University of Technology SydneyHandbook 2008

57033 Writing Seminar

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences: Writing and Contemporary Cultures
Credit points: 12 cp
Result Type: Grade, no marks

Requisite(s): Any three of the following: 57042-Culture and Writing, 57041-Advanced Narrative Writing, 57031-Non-fiction Writing, 50359-Screenwriting, 57101-Writing for the Camera, 50004-Writing for Television, 57134-Theory and Writing, 57142-Writing for the Screen
There are also course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.

Handbook description

This is an advanced subject for students in the Master of Arts in Creative Writing. It brings together graduate writing students from a number of areas to workshop their own and each other's work, to provide and receive productive feedback on work-in-progress and to explore aspects of contemporary writing practice and theory that are both directly related to and/or challenge their own practice.

Subject objectives/outcomes

At the completion of this subject, students are expected to:

  1. Have demonstrated creative, imaginative and fluent practices as writers;
  2. Have developed their self-reflective critical and editing skills;
  3. Have gained an insight into their own writing habits;
  4. Have honed their skills in analysing the writing of others;
  5. Have a clear understanding of the limits and possibilities of a variety of contemporary forms of creative prose, and how each differs from other prose forms.

Contribution to graduate profile

This subject:

  • enhances writing skills
  • enhances critical and creative thought in relation to reading and writing
  • encourages a practical understanding of aesthetics and cultural debates.

Teaching and learning strategies

Reading and writing, in a mix of activities: workshop, exercises, research, in-class discussion and analysis.

Content

Reading
We approach the readings as writers, looking closely at the work of others to understand the choices and possibilities open to us. The readings include exemplary texts; critical essays; and reflections on the writing process. We shall be doing a close study of the readings, looking in detail at the idea of scene and dramatisation and the representation of reality. We shall pay particular attention to texture (description, character, place, language, rhythm), to time (elapsed time, speeding up, slowing down, pausing, lateral movement) to character and movement, and to the relationship of style, structure and subject matter.

The critical essays and the reflections on writing will be discussed in class.

Writing
Students will present a seminar paper reflecting a close reading and analysis of the examples they choose to illustrate the exploration of their topic. The examples should be photocopied and handed out the week before their seminar date. Each student will present their own writing for discussion in workshop either in small groups or to the whole class, at least twice during the semester. They will give one another oral and written feedback. The learning that takes place in a workshop stems from their involvement in the work of others as well as in their own. When considering a work, we find ways to raise questions and to locate problems through constructive criticism offered with goodwill and generosity.

Assessment

Assessment item 1: To workshop a creative work at least twice during semester

Objectivesa, b, c, d
Value50%
DueTo be scheduled individually
TaskTo present creative writing for discussion in workshop at least twice, and to hand in for assessment one polished piece of creative work. Length: 3000 words or equivalent. These to be worked through the necessary re-writes, class discussions and editorial changes. Ideally these will be from each student's longer work to be developed in Professional Writing Project.
Assessment criteria
  • Technical accomplishment of writing style
  • Originality of ideas
  • Dramatic and effective structuring of work.

Assessment item 2: To present a seminar paper reflecting a close reading and analysis of the chosen topic

Objectivesc, d, e
Value50%
DueTo be scheduled individually
TaskTo present a seminar paper reflecting a close reading and analysis of the examples chosen to illustrate the exploration of the topic which will be from the lists of set texts or readings. This is a written task in the form of an essay and is to be handed in for assessment. Length: 2000 words.
Assessment criteria
  • Demonstrated insight into the themes, techniques and issues chosen.
  • Capacity to apply themes and issues arising from work under discussion to creative practice
  • Effective presentation of the topic.

Minimum requirements

Students are expected to read the subject outline to ensure they are familiar with the subject requirements. Since class discussion and participation in activities form an integral part of this subject, you are expected to attend, arrive punctually and actively participate in classes. If you experience difficulties meeting this requirement, please contact your lecturer. Students who have a reason for extended absence (e.g., illness) may be required to complete additional work to ensure they achieve the subject objectives.

Recommended text(s)

Set Texts:

Books
Garner, Helen. 2004. Joe Cinque's Consolation. Sydney: Picador
Nabakov, Vladimir. 1994. Lolita. Harmondsworth: Penguin
McGahan, Andrew. 2004 The White Earth. Sydney: Allen & Unwin

Films
All About Eve (Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Election (Dir. Alexander Payne)
Lolita (Dir. Stanley Kubrick)
Lolita (Dir. Adrien Lyne)

Indicative references

Reference
Style Manual: for Authors, Editors and Printers, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 2000.
Dykes, Barbara. 1992. Grammar Made Easy. Sydney: Hale & Ironmonger
Strunk, William & White, E. B. 1979. The Elements of Style, 3rd Edition. New York: MacMillan Publishing

Narrative Technique

Brande, Dorothea. 1981 (1934). Becoming a Writer. London: Macmillan.
Browne, Rennia & King, David, (Eds). 1993. Self Editing For Fiction Writers. New York: HarperCollins Publishers
Dillard, Annie. 1989. The Writing Life. New York: Harper & Row Publishers
Disher, Garry. 2001. Writing Fiction: an introduction to the craft. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Goldberg, Natalie. 1986. Writing Down the Bones. London: Shambhala
Grenville, Kate & Sue Woolfe. 1993. Making Stories: how 10 Australian novels were written. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Hirsch, Edward. 1991. How To Read A Poem and Fall In Love with Poetry. Florida: Harvest Books
Hodgins, Jack. 1993. A Passion for Narrative: a guide to writing fiction. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.
King, Stephen. 2000. On Writing. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Lodge, David. 1992. The Art of Fiction. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Lodge, David. 1997. The Practice of Writing - Essays Lectures, Reviews and a Diary. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Pack, Robert and Parini, Jay (Eds). 1991. Writers On Writing, A Bread Loaf Anthology. Hanover: Middlebury College Press, University Press of New England
Stern, Jerome. 1991. Making Shapely Fiction. New York: WW Norton & Co
Walker, Brenda (Ed). 2002. The Writers' Reader. Sydney: Halstead

Narratology

Booth, Wayne. 1961. The Rhetoric of Fiction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Chatman, Seymour. 1978. Story and Discourse. Ithaca, NY: Cornell.
Genette, Gerard. 1980. Narrative Discourse. Trans. Jane E. Lewin. Ithaca, NY: Cornell.
Todorov, Tvetan. 1977. The Poetics of Prose. Trans. Richard Howard. Ithaca, NY: Cornell.

Screen Writing

Aronson, Linda. 2000. Scriptwriting Updated: New and Conventional Ways of Writing for the Screen. Australian Film Television & Radio School: Allen & Unwin
Dancyger, Ken. 1995. Alternative Scriptwriting/Ken Dancyger and Jeff Rush. Boston: Focal Press
McKee, Robert. 1999. Story — Substance, Structure and Style and the Principles of Screenwriting. London: Methuen
Seger, Linda. 1994. Making a Good Script Great. Hollywood, Calf.: Samuel French Trade.
—— 1992. The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film. New York: Henry Holt & Co