Stories come from everywhere. If you were absent today, you must read, Tobias Wolff's "Bullet in the Brain" and Debra Nikkel's "First Date" and at least one story in your USSR book. Also, write a scene between two people on a first date. The narrator must feel awkward. Use dialogue and description.
Writing well takes time and you have to keep your imagination in shape.
Do that by taking walks, listening to music, relaxing, getting out of the hustle-bustle world. All famous writers were "outside" of regular society either by social status, physical deformity, or by choice.
Take yourself outside of your normal routines and you will be surprised how many ideas will reveal themselves. A story about nothing, is truly a story worth attempting.
Your final manuscript is due Wed. of our last week because on the Thursday and Friday, we will be sending stories away to contests and to magazines and that takes a lot of organization, as you know.
Manuscript Criteria:
One longish story (3000 words)
One shorter piece (1500)
As many post card stories as you like
We will be workshopping your second story next week.
The next three days we are in the computer lab
Jan 8 room 225
Jan 9 and 10 in the main lab
Bring your USSR books and please arrive on time.
You need to use this time well, of course, or we will change our routine.
