Welcome to CWS 5!
CWS 5 will begin Saturday, April 14, 2007. Workshops will be held at the
MCAS Education Building, 2nd floor, Classroom 206, from 0900-1130. We will
meet on four Saturdays during a five-week period: April 14, April 28, May 5,
and May 12. During the first meeting, I will give a writing craft
talk. WeÕll discuss memoir
structure, timelines, choosing a subject, using figurative language, and workshop
critique methods. We will skip one
Saturday to give you time to write a first draft of your memoir. Writers will email first drafts to me
no later than 4 PM on Monday, 23 April.
I will email first drafts to participants Monday evening. Each of you will critique at least two
other writersÕ work. DonÕt worry
now about how to do the critique; weÕll cover that during our first
Saturday. During our second
meeting, April 28, each of you will bring to workshop the first draft
manuscripts you have critiqued and share your comments with the writers. Writers will then take your notes home
and revise their first drafts to create a second draft. On the third Saturday, May 5, writers
will bring their second draft manuscripts to workshop and read them aloud to the
group. We will pause after each
reading for comments. Writers will
then take our notes home and revise again to create the final draft of the
piece. On the fourth Saturday, May
12, we will gather to read aloud final drafts and to celebrate our accomplishments.
Writers observe life,
measure life, and attempt to relate through words what they have learned about
life. Attempts to make known the unknown have been called essays since
the French writer MontaigneÕs (1533-1592) collection of such attempts was
published in 1582 under the title Essais. The Essais was
published as two books, with expansion to three books in the fifth edition that
was issued during MontaigneÕs lifetime. He had a hand in the revision of
each edition, and each changed in the same way Walt WhitmanÕs Leaves of
Grass changed with each new edition
published during WhitmanÕs lifetime.
What I write today might not be the same understanding of a thing, a
person, or event that I recall tomorrow.
A nonfiction essay can be defined as an attempt to capture the truth of
a moment, a truth that shifts with each stirring of memory. To write is
to make meaning of life, to record the culture of the times, to record what
might be gone forever tomorrow, and to write is to risk being known. Narrative nonfiction writing (essay and
memoir) tells a true story. That story might be ordered chronologically,
logically, or thematically. Beginning writers often find using
chronological order provides the structure they need. Narrative nonfiction is also descriptive. Descriptive
writing evokes dominant impressions Š the writer attempts to capture sensory
details of a moment Š the sights, sounds, scents, tastes, and sensations of a
happening.
Some kinds of sensory language are adjectives, adverbs, and figures of speech.
The most familiar figures of speech are metaphors and similes, both of
which compare unlike things to create a stronger image in the readerÕs mind.
Similes compare two unlike things using like, as, or than: Rain fell on my
skin like a silk kimono. The
quality of comparison in metaphor (which does not use like, as, or than
statements to make comparisons) makes one thing seem to be another: Before the
storm began, clouds roiled and boiled in the cauldron sky. In this
example, clouds are compared to the contents of a cooking pot Š the metaphor is
implied since the cooking pot and its contents are terms the reader infers.
Metaphor can be explicit, too, with both terms of comparison
obvious. Personification,
attaching human characteristics to nonhuman things, is another figurative
device: Lightning struck and the clouds wept. Hyperbole, or exaggeration,
is yet another: The storm seemed to last a thousand years. Only when we begin to think about
constructing figures of speech do they seem elusive Š in speech, we use them
all time. Most clichˇs are figurative, metaphors or similes, as are many
proverbs. Experiment with creating and using figures of speech, but avoid
using clichˇs. Try to create comparisons that create vivid meanings by
using your unique perspective to construct similes and metaphors.
Descriptive narrative nonfiction resembles fiction because the writer attempts
to recreate scenes using vivid descriptions of characters, settings, and
action. During CWS, I would like you to focus on writing about a specific
event from the past that evokes particularly strong meaning for you. This type of writing is called memoir.
The difference between memoir and memoirs is that memoir focuses on a
specific period of time, whereas memoirs generally cover a lifetime or at least
an extended period of time. In
memoir, chronology, characters, and action linked to a specific time and place
are dominant subjects of the writing. This doesnÕt mean that you canÕt
dip into childhood memories to expand upon a scene in the memoir you write
during CWS, nor does it mean that you cannot dip into the future when relating
an event or time from your past.
