite poet currently.
    http://bukowski.net/

    Alright, that's all I have for now!
    Alex

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  9. Good call on the Bukowski, Alex. One of my favorites as well.

    Exquisite Corpse is a journal founded by writer Andrei Codrescu. Tons of poems, stories, reviews, artwork, etc. It's also a potential place to submit work.

    www.corpse.org

    -Frances

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  10. Hi! These two sites have always been helpful to me. I'm sure there are tons that I'm forgetting right now :/
    http://www.merriam-webster.com
    http://www.books.google.com

    Oh, I also LOVE http://www.imdb.com for when I need movie adaptation of books I'm reading :)

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  11. This is my first time blogging so I'm a little confused by all this. I don't really know of any writing related sites but I do agree with some of the sites people have listed so far.


    As to how to improve the site, I guess I would have to say maybe changing the template to make it more exciting? I agree with the suggestion about having a section where people can recommend a book. That would be pretty cool

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  12. Hello,
    This is my attempt at blogging.

    -http://blog.oneword.com/
    -http://desperatewriter.wordpress.com/

    I am pleasant, despite my current curt response

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  13. Hello!

    What I liked about this site was that it was pretty easy for me to join. Although I am used to going on ilearn I found this site helpful. I haven't ever blogged a post before . This site could be improved by including perhaps a bigger font and maybe some pictures. And also perhaps organizing the curriculum to make it simpler and easier to understand.

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  14. Hello all,

    Not being very familiar with author/literature related blogs, I took some time out to look through some previous suggestions and have found them to be very interseting. I suspect any prospective writer could utilize these sites in order to further expand their own knowledge of writing. Thanks for the suggestions.
    For poetry, I'll take the occasional look at americanpoems.com, and ohhla.com for song lyrics.

    "there's a bluebird in my heart that
    wants to get out
    but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
    cigarette smoke
    and the whores and the bartenders
    and the grocery clerks
    never know that
    he's
    in there."

    Bukowski is THE sh*t

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  15. Hello!
    So this is kind of cool because I have never had a blog before. Awesome! One suggestion I would say to improve the site would be too change the Lime Green color to a more mentally stimulating Red! Also, I have no idea where to post the assignments. Were we supposed write them on paper? Confused.

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  16. I also have no idea where to put week 1 assignments, so I'll just post it here.

    Nick Heilmann
    CW 302

    Smoke leaks from the corner of his mouth
    Trailing and twisting, settling upon the air
    Coughing eyes water and gasp for breath
    Thumping his chest, he finds control
    Sinks into the couch and breaths relief
    The laptops ghoulish light illuminates
    the smile on his face.
    Stretching, yawning, regarding the screen,
    He opens his mouth with his high words spilling
    "Ok, I am totally ready to write a poem!"

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  17. Hello planet earth -

    I'm Wilder.

    This is my blog:
    http://wildershaw.blogspot.com/

    Good luck with that.


    I also have no idea where to post the assignments so here goes:

    Walking to taste
    Beside him, no one
    Humming an old Toots & The Maytals Tune

    Clean black Converse
    He’d always worn plaid

    The simple unclean street roared next to him
    No burger in site as tasty

    The Burger Shack appeared before him
    The only thing that could make him forget

    And after his first bite, he noticed someone else



    I don't know what it means either.

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  18. Ah I don't know what sites you should visit. Here's my blog, it has nothing to do with words: littlerobotinspace.blogspot.com

    enjoy?

    I like the book recommendation idea.

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