Descriptive prose requires use of concrete nouns and active verbs.
Concrete nouns are simply words that name a person place or thing exactly
as it is. Box of Oreo cookies
produces a vivid image; box of cookies is less productive. Always
use a noun if using a pronoun clouds meaning. Try restructuring sentences
with too many thatÕs, whichÕs, somewhereÕs, or sometimeÕs; and try to
restructure those sentences that begin with ŅI.Ó Although the narrator of memoir is almost always ŅI,Ó the
eye must consider the subject in sight and translate that vision onto the page
for a reader. For instance: I once owned a dog that I loved, can be
restructured through revision. On my living room carpet, Munchkin, my
chocolate-brown Shar-Pei, rolled into a blur of wobbling and flopping furry
wrinkles, until she more resembled spilled pudding than dog. Okay, so the
sentence is wordier and longer Š that means IÕll have to work out the wrinkles
during my next revision. Writing is a process of revision! Writing is a process. CWS will
help you learn your own process.
The basic phases of the writing process are: Prewriting, Drafting,
Revision, Polishing/Editing, and Publishing. Reading other writers is an invaluable part of writing. IÕve attach a couple of short CNF
pieces I would like you to read before you begin writing your own essay or
memoir.
In prewriting for your first
draft, create a list of topics you might want to write about. I would like you to consider writing
about an event that includes some aspect of your relationship with the
military, but that is not required Š you can choose an event from any time in
your life, but it must be a true event since CNF is based on factual truth
shaped by the writerÕs perception.
Review your list of possible topics and narrow it down to one topic. Create a list of everything you know
about that time Š use short blurbs or single words. Then make a timeline
of events. If your story takes place during a single day, write down a
chronological sequence of events for that day. If a longer period of time
is covered, create a timeline of events that spans the period. Then make
a chronology of what was going on in the world outside this event during your
storyÕs time frame. Then organize. Go through your lists and decide
which things you will use for this piece of writing. Is there any
research you might need to do? Arrange your list of events
chronologically by using your timelines.
Now create an outline. Once youÕve created an outline, make a list
of descriptive language you might use while writing. Keep all your lists
and notes throughout the process, just in case you need to refer to them
later. Bring your prewriting work
to our first workshop.
After our first workshop, allow yourself to write a crappy rough draft. Expecting to write perfect prose in a
rough draft is pure fiction. No
one does it! Remember, writing is revision. Write your rough draft
following your outline. DonÕt
worry about grammar, punctuation, spelling, or descriptive language Š donÕt
worry about getting it all right, just write! After youÕve finished
getting the story down, print your work, take a break, then read your work with
a critical eye a day or two later. Have a pen in your hand while you
read. Mark the page up. Use arrows, lines, dashes, write in sensory
words, add figures of speech, check the order information is revealed, circle
those pronouns that should be nouns, replace some of those wasÕs with action
verbs, get out the thesaurus and find new words to use instead of the one that
has become a tic in every sentence. Read your work aloud! Then, return to the computer and make
your changes. This is the first draft that you will email to me by 4 PM
on Monday, April 23.
When emailing your work to me, please attach your first draft as a Microsoft
Word document, typed using 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with
your first and last names on each page along with a page number. Format
your document with 1-inch margins all around. Indent the first line of
each paragraph five spaces. Choose a title for your piece and place it on
the first page. I will forward
your draft document to the members of your workshop group. Each group
member will read your work, write a short response to your work, and bring that
response to our second workshop on 28 April. This is when the polishing
phase of the writing process begins, and we will focus on polishing your work
during our last two meetings.
IÕve attached a couple of handouts that might be helpful during the writing
process. Please bring copies of the attached short CNF pieces to our
first workshop. WeÕll go over most of the other handout information during our
first workshop meeting, so print and bring the handouts, too. WeÕll also
talk about a few books, handbooks, and websites that might be helpful as you
develop your writing skills. Writing is a craft, and like any other
skill, it takes practice to be a skilled writer. You donÕt have to be a
genius to be a writer, but to be a writer you must be willing to work hard.
If you have questions before we meet on Saturday, please email me.
If you will not be able to participate, please let me know. IÕll be
looking forward to meeting and working with each of you.
Sincerely, Sally